Hearts' Cinderella Open Cup Run Ends in Lewiston

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USL1 Portland Hearts of Pine

Hearts' Cinderella Open Cup Run Ends in Lewiston

April 16, 2025 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
Portland Hearts of Pine News Release


LEWISTON, Maine - In the end Portland Hearts of Pine could not pull off a second miracle in Lewiston, and two weeks after stunning USL Championship side Hartford Athletic in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, they fell 2-1 to reigning Eastern Conference champions Rhode Island FC in the third round on Tuesday night.

Hearts made a lively start to the match, and almost took the lead in the 30th minute when an Ollie Wright free kick from 35 yards out came close to beating Jackson Lee; it took a desperate lunge from the Rhode Island goalkeeper to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

But it was Rhode Island who scored first, when Aldair Sanchez picked Clay Holstad out with a cross to the far post in the 34th minute and Holstad knocked a one-timer past Hunter Morse. Frank Nodarse made it 2-0 just two minutes later when Portland failed to clear the ball in the penalty area, and it dropped at the defender's feet.

Portland has spent its first three weekends of the regular season on the road, a trio of road trips that includes a 14-hour return journey from Spokane, Wash., and a series of bus rides and flights back from Statesboro, Ga., that saw the team return home sometime after 1:00 a.m. the day before facing Rhode Island.

But in front of a raucous crowd of 2,933 chanting and cheering Mainers, the exhausted team found a second wind in the second half and came out swinging.

In the 65th minute, Portland brought the crowd to its feet when Michel Poon-Angeron forced a turnover at midfield and threaded a pass to Titus Washington, sparking a counterattack. Washington dribbled the ball 20 yards downfield and laced a shot past Lee, halving the deficit and giving hope to every blue-and-green-clad fan in the stands.

That set the stage for a frantic final 25 minutes of end-to-end action that saw the New England rivals combine for almost as many red cards (two) as shots (four).

In the 77th minute, Nathan Messer curled a free kick over Lee's head, only to see the ball flash inches over the bar. The drama ratcheted up one minute later when Karifa Yao picked up his second yellow card in as many minutes for a foul on Masashi Wada, leaving Rhode Island down a man. This time it was Evan Southern's turn to take the free kick, though he could not quite connect with Messer at the far post.

Hearts were reduced to 10 men in the 87th minute when Mikey Lopez received his second yellow card of the match and joined Yao in heading to the locker room early, and as the match ticked into added time it was the Rhode Island bench's turn to receive a booking-the 11th card handed out on the night.

Portland almost produced a second last-gasp stunner in as many Cup matches when, in the eighth minute of stoppage time, Southern rolled a free kick into the path of Natty James, the Trinidad and Tobago international making his first appearance for Portland. James launched a beautifully struck left-footed shot goalward, but Lee proved to be its equal and tipped it wide of the upright.

Patrick Langlois, who made history 72 hours earlier when he scored Portland's first-ever USL League One goal, made one final attempt to tie the match in the 10th minute of stoppage time, but his shot was off target and Hearts' Cup run came to a bittersweet end.

Every game and every experience we've had so far has been a lesson, said Titus Washington, and Bobby keeps reiterating that it's a learning curve, and I think that we're really catching on to it. We take something from every game. It's not just like, we lost. Okay, we lost but what can we fix? What can we do better? I think there are a lot of smart guys on our team, and we're starting to gel more. And you saw the second half we came out and played them off the pitch. I think we did a good job of that.

I think for people who aren't familiar with football, that was a proper Cup match, you know? said Coach Bobby Murphy. I mean, that's what that was. That was nobody holding anything back. And, you know, the fans were fantastic. I can't thank this community enough. They've turned out three times, plus the people who came up from down south. The atmosphere was great.

NEXT UP

Hearts head south to face Hartford Athletic in the first round of the USL Jägermeister Cup on April 26. In the first meeting between the two clubs in 2025, ten-man Portland knocked Hartford out of the Open Cup when Jake Keegan snatched a late equalizer in overtime and Hunter Morse made a huge save during PKs to give Hearts a 4-2 shootout win. The USL Jägermeister Cup will feature all 38 of USL's professional men's clubs competing in a World Cup-style tournament throughout the regular season, and marks the first time a U.S. soccer league has established its own interleague cup.

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GOALS

POR - Titus Washington 65' (Poon-Angeron)

RIFC - Clay Holstad 34' (Aldair Sanchez), Frank Nodarse 37' (unassisted)

DISCIPLINE

YC - Lopez (POR 10'), Nodarse (RIFC 30'), Langlois (POR 35'), Sanchez (45+3'), Poon-Angeron (POR 46'), Shapiro-Thompson (RIFC 49'), Yao (RIFC 76'), Yao (RIFC 78'), Lopez (POR 87'), RIFC bench (90+1')

RC - Yao (RIFC 78'), Lopez (POR 87')

STARTING LINEUPS

Portland Hearts of Pine - Hunter Morse, Nathan Messer, Sean Vinberg, Kemali Green, Jaden Jones-Riley (Pat Langlois '10), Michel Poon-Angeron, Mikey Lopez ©, Masashi Wada, Ollie Wright (Evan Southern '72'), Titus Washington, Walter Varela (Natty James '72)

Unused substitutes: Kash Oladapo, Samuel Mahlamäki Camacho, Shandon Wright, Mickey Reilly

Rhode Island FC - Jackson Lee, Frank Nodarse, Grant Stoneman, Karifa Yao, Joe Brito (Jojea Kwizera 82'), Zachary Herivaux © (Maxi Rodriguez 57'), Clay Holstad (Rio Hope-Gund 82'), Taimu Okiyoshi, Aldair Sanchez, Amos Shapiro-Thompson, JJ Williams (Noah Fuson 68')

Unused substitutes: Cole Dewhurst, Koke Vegas, Kevin Vang

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