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The Portland Hearts of Pine will begin their second season of professional men’s soccer in USL League One on the road at the first-year New York Cosmos on March 14. The Cosmos are one of five new teams coming to USL1 in 2026.

Portland will play 20 home games at Fitzpatrick Stadium, an increase of two from 2025 when the expansion franchise sold out every home game and set the USL1 average attendance record, drawing 5,843 fans per game. One of those will be a friendly against a yet-to-be announced opponent on Aug. 5.

The home opener will be April 11, against USL1 champion One Knoxville. Portland finished seventh in the regular season and advanced to the semifinal round. Portland’s final regular-season match is scheduled for Oct. 24 at home against Charlotte Independence.

Single-match tickets for home games will go on sale in March.

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...

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