Portland Hearts of Pine Reflect On First-Ever League Win
“Happy for the fans and ownership and for our players. Now we just have to learn lessons from that and move forward.”
Jay Tee Kamara paused when asked about playing in front of nearly 6,000 fans at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
“I’m speechless,” he said.
The energy was palpable throughout the stadium as Portland Hearts of Pine looked to collect their first league win in their second home game.
Fans sang Elvis Presley’s “Can't Help Falling in Love” before the opening kick. Then came the skol chant—appropriately called the Heart Attack—led by Maine native Patrick Dempsey.
Left back Nathan Messer stated that the fans are a big part of what makes Hearts unique.
“I can’t talk enough about the fans,” Messer said. “Whenever I talk about Portland, the first thing that comes to mind are the fans. They really make the experience so much better than it would be at so many other USL One clubs.”
The fans were rewarded with three points for attending another dreary home game. Kamara scored the opener before FC Naples equalized.
This set up Walter Varela—the club’s first-ever goalscorer in a competitive match—to again etch his name into the history books.
“It just keeps happening,” Varela said with a laugh.
It’s an important milestone to get the first home and league win, but Hearts players and staff believe the game could’ve been more comfortable.
Naples’ goalkeeper received a red card in the 7th minute, which was unfortunate considering the 26-year-old was making his league debut on his birthday.
The team’s goalkeeper coach came in. He was the alternate because Naples’ starting goalkeeper had been ejected midweek.
Naples received a second red card in the 77th minute, though Hearts were already leading 2-1.
“It was more relief than anything else,” head coach Bobby Murphy said when asked about the emotions connected to the win. “We made it hard on ourselves. Credit to Naples. They didn’t give up, and we sort of took our foot off the gas after going up 1-0.
“Happy for the fans and ownership and for our players. Now we just have to learn lessons from that and move forward.”
Like Murphy, Messer believes Hearts weren’t at their best against Naples.
“I think we’ve had much better performances and come out with not as good results,” Messer said. “At the end of the day, we won our first game, and hopefully this kind of kick-starts our season.”
Hearts are on the road this weekend to face Forward Madison. They return to “Fitzy” on May 31 to host Detroit City in their second Jagermeister Cup game.
Kamara is excited to see what the fans bring for that game.
“Football is all about the 12th man,” Kamara said. “They are the 12th man. If they keep coming and give us the support we need, we’re going to give them the result they need.”