Portland Hearts of Pine v. AV Alta: Three Thoughts

Set pieces, plus two more thoughts.

Portland Hearts of Pine’s inaugural regular season came to an end on Saturday when they tied AV Alta 2-2

Here are three thoughts from the game.

---

Set Pieces

Both teams found success via set pieces on Saturday night.

Eduardo Blancas struck in the 8th minute, hitting a stinging free kick from 30 yards out.

Hearts equalized in the 35th when Ollie Wright wisely played a quick corner, finding a nearby Nathan Messer. The left back’s cross was nodded in by Masashi Wada at the near post.

“Ollie and I, we felt like we were on top of them, especially coming down this left side,” Messer said. “We had a lot of opportunities, and we were just trying to keep the tempo up, keep it as quickly as possible.

“That’s something Ollie and I talk about all the time, just if we’re down their necks, don’t let them breathe. It felt like a moment where we didn’t want to let them breathe.”

Messer collected the go-ahead goal in the 63rd minute before Blancas scored another picturesque free kick to bring the game to 2-2.

---

Red Card

Wada was ejected in the 72nd minute for receiving a second yellow card just four minutes after his first. He will now miss Hearts’ quarterfinal playoff game.

“If you watch Sashi, he hasn’t done anything all year to warrant the treatment he got tonight,” head coach Bobby Murphy said. “Yeah, he reacted after the one.

“It’s unfortunate [he will miss the playoff game], but we’ve had guys go down all year, and the next guy has stepped up. We’ve just built that sort of culture.

“Sashi will be really disappointed and really upset, like he let everybody down. We have to let him know he didn’t, and we will just have to pick up the pieces and move on.”

Murphy did reveal a bit about what he said to the center referee after the game.

“[I spoke about] what I just said about Sashi, about the fact that number 44 for them had a yellow card [then] had another foul that, without already having a yellow card, would have been a yellow card, right?” Murphy said. “I just didn’t think it was equitable.”

---

Reflection

The Hearts’ story has felt like a movie at times.

The club slowly gained momentum, providing lifelong memories for locals.

Ollie Wright’s second-half hat trick against Omaha stands out, as does the eight-game unbeaten run to end summer and the 1-0 win over Texoma, where Messer yelled “that’s what I do” after scoring.

As such, it seemed like the stage was set for Hearts to host a playoff game, especially after Messer brought the game to 2-1.

But soccer doesn’t always follow the script.

It’s unfortunate that Fitzpatrick Stadium won’t host post-season soccer. That said, the storybook ending could still occur.

Even if it doesn’t, there’s a lot to celebrate about the first-year club.

Here’s Murphy: “I have things I believe in both on and off the field. I believe I have a group of players that exemplify those values. I believe we represent a community that buys into what we’re trying to do and I think we really worked hard to provide a team that this community would be proud of on and off the field. This has been just the most wonderful journey.

“I’m so proud of what we’ve done. I’m proud of the people that I work with, both on the technical side and the office side. It’s just been a miraculous journey and I want to thank ownership for giving me this opportunity so far, and thank the fans and thank everybody who’s been behind us every step of the way.”