PORTLAND, Maine – Forward Titus Washington put on a second half clinic against Greenville Triumph SC (4-8-4) on Wednesday night, scoring twice to lead Portland Hearts of Pine (4-3-7) to a 3-1 win at Fitzpatrick Stadium in front of a raucous sold out crowd of 5,680.
The win, Hearts’ second in four days following a 1-0 victory at Texoma FC in a match that didn’t end until after 1:00 a.m. local time Sunday morning, moved the side up to eighth in the USL League One standings.
Greenville almost took the lead in the 54th minute when Rodrigo Robles unleashed a shot that ricocheted off the inside of Mikey Lopez’s left leg and deflected goalward, but Hunter Morse–diving to his left to cover the initial attempt–struck out a leg and kicked Robles’ shot to safety.
One minute later Hearts broke through, when Masashi Wada and Jay Tee Kamara–a duo whose interplay has added a spark down the right flank in recent weeks–combined to break the deadlock. Kamara stood Tyler Polak up near the end line, and chipped the ball into the Greenville penalty area. Michel Poon-Angeron got a touch to it and headed it up into the air, where it fell to Triumph captain Brandon Fricke, who parried it down but right into the path of Wada. Wada settled the ball at his feet then lashed it past Seth Torman and into the back of the net for the first goal of the game, bringing the crowd to its feet.
The red smoke was still pouring from the Dirigo Union and the chorus of Blur’s “Song 2” was still fresh in the fans’ minds when, two minutes later, Washington doubled Portland’s lead.
Mikey Lopez, filling in at right back for Hearts on the night, won the ball off Zeke Soto near the sideline and immediately sent a deep ball down the field to Washington. Washington cut back inside onto his left foot, and with defender Anthony Patti turning to square him up, lashed a shot towards the Greenville goal. Torman crouched down to make the save, but instead fumbled it back between his legs where it rolled across the line.
“Song 2,” x2.
After Chevone Marsh scored for Greenville to make it 2-1 the visitors may have fancied themselves in with a chance to steal a point on the road, but in the 77th minute Washington killed off any comeback thoughts they may have been entertaining.
Greenville’s Evan Lee played a pass backwards to teammate Toby Sims, but Sims stumbled and the ball rolled past him. Washington, making a run in behind the Triumph defense, calmly collected the ball, dribbled into the Greenville penalty area, and coolly slotted it past Torman into the bottom far corner of the net.
Washington’s brace was just reward for a shift that saw him take four shots on the night, while also adding a clearance and three recoveries. He eventually came off in the 87th minute, substituted in favor of Natty James, and left the Fitzy field to a thunderous ovation. When he reappeared to speak to the media after full time he did so clutching the Dirigo Union’s Man of the Match Award, then headed back to the locker room to celebrate the victory–and start preparing for a road match against third-place Charlotte Independence in 72 hours.
Bobby Murphy had this to say about the match, “I thought we started slow but got into the game a little bit, and in the first half we were doing just enough, it felt like. At half time we talked about how we have two choices: we can keep doing just enough, and nobody will say anything because you’ve been on the road; or you can find another gear or two and go and win this thing. You’ve got to make a choice, and they chose to go and find another gear or two.”
GOALS
POR – Wada ‘55, Washington 57’ (Lopez), Washington 78’
GRE – Marsh 63’
DISCIPLINE
YC – Lopez (POR 10’), Robles (GRE 33’), Castro (GRE 50’), Wada (POR 74’), Wright (POR 90’), Morse (POR 90+1’)
RC – NONE
LINEUPS
PORTLAND – Hunter Morse, Nathan Messer, Kemali Green, Sean Vinberg, Mikey Lopez ©, Pat Langlois (Colby Quiñones 67’), Michel Poon-Angeron, Masashi Wada (Jake Keegan 82’), Ollie Wright, Titus Washington (Natty James 87’), Jay Tee Kamara (Walter Varela 67’)
Unused substitutes – Evan Southern, Shandon Wright, Kash Oladapo,
GREENVILLE – Seth Torman, Tyler Polak (Ropapa Mensah 73’), Toby Sims, Anthony Patti, Brandon Fricke ©, Connor Evans, Chapa Herrera, Evan Lee (Ben Zakowski 83’), Zeke Soto (DJ Benton 73’), Leo Castro, Rodrigo Robles (Chevone Marsh 57’)
Unused substitutes – Gunther Rankenburg, Carlos Anguiano,, Pascal Corvino
