Hearts Hold Naples Scoreless in Huge Win
Published on September 21, 2025 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
Portland Hearts of Pine News Release
PORTLAND, Maine - When the dust settles on Portland Hearts of Pine's inaugural season, the 21st night of September may turn out to be one Hearts fans remember for a long, long time.
A 39th-minute penalty by leading goalscorer Ollie Wright proved to be the difference between Portland Hearts of Pine (9-10-4) and FC Naples (11-8-6) on Sunday night, with the 1-0 win moving Portland back into fifth place in the standings, but crucially, positioning them just four points behind fourth-place Naples with two games in hand.
And with the top four teams hosting first-round playoff games, tonight's win may prove to be the difference between staying at Fort Fitzy and making a trip to Portland International Jetport on the first weekend in November.
Portland almost took the lead after just five minutes, but Nathan Messer's inswinging free kick hit the far post and rebounded back into play. Sean Vinberg then attempted a bicycle kick, but his shot was unable to threaten goalkeeper Lalo Delgado.
Delgado faced a more serious test in the 36th minute when Titus Washington headed the ball goalward; Delgado leaped backwards and tipped the ball over the crossbar, keeping it out of the back of the net.
Just one minute later, Naples defender Jake Dengler handled the ball in the penalty area while sliding to block a Michel Poon-Angeron shot. Dengler threw the ball away in disgust, earning a yellow card for his efforts, and referee Edson Carvajal pointed to the spot. With the setting sun in his eyes, Wright sent his penalty low, left, and into the open side of the goal as Delgado had guessed wrong, bringing the record crowd of 5,862 to its feet.
Dengler's night to forget continued in the 80th minute when he grabbed Masashi Wada's jersey while trying to prevent Wada from launching a counterattack. Carvajal showed Dengler his second yellow card of the night, and just like that Naples were not just down a goal; they were also down to 10 men. The shorthanded visitors were unable to trouble Morse from there, and Hearts took home the 1-0 win.
GOALS
POR - Ollie Wright (PK 39')
NAP - NONE
DISCIPLINE
YC - HC Bobby Murphy (POR 8'), Jake Dengler (NAP 37'), Nathan Messer (POR 44'), Ollie Wright (POR 68'), Dengler (NAP 80'), Chris Heckenberg (NAP 85'), Hunter Morse (POR 90+3')
RC - Dengler (NAP 80')
LINEUPS
POR - Hunter Morse, Nathan Messer, Sean Vinberg, Kemali Green, Mo Mohamed, Mikey Lopez, Michel Poon-Angeron (Pat Langlois 69'), Masashi Wada (Evan Southern 89'), Walter Varela (Mickey Reilly 90'), Ollie Wright (Jay Tee Kamara 75'), Titus Washington
Unused substitutes - Kash Oladapo, Shandon Wright, Natty James
NAP - Lalo Delgado ©, Brecc Evans, Julian Cisneros, Max Glasser, Jake Dengler, Marc Torellas, Chris Heckenberg (Gustavo Fernandes 90'), Kevin O'Connor (Luke Prpa 64'), Jaden Onen (Dominick Bachstein 72'), Karsen Henderlong, Andres Ferrin
Unused substitutes - Joel Serrano, Thomas Ritondale, Tyler Pasnik, Ian Cerro
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