Hearts of Pine end 2026 with a fond farewell
Hearts of Pine captain Mikey Lopez waves to the crowd after he was honored Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium. Lopez is retiring and played his final professional game. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)
View 9 photos
PORTLAND — Before their season-ending match Saturday, the Portland Hearts of Pine and their fervent fans thanked retiring captain Mikey Lopez for his contributions to the second-year franchise.
Then, on balky knees and in the final game of a 14-year professional career, the 33-year-old Lopez thanked them back in storybook fashion.
In the 53rd minute, Lopez banged in the rebound of his own penalty kick to give Portland the lead. It proved to be the winner in Portland’s 4-1 victory against the USL League One regular-season champions, the Charlotte Independence, at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
Lopez started the play that led to the PK. He intercepted a pass near midfield and fed the ball ahead. Walter Verala won the ball and worked hard to get past a defender, then was taken down in the penalty box by Charlotte keeper George Tasouris.
“I don’t think anyone could have written this,” Lopez said. “It was the best night possible. Getting the 4-1 victory. Getting on the scoresheet. Having my family here and being able to play my final game with (Hearts head coach) Bobby (Murphy). It truly is a storybook ending.”
Lopez was subbed out after his goal to another round of appreciative applause.
Advertisement
Unlike 12 previous times in the 2026 season, Portland did not give up the lead.
Instead, the Hearts tacked on. Diogo Barbosa scored in the 82nd minute. Aboubacar Camara’s second of the game in the 90th minute was his 10th in league play in his rookie season (11th overall).
It was a sweet ending to a tough 8-14-10 season and a reward for the 6,400-strong crowd who savored the Hearts’ sixth league win against seven losses and three ties at Fitzpatrick.
When the match was over, Murphy and Lopez thanked the fans over the public address system.
“From the bottom of my heart, I’m so thankful for you guys, for the love and appreciation that you have shown not only to me but to the rest of the guys all year,” Lopez said. “We certainly at times did not deserve it, but we are extremely appreciative and thankful.”
Lopez first played for Murphy when he was 12. That’s when the kid from Mission, Texas, left home for soccer for the first time, attending St. Stephens Academy, a soccer academy in Austin, Texas, run by Murphy. Lopez stayed there for the next five years before going to the University of North Carolina, where he helped the Tar Heels win the 2011 NCAA championship.
Advertisement
From there, Lopez was a first-round MLS draft pick and played in the top U.S. league for five seasons (2013-17). When Murphy asked him to join Portland in 2025, Lopez was coming off double Achilles surgery and had not played since 2023.
“Mikey’s family to me,” Murphy said. “I’m really grateful that he got to end his career in a place like this, and not so many other clubs that wouldn’t have been able to accurately congratulate him on a career.”
As a defensive midfielder, Lopez has never been a goal scorer. His Saturday night strike was just his 13th professional goal, and second with the Hearts.
Lopez said “he was down with it,” to take the penalty kick but admitted he got nervous standing on the spot. His low shot was not particularly well struck. Tasouris made a modest dive to his right and blocked it. But the keeper did not control it, and by rule, the ball is live. Lopez got to it first and banged it home, setting off a joyous team-wide celebration.
“We were joking, Who had Mikey Lopez for the winner on Kalshi?” Murphy said. “He didn’t want the penalty, he doesn’t like them, got bullied into it, but if he was ever going to score a penalty, it was going to be that way. It sort of sums Mikey up in a nutshell.”
Hearts of Pine Captain Mikey Lopez hugs a member of his family after he was honored Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium before the start of his last professional game. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)
Before the game, as fans chanted, “Thank you, Mik-EE!” Lopez was presented with a framed Hearts of Pine game jersey while surrounded by nearly two dozen family members, including his wife, Elena, his parents, brother, grandmother and various aunts and uncles. After a pause for photos, Lopez acknowledged the fans in each section, eliciting more chants of appreciation.
Advertisement
Lopez started the match and was very active. His quick accurate passes, crunching tackles and wise positioning demonstrated the talents that, while slowed, made him good enough to play in MLS for five years and were vital to the Hearts when they advanced to the USL1 semifinals in 2025.
Lopez has never shied from trying to dislodge the ball. He did that multiple times, including in the 24th minute when he drew his 18th yellow card in 54 games with Portland and 88th in his 286-match pro career.
“Like my brother said, it’s not a Mikey Lopez game if I don’t get a yellow card,” Lopez said with a grin.
But his final season has been tough. He’s had two knee surgeries and missed 15 of Portland’s 32 league games.
At Thursday’s training session, Lopez was clearly limping as he walked from physical training to the team locker room, unable to fully straighten his right knee.
Lopez admitted he had pregame doubts about how long and well he’d be able to play.
“My knee felt a little swollen and it felt like I couldn’t move it as smoothly and fluidly,” Lopez said. “But I guess just adrenaline took over and I said, ‘I’m not going to come off early and I going to try to come off in the 55th, and it was pretty close.
“I can’t explain it. Everything was pretty much just written. Some really good writer upstairs wrote something amazing and this is the perfect way to end it.”
Copy the Story Link
Tagged: Hearts of Pine, soccer
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
