Portland Hearts of Pine Breeze Past Hartford Athletic in Preseason Friendly
The visitors put four past a Hartford side primarily featuring reserves, trialists, and academy players
A crowd of about 500 — including a good number of traveling Hearts supporters — showed up at Trinity Health Stadium to watch Portland Hearts of Pine cruise to a 4-0 victory over Hartford Athletic in a preseason friendly on Saturday afternoon.
The Latics had a few good chances in the early going, with Kyle Edwards finding himself one-on-one with the keeper twice, but on both occasions, the Hearts netminder was equal to the task. Outside of these opportunities, the run of the play was really with the Hearts as their pressure forced Hartford into a number of errors that the visitors turned into chances. By halftime, the visitors were 3-0 to the good, with virtually all of their chances coming after forcing Hartford to turn the ball over in its own half.
The final goal — and the icing on the cake of a good afternoon for Hearts — came immediately after halftime, when another loose ball from the Latics gifted the visitors the ball in a dangerous position. Slick passing put the ball into a dangerous area, and an excellent finish from Ollie Wright capped off the scoring for the day.
For Hartford, the result underscores concerns about the team’s depth more than anything else. With no starters playing — the club having played a closed-door match against New York Red Bulls II the previous day — the only player on the pitch for the Latics who might reasonably be considered part of the first eleven was midfielder Beverly Makangila and he only joined the team in training in the past week. Joe Farrell, TJ Presthus, Adewale Obalola and Kyle Edwards were the only other senior players in the squad, which also included 2024 Academy Contract players Justin DiCarlo and Kauan Ribeiro. Agnaldo German — another 2024 Academy Contract — was among the substitutes but the side was otherwise made up of academy players who are unlikely to break through to the senior side this year, or triallists who are not expected to make the team.
With virtually no regular starters playing, it’s difficult to assign too much meaning to the Hartford performance, but with only 17 announced players and Makangila and Edwards only joining the club in training this week, the squad feels thin by the standards of the league. Not even having a second eleven that is primarily composed of senior players — or that can give a good account of itself against League One opposition — has to be at least read as a warning sign even if there is undeniable quality in the first eleven.
On the other side of the pitch, Portland will certainly acknowledge the mixed quality of the opposition today but the Hearts of Pine looked sharp, played positively, and took full advantage of their opportunities. Their goals were the result of relentless pressure — the Latics certainly made their fair share of mistakes — but Hearts players were alert and far from wasteful when in possession. Their last goal, immediately after the break, was an excellent team goal, and Hearts fans will no doubt be hoping that their team can muster this sort of performance on a regular basis once USL League One play begins in earnest.
Hartford Athletic begins their campaign next Saturday, March 8th, with a trip to USL Championship newcomers Lexington SC. Portland Hearts of Pine will play the first competitive fixture in club history on Thursday, March 20th in the U.S. Open Cup as they take on 2024 Bay State Soccer League Division 1 Champions CD Faialense.