The Portland Hearts of Pine signed three-time USL League One Player of the Year Emiliano Terzaghi, the league’s all-time leader with 62 goals over six seasons with the Richmond Kickers.

Terzaghi, 32, from Argentina, was the player of the year and led USL1 in goals in three consecutive seasons (2020-22). He recorded his fourth straight double-digit goal season in 2023 with 10.

The center forward’s playing time and production dropped off the past two years. He scored three goals in 14 games (nine starts) in 2023 and four goals in 25 matches (19 starts) last season.

Richmond, which missed the playoffs with an 8-17-5 record, announced in November it did not intend to bring Terzaghi back for a seventh season.

Portland was 11-7-12 (12-8-12 including playoffs) and finished seventh in its first season, knocked off No. 2 Chattanooga in the quarterfinals, then lost its semifinal in penalty kicks at Spokane.

In a Hearts of Pine press release, Portland coach Bobby Murphy said Terzaghi’s experience and goal-scoring talent will help.

“Emi brings a tremendous amount of experience and goals. After several serious conversations about the culture, standards and ambitions we have here at Hearts, it was clear he wanted to be a part of that,” Murphy said.

In Portland’s inaugural season, its most consistent scoring threats were returning midfielders Ollie Wright (11 goals, eight assists), Masashi Wada (nine goals, one assist), and Jay Tee Kamara (six goals, four assists). Titus Washington is the leading returning scorer among forwards with five goals and three assists as a rookie.

Terzaghi is the second USL1 veteran with an impressive resume that Portland has added to its still-evolving 2026 roster. Brecc Evans, 26, was added after a second-team all-USL1 season with Naples FC. The 6-foot-4 Evans captained the 2019 North Texas SC squad that won the first USL1 championship, spent 2021 in the USL Championship, and was the minutes-played leader over three seasons with the Northern Colorado Hailstorm (2022-24).