The Portland Hearts of Pine finally scored on a corner kick, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
With his team down a goal to the Chattanooga Red Wolves, the top team in USL League One, rookie center back Kemali Green got his head on a well-placed back-post cross by Nathan Messer in the 63rd minute. Green’s first professional goal was also the first Hearts’ goal via a header.
The trifecta tally was enough to earn Portland a 1-1 tie Saturday night in front of a team-record 5,811 fans at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
“We’d won three in a row and the last game we had to come back, so we knew it was in us. So for that we’re very, very pleased. Obviously we wanted all three (points for a win). And for me, I’m super happy,” Green said. “It’s a joy for me. To achieve a dream of becoming a professional and scoring my first goal in front of these amazing fans, I’m absolutely pleased.”
Portland (7-4-10) fell behind in first-half added time when Chattanooga (12-2-9) was awarded a penalty kick that Omar Hernandez converted.
Portland moved into sixth place in the USL1 standings — two spots above the playoff cut line —with 31 points. The Hearts are 4-0-2 in their last six games. Chattanooga, on a 9-0-4 run, remained firmly in first place with 45 points.
After a strong opening 25 minutes, Portland was hit with big troubles, especially for Green’s partners at the center back position.
Starter Sean Vinberg and his replacement, Sega Coulibaly, left the Fitzpatrick Stadium turf because of injuries in the 25th and 33rd minute, respectively. Just over 12 minutes later, team captain Mikey Lopez, forced into the center back spot, was called for a foul that resulted in Chattanooga’s penalty kick. Lopez and Yanis Lelin appeared to come together simultaneously, if not Lelin running through Lopez, about 5 yards off the end line to the right of keeper Hunter Morse.
Referee Carlos Rodriguez quickly blew his whistle and indicated a penalty kick was forthcoming.
“It’s something I regret. I still don’t think it’s a (penalty). I didn’t really hit him. He collided into me,” Lopez said. “But I should have been smart enough that I shouldn’t have put myself in a situation to even give the ref a chance of calling it.”
The foul and subsequent goal drew a chorus of boos from the always vocal crowd, as well as animated disagreement from Hearts coach Bobby Murphy, and it clearly flustered Portland.
“I felt like we were in control until the injury, and the injury, and the penalty,” Murphy said. “It was like a triple body blow. That’s why they have halftime, to give everybody a chance to catch their breath.”
Green added: “Obviously with two guys going down injured and the PK against us, we could have dropped our heads, but we were just, ‘keep going.’ We’d won three in a row, and the last game we had to come back, so we knew it was in us.”
Green’s goal was payoff for some practice work and, according to Messer, the recognition that the Hearts needed to try some different tactics. Against Chattanooga, Portland played several short corners. On Green’s goal, Ollie Wright sent a short pass to Messer, who then struck a left-footed cross that looped across the box.
“With how we’ve been doing corners, which obviously is not good enough, we had to change something,” Messer said. The plan was to use the short corner approach and trust that Hearts players can get past a defender and hit a cross from a better angle.
Chattanooga’s five-back, packed in approach and physical style, combined with Portland’s aggressive desire to move forward, created a match full of fouls. The teams combined for eight yellow cards (five for Charlotte, three for Portland).
“It’s that time of year where everything matters, every point matters,” Murphy said. “They want to stay in first place. We feel like we want to keep climbing the table. Playoffs are around the corner.”
NOTES: Portland, which had 10 days off, returns to action Wednesday at Richmond (6-12-5). The Kickers gained a 0-0 tie at Fitzpatrick in the teams’ first meeting. … Coulibaly, a former MLS player, was on crutches in the second half. Murphy said he had not received any word on Coulibaly’s status. Vinberg had a welt above his eye.
