For a half, the Richmond Kickers appeared to be the magical drink the Portland Hearts of Pine needed to end their recent winless streak Saturday night on the road.
The Hearts scored once and had another called back in the first 45 minutes. The game was feeling similar to Portland’s 5-1 thrashing of Richmond in June at Fitzpatrick Stadium. But then the Kickers took control of the second half, eventually tying the game in the 74th minute, a result that would hold for a 1-1 final.
The result – the seventh straight winless game for Portland – gives the Hearts 23 points for the season. That leaves Portland (5-8-9) in a tie with FC Naples and Westchester SC for 11th place, although technically they are in 13th overall because the Hearts have played 22 games while the other two have only played 21 times. The top eight teams make the playoffs.
Here are three observations from the game:
The Hearts came out strong, winning the game’s first corner kick early on, followed shortly with a dangerous break when Jay Tee Kamara weaved through defenders before springing Tyler Huck loose to loft a looping left-footer over both the keeper and unfortunately the crossbar in the 10th minute.
Time and again, Portland found space in the opening zone, dicing up Richmond’s defense, including a lovely set of back and forth, east-to-west passes that resulted in a gorgeous scoring opportunity for Konstantinos Georgallides. The midfielder, who scored twice against Richmond in that June victory, had a mostly wide-open goal but failed to keep the shot down, skying it over the crossbar.
Portland continued pushing. Kamara had another dribbling run that led to a dangerous low cross into the box that a Kickers’ defender cleared away at the last minute, followed a minute later by another unsuccessful run with only one defender back.
It was clear the chances were there: Portland just needed to finish. And that’s what appeared to have happened in the 29th minute when Georgallides launched a curling free kick from ten yards outside of the box. Center back Serigne Faye emerged past a group of defenders, smashing a header for a shot that bounced once and deflected off the goalkeeper and in for the score. But a linesman ruled Faye offside, and the score remained tied.
A turnover finally broke the game open. A Richmond defender received a short pass from a goal kick and then fired a lazy pass forward that was intercepted by Portland, leading to Michel Poon-Angeron finding Kamara at the top of the box. Kamara looked to his left before sliding a soft pass forward to his right past two defenders. Portland’s Matteo Kidd found himself alone with the goalkeeper and one-timed a right-footed shot off the inside of the left goal post. Finally, Portland had a much deserved lead in the 37th minute.
Portland’s defense played a strong first half too, holding Richmond without a shot until the 18th minute (which was gobbled up by a diving Hunter Morse, who had another big day with seven saves), and without a corner kick until the 32nd minute.
The Hearts’ defense has taken a step back from a year ago when it finished fifth in goals conceded in its inaugural USL League One season. This year, Portland finds itself on the other side of the table, ranking 15th in goals given up.
Richmond came into the game with only 19 goals in 20 games. This has not been a team with many dangerous goal-scoring opportunities all season, and the Hearts did a strong job bottling up their opponent for the majority of the first 45 minutes.
That’s the sort of effort that Portland Manager Bobby Murphy can lean into for the rest of the season.
It was a different story in the second half when Richmond began enforcing its will, which is something Richmond’s interim Manager Brian Ownby spoke of leading up to the game.
Ownby couldn’t have liked what he saw in the first 45 minutes but the Kickers flipped the switch after halftime, controlling the ball for 60 percent of the time, while forcing Morse to save six shots, two of which happened in just the first three minutes.
Richmond finally solved Morse in the 74th minute, primarily by being first to a loose ball and then beating a scrambling Hearts’ defense, leaving Joshua Kirkland with an easy tip in for the score.
After the game, Ownby explained that the Kickers improved their securing of first and second passes, limiting turnovers, and pressing the Hearts full field by pushing higher up the pitch while still maintaining their baseline tactical structure.
Portland’s next chance to end the winless skid is at home Saturday night against Fort Wayne (7-6-7). The Hearts have 12 games remaining in the season.