Portland Hearts of Pine Struggle on Road Against Chattanooga Red Wolves
Hearts struggle in Chattanooga
Portland Hearts of Pine suffered defeat at the hands of the Chattanooga Red Wolves on Saturday.
The Hearts squad was without outside back Mo Mohamed going into the matchup. The player coming to the end of his 25-day contract was stirring up some conversation amongst the Hearts of Pine supporters pre-match due to his absence.
Mohamed has made a good account of himself in his first two matches, even scoring a goal in the four-goal explosion against Detroit FC in the Jägermeister Cup. Hearts fans may have to wait until their only home match of June against Union Omaha to see if Mohammed has been signed to a full-year contract or released.
Hearts scored early in the 5th minute. The goal came from an Ollie Wright free kick on the edge of the right channel about 25 yards out from goal. The right-footed Wright hooked the ball in towards the back post, and it was grazed by a Chattanooga defender before Azaad Liadi dispatched it into the back of the net.
Chattanooga Red Wolves Wynand Wessels rifled a shot from outside the box through traffic on goal, and Hunter Morse got a meaty right paw on it. But the ball bounced out in front of the goal, and Declan Watters was there to finish the attack before a Hearts defender could clear the ball to tie the game.
Then Joshua Ramos, attacking from the right side and into the box, shot a ball that deflected off Hunter Morse. The deflection popped into the air, and the deflected shot arrived in front of Pedro Hernandez for the easy nod past a sprawling Hearts defender to give Chattanooga a 2-1 lead.
In the 61st minute, head coach Bobby Murphy went to his bench for a quadruple substitution. Colby Quiñonez, Kemali Green, Mickey Reilly, and Walter Varela came off while Michel Poon-Angeron, Samuel Mahlamaki Camacho, Jay Tee Kamara, and Titus Washington came on. The changes would not make much of a difference as Hearts struggled to get a ball on net.
In the 80th minute, a laboring Liadi would come off, and Jake Keegan would enter the match. The Hearts weren’t much of a threat at all in the second half, and the Chattanooga Red Wolves would earn 3 points at home over the Hearts of Pine.
Hearts of Pine would finish 11 shots in the match with only 2 on target. That’s not a great statistic to have if you’re looking for points on the road. Hearts seemed to miss their Trinidad and Tobago international Natty James, who scored a goal and an assist in approximately 20 minutes of work against Saint Kitts and Nevis in a World Cup qualification match.
The Hearts of Pine will battle the down-on-their-luck Union Omaha next week at Fitzpatrick Stadium on June 15. The Hearts are looking for some home cooking to get them back on the points collection march.