Hearts of Pine play to draw with Richmond Kickers

Matteo Kidd scored in the first half and the Portland Hearts of Pine played to a 1-1 draw with the Richmond Kickers in a USL League One game on Saturday in Richmond, Viriginia.

It was the second straight draw for Portland (5-9-8), which is winless in its last seven league games. Richmond is 5-12-4 and in 16th place in the standings.

Richmond, which put eight of its 24 shots on frame, tied it in the 74th minute when Joshua Kirkland tapped in a feed from Owen O’Malley.

Kidd scored his first goal of the season in the 37th minute when he took a no-look pass from JayTee Kamara and played it into the lower left corner of the net.

Portland appeared to take the lead eight minutes earlier when Serigne Mbacke Faye headed in a ball from Diego Gonzalez on a set piece, but was ruled offsides.

The Kickers put constant pressure on Portland. Richmond’s Darwin Espinal had six shots in the first half, including one off the post in the 43rd minute, another that sailed just over the net, and a third that Hearts goalie Hunter Morse made a diving save on.

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Morse made two more quality saves on back-to-back shots in the 50th minute to preserve Portland’s lead.

The Hearts of Pine had a chance to extend the lead when Konstantinos Georgallidis served a ball to the left post in the 67th minute, but Faye was able to make a play on it with an open net.

In stoppage time, Faye headed a corner kick from Gonzalez just over the goal.

Portland returns play Fitzpatrick Stadium at 7 p.m. Saturday to host Fort Wayne FC.

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