PORTLAND, Maine — For an eighth consecutive game, the Portland Hearts of Pine failed to win a game.
The streaking (in a bad way) Hearts fell 4-1 to Fort Wayne FC (8-6-7) on Saturday night at Fitzpatrick Stadium. Portland (5-8-10) now has three draws and five losses during its season-worst stretch.
Here are three instant observations:
Where can Portland find goals? The club has scored once in each of the past four games, and in the fifth game before those, the Hearts were shut out.
Having Masashi Wada and Titus Washington return from injuries would be a boost but Wada is out until 2027 and it’s unclear when Washington could be fit enough to return. When asked by a fan at an event Thursday night if he’d return soon, Washington only could say, “I don’t know. We will see.”
Finishing in the final 18 has been a significant problem throughout the season as the Hearts have only scored 1.4 goals per game in 2026 vs. 1.6 goals in 2025.Defending the 18 has been even worse, particularly in the air. Portland is giving up 1.8 goals per game this season, as opposed to the more miserly 1.3 goals it conceded per game in 2025.
In the postgame press conference, both Portland coach Bobby Murphy and goalkeeper Hunter Morse pointed to a lot of bad luck for not only Saturday’s result but the club’s overall struggles this season. The first tally was a good example of that as Fort Wayne’s Taig Healy (read more about him in Monday’s match report) put his club up 1-0 in the eighth minute with what appeared to be from an impossible angle, fired from no more than a foot from the back line, far to the side of the goal.
But the second and fourth goals for Fort Wayne were a stark reminder of the problems Portland has had in the air all season. Both were headers that defenders just failed to reach.
Coming into the game, the Hearts only won 48 percent of aerial duels while Fort Wayne was at 52 percent. Figuring out how to defend better in the air will have to be a focus for 2027.Why are we mentioning 2027? With nine league games remaining, the Hearts are in real jeopardy of not making the playoffs.
You wouldn’t have known it from the fans though. The more than 6,300 in attendance arrived in a particularly excited and intense mood (in the press box, the overall feel was tonight was the loudest of the season).
Despite the result, the fans can only be described as boisterous throughout, trying to encourage the players, even as the game turned into a rout. When Portland midfielder Ollie Wright (who subbed in midway through the second half) netted a penalty kick, the crowd screamed with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, it was in the 86th minute, long after the game had been essentially decided.
One sweet moment from the game involving the fans is when the supporters’ group, the Dirigo Union, honored the recently deceased Dolly Parton with a band version of the iconic song “9 to 5” — the song made famous by the 1980 film of the same name.The Hearts might be struggling, but there’s always a new opportunity that will present itself in the next game. As Dolly once said, “If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one."
Portland takes to the road with a chance to pave a win. It won’t be easy though; The Hearts play at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday against the Charlotte Independence, who are in first place in the USL League One.
Great take aways. Curious to what you think they strategy might be to 'pave' more goals. Do you think these players can do it?