Hometown Hero Shines as Hearts of Pine Advance in Playoffs

In a thrilling quarterfinal match last Saturday, the Portland Hearts of Pine soccer team pulled off an upset victory over the second-ranked Chattanooga Red Wolves. The hero of the night was goalkeeper Hunter Morse, who made a career-high 9 saves to secure a 1-0 shutout win for the Hearts of Pine.

Morse, a native of Belleville, Michigan, has been the first-year franchise's primary goalkeeper all season. He currently leads the USL League One in saves (92) and is third in save percentage (72.4%). Morse's standout performance against Chattanooga included a diving save in the 96th minute to deny a header destined for the bottom right corner.

The Hearts of Pine will now face the third-ranked Spokane Velocity in the semifinal match on Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. The two teams met in the penultimate game of the regular season, with Portland securing a dominant 6-1 victory in front of a league-record 6,440 fans at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

"It's always harder to beat the same team twice," Morse acknowledged. "Obviously they're going to throw at us some new challenges and we'll do the same to them."

The Hearts of Pine have emphasized the team over individual players all season, but Morse's heroics against Chattanooga have earned him praise from his teammates. Forward Jake Keegan called Morse "the best keeper in the league," while defender Ollie Wright said the team was left in "disbelief" after several of Morse's saves.

As the Hearts of Pine continue their playoff push, the hometown hero in goal will be crucial to their success.