PORTLAND — The hearty Portland Hearts of Pine fans bucked the threat of a nor’easter and nearly filled Fitzpatrick Stadium on Saturday.

They might have wished they’d stayed home.

Portland suffered another lopsided loss, falling to the expansion Sarasota Paradise, 4-1. The announced sellout crowd was 6,301. About 90% of that total, based on an eye test, showed up for what ended up being a mild evening with a few brief showers.

“If anything, we owe the fans a huge apology tonight,” said Portland coach Bobby Murphy. “Not a great night to turn out and they still turned out. And we turned up like that. It’s not a great look for us. I’m embarrassed. I’m responsible for it.”

The Hearts gave up two goals in the first eight minutes. Portland winger Jay Tee Kamara scored what might have been Portland’s goal of the year. But two more goals against, in large part because of a mistake-prone defense, sealed the outcome.

Portland’s USL League One playoff hopes have shrunk to a sliver. The Hearts are 7-12-9, for 30 points, with four games to play. Fort Wayne continues to hold the eighth and final playoff spot with 38 points. Sarasota (9-12-6) helped its own slim chances and is now in 10th with 33 points.

Murphy said, “there’s always something to play for.” For many of the Hearts players, that’s a home for next season.

“I think a lot of us are playing for contracts,” said defender Josh Drack, who made his first appearance in two months after suffering a Grade 3 MCL sprain. “A lot of us are playing for pride, for the fans, for the club.”

Saturday’s match was the fourth between Portland and Sarasota, including two friendlies. Sarasota won all four, the first three by 1-0, 2-1 and 2-1 scores.

On Saturday, Sarasota controlled 58% of possession and generated an 8-1 edge in corner kicks.

Sarasota’s first two goals were “too easy,” Murphy said.

Mukisa Kiingi, a defender, banged in his first shot of the season, redirecting a low corner kick in the sixth minute. Two minutes later, Sander Roed of Norway had ample space to drift toward the middle of the pitch, and he curled a 23-yard shot inside the far post with his powerful right foot.

Kamara gave Portland hope when he took on four defenders on the right wing, dribbled through all of them, then beat a late arriving fifth player to find space and get his much-preferred left foot open. His shot eluded Sarasota keeper Alex Sutton in the 19th minute.

Portland followed Kamara’s goal with several minutes of solid play. Kamara sent a shot well over goal. Diego Letayf Escutia’s header from a Kamara cross went wide.

Sarasota made it 3-1 in the 42nd minute. Jonathan Bolanos got past right back Jaden Jones-Riley and beat onrushing Hearts keeper Hunter Morse to a loose ball, tapping it to the middle of the 6-yard box, where Roed had an easy putaway for his second goal.

“We got back in the game pretty well at 2-1, and then that third goal, we just can’t concede goals like that,” Murphy said.

Sarasota finished the scoring with a Romain Gall tally in the 52nd minute.

MISSING YOU

Portland’s starting lineup has been a revolving door most of the season but had been mostly stable in its previous three matches — a pair of wins followed by a 1-1 tie at Charlotte.

That consistency was disrupted when right back Mo Mohamed was called up to the Somalia national team and center midfielder Michel Poon Angeron was a last-minute injury replacement for Trinidad & Tobago’s national team as it competes in the CONCACAF Nations League. Defender Esteban Espinosa, a potential replacement for Mohamed, is injured. Center back Serigne Faye will be absent for next Saturday’s match at Spokane after he was sent off for a second yellow card.