Hearts of Pine exceed expectations in inaugural match
- toddtinkham
- Mar 21
- 1 min read
A sellout crowd of well over 5k showed up to Lewiston High School for Portland Hearts of Pine inaugural match. Hearts of Pine took on CD Faialense, an amateur side based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Maine's first professional soccer team showed their quality early and often and were rewarded when Walter Varela scored the teams first goal ever in the 17th minute. Varela was left unmarked in the middle of the box and took his chance well.
Hearts of Pine 2nd goal came 12 minutes later when Azaad Liadi caught a left footed half volley doubling the lead. Liadi capped of his brace in the 62nd minute, putting the match out of reach.
The goal of the night came from ex RIFC man Nathan Messer. Messer's left footed free kick golazo capped the scoring and sent the capacity crowd into a frenzy. Below is my X post with the vid of Messer's stunner.
CD Faialense best opportunity came from a free kick just outside the box which forced keeper Hunter Morse into making an impressive save. Late game sub Francis Mulkern provided a spark off the bench for Faialense, nearly scoring a brace with his 2 opportunities.
Local fave Khalid Hersi was given the opportunity to stretch is legs over the closing moments of the match proving to the hometown crowd that with hard work and belief anything can happen.
The match finished 4-0. Portland now waits to see who they will play in the 2nd round of the US Open Cup, which takes place April 1st or 2nd.
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