Based on their playoff seeding, the Portland Hearts of Pine have already pulled off a significant upset in the USL League One playoffs, and now have a chance at another

After beating the second-seeded Chattanooga Red Wolves 1-0 on Saturday, the seventh-seeded Hearts of Pine will travel across the country to face the No. 3 Spokane Velocity in a semifinal at 9 p.m. Sunday (ESPN+).

Considering that Chattanooga had only lost five matches, had four more wins than Portland, and held a 13-4 shot advantage in Saturday’s game, the Hearts’ victory did feel unexpected.

That won’t be the case on Sunday. Portland and Spokane played to a 0-0 draw on April 5, the second league game in Portland’s franchise history. When Portland hosted Spokane in the next-to-last game of the regular season in front of a league-record 6,440 fans, it buried the Velocity in an avalanche of goals, 6-1.

In the regular season, both teams lost seven matches. Spokane had the edge in wins (14 to 11) but Portland had the greater goal differential, plus-10 compared to plus-six.

THE WRIGHT TOUCH

Leading up to the game at Chattanooga, Hearts coach Bobby Murphy said the Red Wolves’ defense-first style would make it difficult to create scoring chances. What would matter was taking advantage when the infrequent chance came.

“I was told as a kid no matter who you play, you’re going to get a chance to score,” Murphy said. “So make sure you take that chance and don’t be down 2-0 when you get it.”

Ollie Wright go that chance 10 minutes into the second half. Starting along the left wing, he worked his way toward the middle then executed a quick give-and-go sequence with Jake Keegan to help create space. Wright’s finish was a beauty, curling around a defender and bending just inside the right post.

It was Wright’s team-leading 12th goal of the season and one of just four regulation-time goals scored across the four USL1 quarterfinal games.

Spokane beat No. 6 South Georgia Tormenta, 1-1 (4-3 in penalty kick shootout). Both goals were penalty kicks in the overtime periods.

No. 4 FC Naples, the other expansion club still alive, beat defending champion No. 5 Union Omaha, also in a 4-3 shootout. Neither team scored in the 120-plus minutes of the match.

No. 1 One Knoxville was the only team to score two goals, beating No. 8 Charlotte Independence, 2-1.

UNSUNG HEROES

Portland played its match without Masashi Wada, who was serving a one-game suspension after getting a red card in the final regular-season match. Wada is Portland’s second-leading scorer with nine overall goals. His absence created a chance for Keegan, who got the start and came through with the assist, a gentle lay-off that kept Wright moving into open space.

Keegan, 35, is Portland’s oldest player. Over a nine-match stretch from July 25 to Sept. 21, Keegan only dressed twice, appearing in one match for 16 minutes. But over the last month of the season, his playing time has increased and he’s been on the 18-player game-day roster for the last eight matches.

FC Naples goalkeeper Joel Serrano was an even bigger surprise in terms of playoff heroes. Serrano had played 13 minutes all season backing up Edward Delgado. Nine of those minutes came at Fitzpatrick when he started the match because Delgado was on a red-card suspension. Serrano then got a red card himself.

Against Union Omaha, Serrano came on in the waning minutes of the second overtime when Delgado was hurt and then made two saves during the penalty kick session.