There are so many interesting stories when it comes to the Portland Hearts of Pine. But it’s important to remember that there are 16 other teams in the league, each with their own narrative that helps explain how their season has gone.
Every Tuesday, The Hearts’ Beat will pull together a roundup of the most interesting stories from around the league. Some may have a connection to the Hearts; others will just be information readers should know.
So let’s take a look:
FC Naples stunned then-first-place Union Omaha, winning at home 2-0 last Wednesday. The victory by Naples, currently in 11th place, dropped Omaha into a tie in points with the Charlotte Independence. But Charlotte takes the top spot based on goal differential, while it has also played two fewer games.
“I think this is maybe one of the best performances that FC Naples has had in a year and a half of its existence,” said Naples coach Zak Gordon. “We haven’t beaten the top team in the league before, and we shut them out.”
This sets up a massive, high-stakes showdown Saturday when Omaha hosts the league leaders at Morrison Stadium. The race for the Players’ Shield may well be decided there.
Naples’ victory also gives some hope to the Hearts, who can play their own giant-slaying role Wednesday night in Charlotte.
And what a giant Charlotte is right now. The team is in first place, has an 11-1-0 home record, and routed AV Alta 5-0 last Friday.
“They were awesome,” said midfielder Enzo Martinez of the Charlotte fans. “They brought so much energy to the game, and I really wanted to at least score one so I could go over there and celebrate with them, because I know it’s special for them, but it’s also special for me.”
The Hearts will have their hands full. They have taken down plenty of their own giants though. Just not recently.The weekly Power Rankings are out. The results aren’t pretty for Portland, so we will just leave this here for you to read if you want.
Meanwhile, off the field, the league is growing. USL Long Island was awarded a league franchise. Organizers say they intend to open their first season in 2028, pending final league and federation sanctioning approval, of course.
Sara Whalen Hess, a former U.S. Women’s National Team player who came in late in the historic final vs. China (remember Brandi Chastain!) on the way to being crowned a 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion, is a club founder and team president.
“Long Island is where I fell in love with soccer, and after everything the game has given me, bringing a professional soccer club home is a real full circle moment for me,” Whalen said. “I’ve come to realize that soccer was never just about winning championships. It was always about people and creating connection, belonging and community. That’s the culture we’re building at USL Long Island.”
As of now, Long Island plans to start with a men’s team. There has not yet been talk officially of also forming a women’s team, although Whalen’s presence as a founder might indicate that’s an eventuality.
One other intriguing note about this: USL Long Island won’t be the only team in town.
In one piece of disappointing news for soccer enthusiasts, a still-in-the-works USL franchise’s future is very much in doubt. Organizers in Des Moines have been working for years to bring a men’s team there to play in the USL Championship (one tier above USL1) and had secured $90 million to build a new stadium.
“City administrators abruptly announced Wednesday they had ended seven years of talks with the Krause Group to bring a soccer stadium and surrounding development to the former DICO site in downtown Des Moines,” Rick Jost, a longtime journalist in Des Moines wrote on his Substack. “It was a stunning turn of events in Krause’s seven-year odyssey. The goal is to build a home venue suitable for a professional soccer team in the USL league as well as a professional women’s franchise.”
City officials blamed a shortfall in tax revenue, but Jost writes that other potential issues also caused an impasse.
There are some interesting similarities in the new stadium projects for Des Moines and Portland, where team organizers/owners shared the exact same bold blueprint to turn industrial waterfront and blight into soccer-specific commercial engines.
But there’s one enormous difference. Des Moines was going to build with some public money while Hearts officials have made it clear their $50 million project will be privately funded.
I love this Substack. Your coverage is adding a new layer of depth to my Hearts fandom. Thanks for all your fantastic work!