PORTLAND, Maine – Third-place AV Alta FC (6-3-4) ran its unbeaten stretch to six matches in a row on Wednesday, upending Portland Hearts of Pine (2-3-6) 2-0 on a sweltering Fitzpatrick Stadium summer night.
Hearts took 15 shots to Alta’s eight and created all of the match’s big chances, but six Carlos Avilez saves ensured the home side would go home empty handed in front of a heartbroken fourth-consecutive sell-out crowd.
Portland looked lively in the first half, taking eight shots and forcing Avilez to make three saves. But it was the visiting team that drew first blood, when right winger Jerry Desdunes beat Hunter Morse for the match’s opening goal.
Hearts came close to tying the match in the 52nd minute when a JayTee Kamara free kick from just outside the penalty area finally beat Avilez, only for the post to deny Portland’s diminutive winger. The shot bounced back into play, but Nathan Messer’s putback header was high of the target.
One minute later Ollie Wright found himself through on goal with another quality opportunity to level the score, but Avilez was his equal and threw his body in front of the shot, denying Wright his chance.
Desdunes proved to be the killer again in the 77th minute, feeding Walmer Martinez who then uncorked a shot from long range that curled around Morse’s outstretched arms and into the back of the net.
In the 85th minute, substitute Mo Mohamed unleashed a peach of a cross from the right touchline, but Titus Washington could not get enough on the shot to trouble Avilez. Washington had one additional attempt in the 88th minute, but was unsuccessful and the match finished 2-0 in favor of the red hot visitors.
Up next: Portland Hearts of Pine stay at home this weekend, hosting South Georgia Tormenta FC on Sunday, July 6. The match will kick off at 6:30 p.m., and will stream on NESN and ESPN+.
“It’s so hard to swallow,” said JayTee Kamara. “And it’s gonna be difficult for us to forget about this loss, but we’re gonna work on this because we know we are capable of doing this. We have to put the ball in the back of the net, and we do our best, and we try our best to discover today’s now our day. So we have to keep going and think about Sunday’s game.”
GOALS
POR – 0
ALTA – Desdunes 39’ (Robledo), Martinez 77’ (Desdunes)
DISCIPLINE
YC – Washington (POR 15’), Wada (POR 35’), Blancas (ALTA 59’), Alassane (ALTA 68’), Avilez ALTA 79’)
RC – NONE
LINEUPS
POR – Hunter Morse, Nathan Messer, Sean Vinberg, Kemali Green, Colby Quiñones (Mo Mohamed 84’), Mikey Lopez ©, Masashi Wada (Pat Langlois 74’), Ollie Wright, Jake Keegan (Natty James 64’), Titus Washington, JayTee Kamara (Walter Varela 74’)
Unused substitutes – Samuel Mahlamäki Camacho, Shandon Wright, Kash Oladapo
ALTA – Carlos Avilez, Miguel Pajaro ©, Steven Ramos, Luca Mastrantonio, Maboumou Alassane (Osvaldo Lay 87’), Sebastian Cruz, Jimmie Villalobos (Christian Ortiz 83’), Harrison Robledo, Eduardo Blancas (Adam Aoumaich), Jerry Desdunes (Erick Gonzalez 87’), Javier Mariona (Walmer Martinez 73’)
Unused Substitutes – Emmanuel Alaribe, Denzil Smith
Damian Foley
Director of Fan Experience