PORTLAND — The June Swoon is over for the Portland Hearts of Pine.

A flurry of second-half activity Wednesday night resulted in four goals and a much-needed 5-1 USL League One victory against the Richmond Kickers that had fans buzzing with feel-good frenzy at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

Ollie Wright scored the go-ahead goal on a header off a great cross from Jaden Jones-Reilly in the 57th minute. In short order, Konstantinos Georgallides and Aboubacar Camara each added a goal, and then Camara got a second goal late in extra time.

Diego Gonzalez, playing his third game with Portland, added friskiness to the midfield and opened the scoring with a header in the first half. He also assisted on Camara’s first goal with a slick through pass.

Portland had lost four straight games, including three in a row in USL1, the most recent a 5-1 shellacking at Westchester on Friday.

“We all knew that wasn’t good enough from everybody, so playing at home, we all got to come out and give it all we’ve got,” Camara said. “We all said, if we give it everything we’ve got, the result will take care of it. I think that’s what we did.

“I’m really happy we got the win because we needed it.”

The Hearts are now 4-5-5 in league play and moved from 13th to 10th in the 17-team league, just three points out of the eight-team playoff picture. Their next game is next Friday at FC Naples (Florida).

Richmond’s tough season continued. The Kickers are 3-8-2, and 0-5-1 in their last six games.

PREVIOUSLY IN JUNE

When the month of May ended with a gritty home win against Spokane, Portland was 3-2-4 in league play and overcoming injuries.

June has not been as kind. Portland entered Wednesday’s game on a four-game losing streak. Digging into the numbers, the skid looked even worse.

It was the first time the Hearts had lost four straight games in their brief year-and-a-half history. They were outscored 15-5 in that stretch, and 15-3 starting with the two extra-time goals they allowed in a 3-2 loss at Corpus Christi.

Portland had also lost three straight against USL League One games for the first time.

Two of the four losses were ugly 5-1 affairs. Portland didn’t lose by more than three goals and had just four losses by two or more goals in 2025.

“We’ve been complicit in the results that we’ve done, but we’ve also been ruthlessly punished for every little thing that’s gone wrong,” Murphy said.

The difference between winning 5-1 and losing 5-1?

“Grit. Resilience. Self belief. And I don’t know that we’re out of it yet, but we were in such a fragile place,” Murphy said. “I’ll give you a Maine analogy. When you’re in the glades skiing … if you look at the trees, you run into the trees. We were sort of always looking at the trees in that stretch.”

GOOD CONNECTIONS

The Hearts showed greater diversity in their attack, with more people involved. Gonzalez and Georgallides worked well, with midfielder Diogo Barbosa “bossing people,” as Murphy put it, to step forward and get involved. Wright’s goal came as a result of him getting deep into the box to be in position to score on a header.

Georgallides, who scored in the season-opening win, had last started May 9 at Omaha Union. His runs on the right flank and crosses into the box were an immediate spark.

“Energy. Forward runs. Productivity, and I think I can help teams win games. Emphatically,” Georgallides said.

Georgallides helped create the go-ahead goal with a pass to Jones-Riley, who worked hard to get past his defender just shy of the touch line before sending his cross to Wright.

Georgallides’ goal was the result of his own run that put him in position to pounce on a miscue. Wright made a rush up the left side and then sent a cross to the far post that Richmond defender Samuel Layton nearly headed into his own goal. Keeper Yann Fillion was able to deflect the ball, but it went to the right side and Georgallides calmly slotted a shot into the open net from a sharp angle.

“The willingness to get in the box, get behind people and get in the box showed,” Murphy said. “Ollie getting on the back post. Tino was a threat all night running in behind. I thought it was good. We needed it.”

Camara and Georgallides overlapped one season at the University of Louisville, so they have experience playing together. In the first half, two Georgallides crosses were close but not quite on target with Camara’s runs.

“Tino spoke to me and told me to just hold my runs a little bit. In the first half, I’m making my runs a little too early,” Camara said. “So it’s just holding and timing.”

RETURNS AND NOTES

Portland was glad to have Mikey Lopez back on the game-day roster. Lopez, who had bene out more than month because of an injury, entered as a 75th-minute sub with Portland leading 4-1. … Sean Vinberg, one of Portland’s primary starting center backs in 2025, became the second former Hearts player to return to Fitzpatrick, wearing the captain’s band for Richmond. Vinberg was released at the end of the 2025 season. He made 33 starts for Portland, second most on the team. … Maine Gatorade High School Soccer Players of the Year Finn Coburn (Scarborough) and Noelle Mallory (Cape Elizabeth) handled the honorary coin toss before the match.