Mensah and Robles find the net, but late winner seals a 3-2 defeat at home
Greenville, SC (Sept. 3, 2025)– The Greenville Triumph Soccer Club battled to the final whistle on Wednesday night but fell 3-2 to the Portland Hearts of Pine after a dramatic stoppage-time winner at Paladin Stadium on Wednesday. Goals from Ropapa Mensah and Rodrigo Robles weren’t enough, as Hearts found the net in stoppage time to complete a dramatic comeback win.
The action started early in the 16th minute when a Portland defender misjudged a header back to goalkeeper Hunter Morse. Greenville’s Ropapa Mensah pounced on the mistake, volleying the ball into the far post to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
Just before halftime, Greenville nearly doubled their advantage. Connor Evans floated in a corner to Mensah, whose header looked destined for the back of the net, but Morse came up with a crucial stop to keep Portland within striking distance. But the Hearts were still on the hunt for the equalizer. It came in the 46th minute- Masashi Wada beat defender Brandon Fricke into the box and calmly slotted a finish into the bottom left corner, leveling the score at 1-1.
Coming out of the break, Greenville responded quickly. Four minutes later, Toby Sims whipped in a cross from the right flank to Rodrigo Robles, who timed his run perfectly and buried his chance to restore the Triumph’s lead, 2-1.
The visitors, however, would not go quietly. In the 80th minute, Jay Tee Kamara slipped through unmarked and fired home a clean strike to tie the match once again at 2-2. Moments later, Portland’s Michel Poon-Angeron was shown a second yellow card and dismissed, giving Greenville a man advantage heading into the final minutes.
Despite the numerical edge, it was Portland who had the last word. Deep into stoppage time, Titus Washington delivered the decisive blow, slotting home the match-winner to seal a 3-2 victory for the Hearts.
“We let one slip away,” said head coach Rick Wright. “We didn’t do the basics well – they’re down a man and they scored a goal on us. I’m really at a loss for words, but we got a lot of games left and we have to regroup to go play in a difficult place on Saturday.”
Greenville returns to action on Saturday in Naples at 7:00 pm. Watch the match on ESPN+.
Brandon Fricke, defender and captain: “We have to focus on individual performance and bringing the right energy. We need to stay more organized than we did tonight and bring the right mentality. We have important matches ahead and need to stick together and get some results, because as we know it’s a wild league and you have to fight for every point.”
Tyler Polak, defender: “We need to look ahead to the next match and the quick turnaround. We’ll obviously look at some of the mistakes and things we could do better from this game but major focus is on Saturday in Naples and rebounding.”
Rick Wright, head coach: “We let one slip away. We didn’t do the basics well – they’re down a man and they scored a goal on us. I’m really at a loss for words, but we got a lot of games left and we have to regroup to go play in a difficult place on Saturday.”
