Portland Hearts of Pine edged Westchester SC 2–1 at home on Sunday in USL League One, with goals from Diego Gonzalez and Aboubacar Camara securing all three points after the visitors had drawn level midway through the second half.
Gonzalez opened the scoring early, finding the net in the 11th minute to give Portland a deserved lead heading into the break. The home side carried that advantage through a first half that ended with Michel Poon-Angeron picking up a yellow card right at the whistle.
Westchester grew into the game after halftime and equalized in the 66th minute. Charlie Dickerson finished from a Maurice Williams delivery to make it 1–1, shifting momentum firmly in the visitors' favor.
What followed was an increasingly fractious final stretch. The match boiled over between the 77th and 81st minutes, with four yellow cards handed out in rapid succession — Portland's Brecc Evans and Westchester's Dean Guezen were both cautioned in the 77th minute, Maximus Jennings followed two minutes later, and Dickerson himself was booked in the 81st minute. The tension was palpable.
Portland found their winner through the chaos. Just a minute after Dickerson's booking, Camara latched onto a Jay Tee Kamara pass and converted in the 82nd minute to restore the home side's lead. It proved to be the decisive blow. Westchester, rattled and running out of time, couldn't muster another equalizer.
The result gives Portland Hearts of Pine a valuable three points as the season enters its final stretch, while Westchester SC will rue a late collapse after fighting their way back into the contest.
USL League One