Hearts Defeat Pittsburgh, Extend Unbeaten Run To Five

“What a resilient group of young men, who just fight for each other.”

While they were already eliminated from the Jägermeister Cup, Portland Hearts of Pine still had much to play for when they welcomed the Pittsburgh Riverhounds to Fitzpatrick Stadium.

Hearts were on a four-game unbeaten run, putting them in a playoff spot. Friday’s non-league match wouldn’t affect their position in the standings, but it could jeopardize their mindset ahead of a short break.

“Momentum is so hard to build, but it’s so easy to lose,” Pat Langlois explained. “For us, we go on our mental health break for four days and then away to Knoxville. You don’t want to be taking time off after a loss.”

Hearts faced adversity against Pittsburgh, playing down a man for 60 minutes after Kash Oladapo was shown a red card.

The home side stood firm—though they did need big plays from Hunter Morse and Nathan Messer—to keep the game scoreless.

Substitutes Ollie Wright and Titus Washington combined for a goal in the 61st minute, kicking off a 15-minute period where both teams traded goals until it was 2-2.

“After we got the red, we just stuck together,” Washington said. “Nothing was going in. We were still attacking and making stuff happen, so I think we all knew that we could win this game. I think the team's resilience was great.”

The competition’s rules required penalties, enabling Hearts to send their fans home happy. Morse made a stop while Wright, JayTee Kamara, Masashi Wada, Washington, and Langlois completed their attempts.

Whether it’s Morse immediately making a save after coming off the bench, Nathan Messer wildly celebrating a goal he wasn’t involved in, or defender Shandon Wright playing up top during the game’s final minutes because he was cramping, the result revealed a lot about Hearts.

“What a resilient group of young men, who just fight for each other,” head coach Bobby Murphy said. “Shandon is out on his feet and cramping and still doing the best he can when we threw him out there. Now you've got Titus playing out wide for the last ten minutes. He’s never played there in his life.

“The goals were fantastic, but just the grit and determination were something that we can’t be more proud of.”