Hearts of Pine fall to Brooklyn in USL Cup game
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Brooklyn FC rolled past the Portland Hearts of Pine 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at Maimonides Park, powered by two goals apiece from Markus Anderson and Stefan Stojanovic in a USL Cup group-stage matchup.
The result pushed Brooklyn, a USL Championship side competing in the cross-division in-season tournament, into second place in Group 5 with six points. Portland, which competes in USL League One, dropped to fourth in the group with four points. Hartford Athletic leads Group 5 with seven points. Seven group winners plus one wild card will advance to the knockout round.
Anderson opened the scoring in the eighth minute, but Portland answered quickly through Aboubacar Camara, who equalized in the 19th minute to silence the home crowd.
Brooklyn reclaimed control before halftime. Stojanovic struck in the 36th minute to put the hosts back in front, then added his second tally in first-half stoppage time to send Brooklyn into the break with a 3-1 lead.
The visitors' hopes of a comeback took a serious hit early in the second half. In the 55th minute, Thomas Vancaeyezeele rose to head home a corner kick delivered by CJ Olney, extending Brooklyn's advantage to 4-1. Just two minutes later, Portland's JayTee Kamara was shown a red card, leaving the Hearts of Pine to play the remainder of the match a man short.
Anderson completed his brace in the 70th minute, capping the 5-1 rout.
Portland has one group-stage match remaining, a July 11 meeting with the New York Cosmos at Fitzpatrick Stadium. Before that Cup finale, the Hearts of Pine return to USL League One action on Saturday, hosting Chattanooga Red Wolves SC at Fitzpatrick Stadium with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m.
