Portland Hearts of Pine Feeling Confident Ahead of First Playoff Game
Let's preview Saturday's game.
Recent performances give Portland Hearts of Pine confidence as they travel to face Chattanooga Red Wolves SC in a quarterfinal playoff match on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7 pm.
After scoring just 18 goals in their first 15 games, the Hearts’ offense has come alive, scoring 30 in the second half of the season.
The high-paced, front-foot soccer was on full display when they defeated third-placed Spokane Velocity 6-1 in the penultimate regular-season game.
Even though they tied AV Alta 2-2 in the finale, head coach Bobby Murphy saw a lot of positives.
“I think if you go back to the Westchester game, when we were up two to one and we started backing up [and ultimately tied 2-2] versus last week against Spokane, where we never backed up,” Murphy recalled. “I felt we made a conscious or unconscious movement toward personifying what we want to be, and I thought you saw that again tonight.
“Even down to ten men, we’re still pressing, we’re still chasing, we’re still creating things, causing them trouble. That’s what we have to hang on to. That’s what we have to really celebrate.”
This weekend’s game will be a challenging one, as Chattanooga has conceded the second-fewest goals in the league (30). Hearts recorded a 2-1 road loss to them in June and a 1-1 home draw in September.
While Hearts will be without Masashi Wada, who will serve a one-game red card suspension, they’ve welcomed back Azaad Liadi, who scored against the Red Wolves in the summer.
Liadi played eight minutes against Alta, his first time on the field since surgery.
“It’s just another arrow in our quiver that we’ll have going into the playoffs,” Murphy said of the striker.
Hearts’ attack has been a strength during the final part of the season, as they’ve only been shut out three times in their last 15 games.
“On our day, we can score against anyone, any manner of goals,” Ollie Wright said. “We’re really confident going into the playoffs. We started to find our stride, especially going forward, these last few games. We just got to take that into the playoffs.”
While Hearts would undoubtedly prefer to play at Fort Fitzy, they aren’t backing away from a road playoff game.
“I think they’re unaffected by things,” Murphy said. “We tweak things, but I don’t think we have to change a bunch of stuff to go on the road. We are who we are, and everybody’s comfortable in their roles. Yeah, I would back us on the road.”