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PORTLAND — There was fight and effort to the end, even when a late red card forced the Portland Hearts of Pine to finish the game a man down.
But not the badly needed result.
The Hearts fell to Forward Madison 2-1 in Sunday’s USL League One match before 6,256 fans at Fitzpatrick Stadium. The loss dropped Portland (5-9-6) a spot to 12th, and they are now 10 points off the playoff pace with road games coming up this week at defending champion One Knoxville on Wednesday and in Richmond on Saturday.
Portland is now 3-4-3 in league games at home, 2-5-3 on the road, and winless in its last five league games (0-4-1).
“I thought there was energy all night,” said Portland coach Bobby Murphy. “There’s been so many nights when I’ve stood in front of (the media) with real frustration and anger and angst in my heart. And I hate losing probably more than I like winning. And I can’t fault them tonight.”
Madison improves to 12-5-3 and is now in third place.
Portland, meanwhile, must hit the road in search of answers, knowing time is running out.
“Tonight, I’d say we left our all out there,” said Michel Poon-Angeron, the Hearts’ on-field captain. “Nobody can argue against that. But that’s football. Sometimes things don’t go your way. We just have to dig our heels in. We have 12 more games to play and leave our all, and who knows? There’s been greater comeback stories.”
Madison scored first on a beautiful goal in the 21st minute. From deep on the left side, Joshua Bolma lofted a curving pass toward the far corner of the 6-yard box. Multiple players converged toward the ball, including Portland goalie Hunter Morse who had a clear read on the play. But Madison’s Bibi Karamoko got there first, and his firm header zipped past the incoming Morse and into the left side of the net.
Portland showed a solid response and generated five corner kicks in quick succession. New fullback Eiji Hata, who drew the start at left back, had a whack at a bouncing ball that deflected off the top left corner.
Morse kept it a one-goal margin with a penalty kick save on Karamoko in the 29th minute.
For much of the first half, Madison’s three-back defense, which essentially morphed into a 5-man back line, kept the Hearts attack to the fringes. Madison captain and right back Kevin Carmichael and dropping midfielder Aaron Edwards were especially aware of where Portland’s leading scorer Ollie Wright (6 goals, 5 assists in league) was operating.
Madison upped the lead to 2-0 on a direct kick goal by Ryan Carmichael in the 57th minute, and had several chances to increase the lead over the next 20 minutes. Morse made a huge save after a Mo Mohamed giveaway in the defensive end. Then, moments later, Mohamed cleared a shot off the goal line.
Portland went down a man in the 82nd minute when Jay Tee Kamara was given a read card for what appeared, on replay, to be at most a mild foul. Kamara will be suspended for Wednesday’s game at One Knoxville.
Diego Gonzalez put Portland on the board with a 35-yard laser to the right side of the goal in the 87th minute, cutting the lead to 2-1 and raising the fan base’s decibel level significantly. The Hearts had rushes to the offensive end but no further shots on goal.
Several of Portland’s season-long struggles continued. The Hearts fell behind at home for the sixth time in 10 league matches. They gave up a set piece goal. Offensively, they lacked the transition opportunities that defined their offense in 2025 and again struggled to turn offensive zone possession into first-rate chances.
“At this point, we have to stick together. We talked about that this week,” Gonzalez said. “If we’re going to try to make a run, we have to stick together. We gave everything.”
NEW AQUISITIONS
Hata started and played the full match in his Portland debut.
Felipe Rodriguez Gentile, the 19-year-old forward acquired from Preston North End, an English Champions franchise, came on in the 70th minute. Gentile earned a yellow card less than a minute into his American debut for late tackle attempt. He also made several runs and won a couple headers in Portland’s attempted late rally.
WHO WON THE KIT BATTLE?
Before the Hearts became the darlings of USL1 social media and marketing in 2025, Forward Madison was the league’s “it” team, known for its style (flamingos) and boisterous fan base.
Sunday night, Madison showed they still have some skin in the marketing game, as they wore their alternate black-and-white uniforms with a Holstein cow pattern, first worn in June of this year in homage to Wisconsin’s Dairy Month. Unfortunately, the pink numbers were basically a smear of color to a fan’s eye.
Madison was briefly serenaded with Old McDonald’s Farm, “With a moo, moo here and a moo, moo there.”
Portland went with its original woods and water green and dark blue with large, clear white numerals.