2 min read

The Portland Hearts of Pine’s season is on the line tonight when Maine’s first-year professional men’s soccer team plays at Spokane Velocity in the USL League One semifinal at 9 p.m. ET.

The match can be watched in the comfort of your own home on NESN and ESPN+.

Locally, the Hearts of Pine watch party at the State Theatre in Portland had ticket availability as of Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Doors open at 7:30.

Several local establishments are also hosting match watch parties, including these mentioned on the club’s website:

  • Après, at 148 Anderson Street, Portland
  • Brickyard Hollow, 9 Commercial Street, Portland
  • Portland Zoo, 41 Fox Street, Portland
  • Mini Bar, 265 Marginal Way, Portland

The Hearts of Pine are the seventh seed in the eight-team USL1 tournament with a record of 12-7-12. They advanced with a 1-0 victory at No. 2 Chattanooga Red Wolves.

The third-seeded Spokane Velocity (15-7-9) won its quarterfinal game against No. 6 South Georgia Tormenta in penalty kicks 1-1 (4-3).

In the regular season, Portland went to Spokane for its second league game and earned a 0-0 tie on April 5. More than six months later, Portland routed Spokane, 6-1, at home on Oct. 21 while setting a USL1 single-game attendance record with a crowd of 6,440.

Tonight’s Portland-Spokane winner advances to the USL1 championship game at No. 1 One Knoxville (18-5-9) next weekend. Knoxville has not lost this season at Covenant Health Park, a 6,500-seat natural grass baseball stadium that is also home to the Double-A Knoxville Smokies. One Knoxville is 13-0-4 at home after eliminating No. 4 FC Naples, 1-0, in regular time on Saturday.

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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