Expect Hearts of Pine to make sweeping roster changes for 2027
It was a frustrating season for Ollie Wright and the Portland Hearts of Pine. Portland missed the playoffs in its second season and Wright has his season cut short by a knee injury. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)
PORTLAND — The Portland Hearts of Pine season finale Saturday showed what Fitzpatrick Stadium can be like with a winning team.
It was a wonderous night of fun and exciting soccer by the home team. A 4-1 victory against Charlotte Independence, the top team in USL League One. A storybook finish for retiring captain Mikey Lopez. Exciting goals. Gritty defense. A fervent packed house.
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Hearts of Pine end 2026 with a fond farewell
It was also the exception during the third-tier soccer franchise’s second season. Only the fans showed up every game. The team was 6-7-3 at home and finished 8-14-10 overall, finishing a disappointing 14th in the 17-team league, 12 points out of the playoffs.
Now it’s time to start building for 2027 and figuring out how to make sure the Hearts of Pine won’t field a team that concedes tying or winning goals in 12 matches as in 2026, when they coughed up 26 potential points.
The roster will “see a decent amount of turnover,” in 2027, sporting director Ray Saari said in an interview last Thursday.
A major overhaul is more likely. Roster turnover is a way of life in USL1, with most players on one-year contracts with the club having an option to renew. In 2025, Portland re-signed just 12 of 25 players when their contacts expired in November, and that was after going 12-8-12 and ending one goal shy of reaching the championship game.
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The Portland Press Herald predicts that at most 11 of the current 28 players will be back (see below).
WHAT IS THE CLUB LOOKING FOR?
Saari said some players are already signed for 2027 but would not identify them. Sources have said Felipe Rodriguez Gentile, who just turned 20, signed for 2027 when he left a club in England and joined the Hearts in August. Gentile scored two goals in 10 matches.
Saari did say he’s looking to add veterans of United States leagues “down the spine” of the field with proven ability to manage late-game situations.
“I’ve found in my experience in the USL, there’s no metric that outlasts good character and being on a winning team consistently,” Saari said.
After the win Saturday, Murphy noted he needs to evaluate “all policies and procedures,” in part to try to determine why so many Hearts of Pine players suffered injuries this season.
“Do we have to revamp what we do preseason? (The) offseason? Everything is under the microscope because the fans deserve to have a home playoff game,” Murphy said.
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Saari, Murphy and rest of the Hearts of Pine must make their decisions by Nov. 15.
WHO WILL BE BACK: ONE WRITER’S OPINION
No player on the 2026 Hearts of Pine was so outstanding that he absolutely must be retained. There are seven we think are “Very Likely to Return”: injured standouts Masashi Wada and Ollie Wright, goalkeeper Hunter Morse, midfielders Matteo Kidd, Diego Letayf Escutia, and Rodriguez Gentile, and striker Aboubacar Camara.
Wada suffered a lower-leg fracture on April 11 in the home opener. Wright had late September surgery to repair the torn ACL in his right knee. Wada might be ready when the 2027 season begins in March. Wright is out until the end of June/early July, possibly longer.
Portland’s Masashi Wada suffered a season-ending injury early in the first home game of the season. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
Both Wada and Wright were all-USL1 players in 2025. That’s the main reason to extend their contract, if it wasn’t already guaranteed.
There is also a public relations reason. The Hearts of Pine have promoted and proven by their actions that they care about their players. Releasing Wada or Wright is a bad look for a club that carefully curates its image.
Camara is an impressive finisher, scoring 10 USL1 goals on 33 shots, with the potential to improve. Kidd, a player Murphy trusts, was the team’s most consistent, tenacious player and versatile. Letayf Escutia might seem like an odd choice, but he went from college, to pre-professional USL2, to practice player, to Portland starter in a matter of months. He is a tough defender who adds depth, likely at the league minimum salary.
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Morse comes with a caveat. He’s led the league in saves two years running, a function of being exposed to counter-attacks because of Murphy’s preferred pressing system. It doesn’t seem unreasonable that Morse might desire a different, more defense-first system.
MAYBE PORTLAND, MAYBE NOT
Six players are in this group. Up to four could return.
Portland gave up the fourth-most goals in USL1. That doesn’t bode well for the three main center backs,, Brecc Evans, Kemali Green and Serigne Faye. It’s difficult to think more than one returns.
Faye had the best tackle (76.2%) and duel (62.9%) rates but played the least. Green had the worst stats of the three. Evans was Portland’s pivotal offseason acquisition after his second-team all-USL1 with FC Naples in 2025, but did not perform to that standard.
Right back Mo Mohamed is most likely to return from this group. The only reason he’s not in the “Very Likely to Return” group is he was released last November, only to be re-signed in the preseason. Mohamed was Portland’s most consistent back four performer. His confidence only went up after a September call-up to the Somalia national team. In the Africa Nations Cup, Mohamed successfully went toe-to-toe for a half with Yan Diomande of Ivory Coast. Diomande had recently signed a seven-year contract with Real Madrid.
Kamara (4 goals, 6 assists in 2026) can be a game-changer with his offensive skills. Portland likes having him as a strong, hard-running target at the top of the offense. That injuries limited him to seven games makes his return uncertain.
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SAYING GOODBYE TO PORTLAND
Lopez has already said his farewell to the game. That leaves 14 more players unlikely to return.
Midfielder Diego Gonzalez impressed with nine goals and two assists in 21 games but was on loan from Houston Dynamo.
Michel Poon-Angeron and Diogo Barbosa were two regulars in Portland’s midfield. There just wasn’t enough ball-winning in that portion of the field. Similarly, midseason acquisitions Eiji Hata and Josh Drack played a lot at outside back but were not difference makers.
Several other players, whether because of injury, ability or a combination of both, failed to grab consistent playing time on a struggling team. Backup keeper Kash Oladapo; defenders Jaden Jones-Riley, Zion Scarlett and Esteban Espinosa; midfielders Khalid Hersi of Lewiston, Konstantinos Georgallides and Bowdoin College grad Tyler Huck; and forwards Walter Varela and Lagos Kunga were unable to make a compelling case to be retained.
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Tagged: Hearts of Pine
Steve Craig reports primarily about Maine’s active high school sports scene and, more recently, the Portland Hearts of Pine men's professional soccer team. His first newspaper job was covering Maine. More by Steve Craig
