PORTLAND, Maine — Fitzpatrick Stadium will play host to two teams on Saturday that have gone in opposite directions this season.
Earlier this week, the Portland Hearts of Pine were eliminated from USL League One playoff contention, a painful realization of a season gone awry. Athletic Club Boise, sitting in fifth place, comes to town with hopes of climbing the league table and putting itself in position to host at least one round of the playoffs.
Despite the contrasting seasons, both clubs enter the game in similar form, as each has two wins, two draws, and one loss over the past five games.
“Boise is a team that’s known for being very expansive, very good in possession, but very susceptible in transition as well,” said Ray Saari, Portland’s sporting director. “They are definitely a team that has real quality, scored a lot of goals this year, and is good in possession, but you can still exploit them in some ways as well.”
The Hearts (7-12-10) generally play a counterattacking system that could be effective against Boise (14-8-7). Portland lost 2-1 at Boise in a July 17 match that was a textbook example of Portland’s pressure-absorbing style clashing with Boise’s high possession, a matchup that ultimately turned against Portland deep into stoppage time.
Boise heavily dominated possession (67% to 33%) in that match, forcing Portland to play defensively and, as it has all season, lean on goalkeeper Hunter Morse, who racked up 6 saves. The Hearts took a lead when substitute forward Dylan Sing (who is no longer with the club after being recalled by Indy Eleven) scored a header in the 78th minute off midfielder Matteo Kidd’s cross.
But Boise battled back when Blake Bodily found the equalizer in the 83rd minute. Then, in agonizing fashion for Portland and a moment that was emblematic of the Hearts’ season, Boise’s Thomas Amang netted the game-winner in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time to steal all three points.
Earlier this year, Boise coach Nate Miller talked about how his team is powered by its wingbacks.
“It’s not normal that your best players are your wingbacks,” Miller told the Idaho Press. “When you can play with max width like that and use different rotations to put them on spots, it’s hard to defend.”
Denys Kostyshyn, who played right wingback in Boise’s home win over Portland, leads his club with eight goals.
Saari said the key against Boise is keeping the ball once you win it back.
“If you can maintain the ball throughout the first four or five passes, then you can usually start to build possession a little bit more consistently over longer periods of time,” Saari said.
Now that the Hearts are out of the playoffs, Saari was asked if one motivation players can find is playing a spoiler role, such as keeping Boise from moving up in the standings, or doing the same in the final match of the season against the Charlotte Independence, which is fighting for the Players’ Shield.
“Players get motivation in a lot of different ways (and) if that’s something that gets you going, then certainly you can go about it that way,” Saari said. “Sometimes the message can be as simple as, you’re trying out for next year or maybe you’re trying out for a new club. There’s never a reason not to do your best. Whatever your reason has to be for winning the game, do that. But certainly, there’s still a lot to play for for each player at the moment.”
Hearts midfielder Diego Gonzalez said it’s been a frustrating season because he can see how close the club has been to winning more regularly.
“Sometimes we haven’t gotten the results, but I think you can see it on the field,” Gonzalez said. “Whenever we actually are willing to put in the work and play how we know how to play, it’s been showing. Obviously we would have wanted to make the playoffs, be in the top seven, top eight. That just hasn’t happened.”
Quick notes:
This match will be the last time the clubs play each other in USL1. Boise announced last month that it is moving up to the USL Championship next season. The club joined USL1 this season. Hearts’ leadership has said the plan is to also move up, but that won’t happen until after the USL moves to a promotion-relegation system, similar to what is found in Europe. The pro-rel change is slated for 2028, and the Hearts want to earn promotion.
Gonzalez was selected by the USL as part of its Team of the Week for Week 31 after he scored the match-tying goal off a penalty kick in the final few seconds against Spokane. It was his eighth goal of the season, tying him for the club lead with forward Aboubacar Camara.
“It’s a good feeling to see my name on the team of the week amongst the players from the whole league,” Gonzalez said. “But it’s also not just me. It’s a team thing. I wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for my teammates.”Looking for an interesting link between the two clubs? Check out this story of a former Mainer killed in a Civil War grudge shootout.