The Portland Hearts of Pine will be on the road for the USL League One quarterfinals.
Needing a win to have any chance of moving up to fourth place before next weekend’s quarterfinals, Portland tied AV Alta FC, 2-2, on Saturday night in front of 6,049 fans at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
Portland finished its first season of men’s professional soccer with a record of 11-7-12. It will be the fifth, sixth or seventh seed, depending on the results of other games later Saturday.
“This has been the greatest gift of my professional career,” to coach the Hearts of Pine and work in the community, said coach Bobby Murphy to the crowd after the game.
The historic first season began more than seven months ago when 3,200 fans jammed into Lewiston High’s Don Roux Field to see Portland’s inaugural preseason match.
The 4-0 win against amateur squad CD Faialense of Cambridge, Massachusetts, proved Mainers would come out in misty 40-degree weather to see a product they’d waited years to watch; the Dirigo Union supporters’ group would bring the energy, and the players, recruited and signed by Murphy, would play an energetic, attacking style of soccer.
On Saturday, with the temperature only slightly warmer, the Hearts of Pine trying to wrap their fully soldout Fitzy regular-season with style. If they won and both FC Naples and Union Omaha failed to win their final games, Portland would finish fourth.
Portland put itself in position to win when Nathan Messer scored in the 63rd minute for a 2-1 lead.
But AV Alta (8-10-12), needing a win to have any chance at making the playoffs, knotted it up when Eduardo Blancas scored his second goal of the match, both on direct kicks from long distance that got between the near post and Portland keeper Hunter Morse.
Portland’s hopes at getting another go-ahead goal were hurt when Masashi Wada drew a second yellow card in the 72nd minute, forcing Hearts to play a man short the rest of the match.
The score was tied 1-1 at halftime. The Hearts conceded the first goal when Blancas curled in a direct kick from 30 yards in the eighth minute.
Portland tied the game when Wada headed in a quick reset on a corner kick for his ninth goal of the season. Alta’s defense had just come up with a sterling save on a Titus Washington header. Portland went quickly to the corner kick area, and Wright played a short tap to Messer, who used his dangerous left foot to send a short chip to the near post, where Wada was unmarked.
It was Portland’s second goal this season on a set piece, and the second scored on a header.
This story will be updated.
