Hearts Defeat Halifax in Club's First International Friendly
Published on August 7, 2025 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
Portland Hearts of Pine News Release
PORTLAND, Maine - On a night that started festive and ended feisty, Portland Hearts of Pine defeated nine-man Halifax Wanderers 2-1 on Wednesday night, courtesy of a first-half goal by Mickey Reilly and a stoppage-time stunner by Ollie Wright.
The match was Portland's first-ever international friendly, and saw the Boys of Maine take on their neighbors (neighbours?) to the north, Canadian Premier League side Halifax. The evening got underway in suitably celebratory fashion, with local Acadian musician Robert Sylvain performing both countries' national anthems before Governor Janet Mills joined the teams on the field for the coin toss, flanked by school children holding both nations' flags.
Lewiston native Khalid Hersi and new signings Séga Coulibaly and Noah Kvifte earned their first starts of the season, and Hearts came out on the front foot, eager to make an impact in front of the sold-out crowd of 5,645.
Portland opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Reilly forced a turnover outside the penalty area, collected the loose ball, and drove a low shot into the bottom far corner of the goal.
Hearts took the advantage into the break, but Halifax knotted the match up at a goal apiece in the 57th minute when Jefferson Alphonse sprung Tavio Ciccarelli with a beautiful long ball down the middle of the field. Alphonse collected the ball in stride, then rocketed a powerful shot past Kash Oladapo and into the back of the net.
Two minutes later Bobby Murphy rung the changes for Portland, taking advantage of the friendly's unlimited substitutions to bring Mikey Lopez, Kemali Green, Patrick Langlois, Michel Poon-Angeron, Ollie Wright, Titus Washington, and Jay Tee Kamara all on at the same time.
As the sun set over Fort Fitzy both sides dialed up the intensity in search of a matchwinner, and all notions of the match being a "friendly" began to go out the window.
In the 78th minute, Halifax's Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé was shown his second yellow card of the match after elbowing Titus Washington in the face, earning the Wanderers player a red card and an early trip to the locker room.
Two minutes into stoppage time, a Hearts corner caromed around the Halifax penalty area before falling at the feet of Wright, who put his laces through the ball and blasted it past Wanderers goalkeeper Aiden Rushenas. That turned out to be Rushenas' last game action of the night: as the crowd roared in unbridled delight at the late goal, a melee broke out in the penalty area; the shot-stopper waded into the fray and shoved referee Andrew Porada, earning him a straight red card.
Minutes later Porada blew his whistle for full-time, bringing an end to a spirited friendly that saw the home team come out on top, and whet the home fans' appetites for potential future matchups in the burgeoning international rivalry.
Khalid Hersi had this to say on playing in front of other Mainers, friends, and family: "The support just knowing that the majority of these people are from Maine. I mean, it's amazing, to be honest, knowing that I'm representing Maine, I'm playing for Maine, so having people out there and supporting us and watching was is best."
And Coach Bobby Murphy on the "friendly" getting heated: "I understand their guys being disappointed, losing at the end, being down a man, and playing hard. And, you know, that's just the way it is. I would be disappointed if everybody and the crowd were disappointed. The guys came out and just went through the motions. You know, I mean, that's what I told them in the locker room, they had a responsibility to themselves, to change my mind, and two, that people paid good, hard-earned money to come watch them tonight, and they owe them a performance, so go out and put in a shift."
GOALS
POR - Reilly 18' (unassisted), O. Wright 90+2' (unassisted)
HFX - Ciccarelli 57' (Alphonse)
DISCIPLINE
YC - Kvifte (POR 21'), Gagnon-Laparé (HFX 26'), Alphonse (HFX 38'), S. Wright (POR 45+1'), Gagnon-Laparé (HFX 78'), Rushenas (HFX 88'), Oladapo (POR 90+4')
RC - Gagnon-Laparé (HFX 78'), Rushenas (HFX 90+2')
LINEUPS
PORTLAND - Kash Oladapo, Mo Mohamed (Mikey Lopez 59'), Shandon Wright (Kemali Green 59'), Séga Coulibaly © (Sean Vinberg 46'), Nathan Messer (Colby Quiñones 46'), Khalid Hersi (Patrick Langlois 59'), Mickey Reilly (Michel Poon-Angeron 59'), Natty James (Walter Varela 46'), Jake Keegan (Ollie Wright 59'), Noah Kvifte (Titus Washington 59'), Evan Southern (Jay Tee Kamara 59')
Unused substitutes - Trialist
HALIFAX - Aiden Rushenas, Luka Robichaud-Allah (Mohamed Tolba 59', Adam Allain 90+2'), Jefferson Alphonse (Ben Thompson 73'), Julian Dunn © (Luka Juricic 46'), Jabu Deng, Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé, Alessandro Biello, Joven Mann (Ben Marsh 69'), Camilo Vasconcelos, David Mavakala, Tavio Ciccarelli
Unused substitutes - NONE
United Soccer League One Stories from August 7, 2025
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- FC Naples Shines on National Stage with 2-1 Victory over South Georgia Tormenta FC - FC Naples
- Hearts Defeat Halifax in Club's First International Friendly - Portland Hearts of Pine
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