Match Preview: Portland Hearts of Pine vs. Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
Race for the postseason heats up in Maine
Match: Portland Hearts of Pine v Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
Date: Saturday, September 13th, 2025. 18:00 (Eastern)
Venue: Fitzpatrick Stadium, Portland, ME. Capacity: 5,500
How to watch: ESPN+
Tickets: Hearts of Pine Website
The Chattanooga Red Wolves have trekked north this weekend to face seventh place Portland Hearts of Pine tonight in USL League One. Kicking off at 6pm (Eastern), this is a clash between two in-form sides as teams target post-season soccer.
Portland (W7 D9 L4 in the league) is on a three-game winning streak. Sitting in seventh place and four points within safety of the playoff zone, they’ve played less games than the sides below them and look a strong bet to reach the post-season. Last week, a late Titus Washington lifted them to a 3-2 win at Greenville. No stranger to high-scoring affairs, they three recent wins contained 16 goals. At home they’ve only lost one in eight games. They’ll provide quite a test for the Red Wolves.
Chattanooga (W12 D8 L2 in the league) enjoys a three-point gap to second-place Spokane Velocity which has a game-in-hand. They’re the only team able to lock a playoff position in Week 28. Last weeked they needed a late own goal to beat Charlotte Independence at home. They enjoy the second best defensive record in the league, which will be interesting when up against free-scoring Portland. Chattanooga has only lost two of their ten away games this season.
The game kicks off at 6pm and will be streamed live on ESPN+. Carlos Rodriguez will officiate.
The History
Given this is Portland’s first ever season, today's match will be just the second time these sides have met. Back in June, Chattanooga were 2-1 winners in East Ridge. An early strike from Azaad Liadi for Portland was cancelled out by a pair of goals from Declan Watters and Pedro Hernández. It was another of Chattanooga’s patented smash-and-grab wins after harboring just 31% of possession and hitting the opposition with effective counter attacking.
Report cards and lineups
Portland
Goal hunters, Portland have scored in their last five matches. Last weekend they met Greenville Triumph in South Carolina and came away with a 3-2 win. They trailed twice in the game before strikes from Mashashi Wada and then Jay Tee Kamara levelled matters. After Michel Poon-Angeron was sent off after 85 minutes, substitute Titus Washington stepped up to win the game for Portland. This team scores goals. This team condedes goals. They win by simply outscoring.
Head Coach Bobby Murphy will be without Trinidadian international Poon-Angeron who is suspended following that sending off against Greenville. Otherwise, I expect a team looking like the above as Murphy seems to have hit upon a combination of his best XI at this stage in the season.
Red Wolves fans will recognize winger Walter Varela who spent 2023 with them, making 19 appearances and scoring one goal. Forward Titus Washington has created the most big chances for the side (5). And while Washington has seven goals in all competitions on the season; Portland’s key threat and my player to watch is Ollie Wright. Formerly of San Antonio, Rio Grande Valley, and Huntsville City; London-born Wright has seven goals and seven assists in 2025. His six league assists is 2nd best across the competition, and he’s taken more shots and had more chances than anyone else at Portland. On Thursday he was named USL League One Player of the Month for August after he recorded two goals and three assists in five appearances, averaging a goal contribution every 69.2 minutes, while recording 10 chances created, 11 shots and a team-high +1.84 goals added mark.
Veteran captain Mikey Lopez has MLS experience with Sporting KC and NYCFC, he’s also a United States U20 international. He and Jay Tee Kamara were named to the USL League One Team of the Week for Week 27. French defender Séga Coulibaly is also highly experienced with over 50 professional appearances in his native country. He played for France up to U20 level.
There’s some senior international experience in this squad with Puerto Rico (Colby Quiñónes, 11 caps) and Trinidad & Tobago (Michel Poon-Angeron, 16 caps and Nathaniel James, 17 caps).
Chattanooga
Last weekend, the Red Wolves beat Charlotte Independence 1-0 thanks to a late own goal from the latter. While shy on goals, the game saw some excellent performances from Yanis Lelin, Wynand Wessels, and Ualefi. It will be fascinating to see this Red Wolves team play a side like Portland who concede and score a lot, compared to the more skin-flint Red Wolves, whose games tend to be more low-scoring.
As always expect Head Coach Scott Mackenzie to opt for a variation of his usual 5-4-1 setup, incorporating three center backs, two fullbacks and a pair of central midfielders. I’m unsure about the fitness of center-back Declan Watters, who tore his MCL and whether he’ll be out for another while yet. Michael Knapp, Jonny Filipe, and Gharett Morris also likely remain on the injury list.
A finely balanced side, the Red Wolves are excellent at both the attacking and defensive ends of the field. The forward trio of Pedro and Omar Hernández and Matt Bentley have combined for 18 of Chattanooga’s 34 league goals. All three are exceptionally dangerous and will need close marshaling by Portland’s defense, especially as Chattanooga likes to avoid possession and attack quickly on the break. Through the leadership of the injured Watters, but equally his defensive partner Eric Kinzner, the Red Wolves, despite holding just 34% average possession of the ball, have only conceded 19 goals. This represents the joint-second-best defense in USL League One.
International experience in this Red Wolves squad is with Guatemala (Ricardo Jérez, 63 caps) and the US Virgin Islands (Joshua Ramos, 18 caps).
Analysis and Predictions
This is a really hard one to call. Portland enjoy having more of the ball than Chattanooga and will likely outshoot them. They can score goals, but the Red Wolves concede so few and don’t score many. It’s a team with a leaky defense and abundant attack against a team that with a tight defense and a reserved attack. It will either have few goals or lots of them. I can’t predict a winner.
