Wada Hat Trick Powers Hearts to Huge Road Win
USL1 Portland Hearts of Pine

Wada Hat Trick Powers Hearts to Huge Road Win

Published on September 17, 2025 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
Portland Hearts of Pine News Release


PORTLAND, Maine - In the midst of a torrential Virginia downpour, Masashi Wada shone brightly for Portland Hearts of Pine (8-4-10) on Wednesday night, scoring the second hat trick in the team's brief history and powering Hearts to their highest-scoring night in team history, as Portland beat Richmond Kickers (6-13-5) 5-2 at City Stadium.

Hearts struck first when, in the 12th minute, Wada sent a cross into last week's hero Kemali Green, who headed the ball downward. Chandler O'Dwyer attempted to clear it, but his clearance only went as far as Walter Varela, who unleashed a shot with his left foot. Varela's shot hit O'Dwyer and rebounded back to him, and he chested the ball down onto his right foot before lacing the ball past Jamie Sneddon and into the far side of the Kickers goal.

Richmond equalized in the 21st minute through Darwin Espinal, though the home side's joy was short-lived. In the 27th minute, O'Dwyer was called for a high boot when he struck Varela in the head in the Richmond penalty area. Ollie Wright blasted the penalty home from the spot, giving Portland the lead back at 2-1.

Hearts stretched their lead to 3-1 in the 52nd minute when Wada capped off an end-to-end counter attack that started with Michel Poon-Angeron deep in Portland territory. Poon-Angeron found Titus Washington making a run down the field, and when Washington used the outside of his right boot to square the ball across the edge of the Richmond penalty area, Varela, drawing Richmond defenders around him, let the ball roll past him into Wada's path. Wada took one touch and then, while sliding on the wet grass, buried the ball in the back of the net to give the visitors a two-goal advantage.

In the 68th minute, less than a minute after coming on as a sub, right back Mo Mohamed stood O'Dwyer up along the end line, then lofted a cross towards the far post. Evan Southern, who had come on as a substitute less than a minute prior, headed it back across the goal where Wada tapped it in for his second goal.

The impact sub theme continued in the 76th minute when Hayden Anderson, who had come on for Espinal in the 73rd minute, curled a shot in from long range to cut Portland's lead to 4-2.

Wada then completed his hat trick in the 84th minute after Simon Fitch brought Southern down in the penalty area. Wada saw his penalty saved by Sneddon, but he knocked the rebound home for his third, and Portland's fifth, goal of the night.

UP NEXT: With the win, Hearts moved into fifth place in the standings, seven points out of fourth and a potential home playoff game. Portland has two games in hand over the side currently in fourth-FC Naples, who travel to Maine to face Hearts at 5:00 p.m. this coming Sunday, September 21.

GOALS

POR - Walter Varela 12', Ollie Wright PK 27', Masashi Wada 52' (Titus Washington), Wada 68' (Evan Southern), Wada 84'

RIC - Darwin Espinal 21' (Beckett Howell), Hayden Anderson 76' (Maximiliano Schenfeld)

DISCIPLINE

YC - Darwin Espinal (RIC 4'), Mikey Lopez (POR 20'), Klaidi Cela (RIC 58'), Simon Fitch (RIC 84'), Shandon Wright (POR 88')

RC - NONE

LINEUPS

POR - Hunter Morse, Nathan Messer, Sean Vinberg, Kemali Green, Mo Mohamed (Shandon Wright 87'), Michel Poon-Angeron (Pat Langlois 74'), Mikey Lopez ©, Masashi Wada, Ollie Wright (Noah Kvifte 67'), Titus Washington (Evan Southern 67'), Walter Varela (Jay Tee Kamara 67')

Unused substitutes - Kash Oladapo, Jake Keegan

RIC - Jamie Sneddon, Griffin Garnett, Marcelo Lage, Klaidi Cela (Adrian Billhardt 62'), Chandler O'Dwyer, Beckett Howell (Maximiliano Schenfeld 72'), Darwin Espinal (Hayden Anderson 72'), Nils Seufert (Ryan Baer 72'), Simon Fitch ©, Josh Kirkland (Landon Johnson 72'), Emiliano Terzaghi

Unused substitutes - Pablo Jara, Guilherme França, Rivendi Pierre-Louis, James Vaughan

Check out the Portland Hearts of Pine Statistics

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United Soccer League One Stories from September 17, 2025


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