PORTLAND, Maine – Over the previous seven games that completely derailed their season, the Portland Hearts of Pine found themselves time and again coming up just a little short.
That was not the problem Saturday night. There would be no late-game fizzles, no fluky moments that left Hearts fans wondering “what if?”
Portland got blown out 4-1. It was an odd game because at no point did Fort Wayne FC look like it was dominating the pitch between the 18s. Fort Wayne took 10 shots (seven on goal). Portland took eight (three on goal). The Hearts outpossessed their opponent 61-39 percentage-wise, while enjoying five corner kicks to Fort Wayne’s one.
The difference was Fort Wayne scored the most goals it has ever scored in a league game while Portland struggled to truly put together dangerous chances at the end of all that possession. The Hearts’ sole goal – which came after Fort Wayne’s onslaught – was an Ollie Wright penalty kick in the 86th minute.
“It’s just in the final third, the final part, you have chances, being ready to finish,” said Portland coach Bobby Murphy. “That’s the difference.”
The loss at Fitzpatrick Stadium left the Hearts’ playoff hopes in serious jeopardy. Portland is in 14th place with nine games to play and nine points out of the final playoff spot.
The loss may not have been emblematic of how Portland’s season has gone, particularly over the past two months when the team lost four tightly played USL League One games and drew three more. But what took place certainly showed how far things have changed since the Hearts’ inaugural season that was such a success.
It also showed what could have been.
Fort Wayne’s midfielder Taig Healy used both his left and right foot for his brace. The first goal was a particular beauty: an attacking run left him some 10 yards to the side of the goal. In full sprint, with the end line approaching, Healy uncorked a startling shot. Despite almost no angle, Healy’s shot raced past Hearts’ goalkeeper Hunter Morse and into the near upper corner of the goal. Morse looked incredulous.
“I knew (Healy) was going to try and hit it towards the goal and I saw a yellow shirt out of the corner of my eye and I thought I would go to this guy,” Morse said. “So I cheated a little bit and he ended up striking it right on goal. Pretty good shot, I guess.”
Healy has had a knack for goals all season and the brace gave him 10 goals in 21 games.
So how did the game show what could have been?
Healy, a USL1 rookie fresh off of losing in the National Championship game for NC State (and scoring what could have been the game winner in the 86th minute, only for his team to give up the lead before falling in OT), grew up just over Maine’s border in South Hampton, New Hampshire. His father, Jay, played in college with Murphy from 1991 to 1994. Murphy’s assistant coach, Alex Ryan, coached Healy with the Seacoast United Soccer Club in New Hampshire where they won the amateur USL2 championship in 2024.
Jay Healy said he was conflicted watching the game, but added, “I will root for my friends, when my son is not playing against them.” He recalled that Murphy talked to his son about joining Portland this past offseason but added, “I just left that to my son and his agent, and it just worked out best for him to go to Fort Wayne. But I know he has had this game circled for a while.”
Murphy said he appreciated Healy’s game but it was a problematic fit because Masashi Wada plays the same position and the same aggressive style. Wada was a driving force for Portland a season ago, but he suffered a serious leg injury in the first game of the season. Without Wada’s ability to attack and put defenders on their heels, Portland’s scoring has fallen off.
“Taig’s a good little player, a great kid,” Murphy said. “He’s an agitator, in a good way, a disruptor.”
As many as 200 supporters of Healy filled Section 102, many having made the trip north.
One of those supporters, Phil Dunn of Newbury, Massachusetts, coached Healy when he was 6 years old.
“He’s worked really hard,” Dunn said. “I knew he would be up for this game.”
Fort Wayne FC coach Mike Avery described both of Healy’s goals as fantastic, saying he “put on a show.”
Avery then praised the hometown Hearts, adding, “This is an incredibly difficult place to play, and hats off to the entire Portland Hearts of Pine community for what they’ve built here. We were resilient and tough tonight and we punished in critical moments.”
Portland’s next match is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the first place Charlotte Independence. The Hearts then return home Sunday for a 6:30 p.m. game vs. Westchester SC.