Match 15: Austin Aztex 1-2 Portland Timbers
By: Bob Kellett |
4 Comments
Bottom Line: Johan Claesson scored an improbable goal in stoppage time to lift the Portland Timbers to a 2-1 victory over the Austin Aztex in the first ever meeting between the two teams. Just seconds after Austin’s Gifton Noel-Williams leveled the score with a header three minutes deep into stoppage time, Claesson was able to find the goal to as the Timbers (8-1-6, 30pts) extended their unbeaten streak in USL-1 play to 14 games, the second longest streak in league history. Mandjou Keita scored in the 14th minute to notch his league-leading 7th goal of the season. For the next 76 minutes it looked like his goal would stand before the crazy finish in Texas. The Timbers will make one more trip to Austin (3-8-6, 15pts) this year on September 7 and will also host the expansion Aztex on September 7.
Category: Match Reports
You couldn’t score in a Texas…
By: Bob Kellett | 1 Comment
August 23, 2003. You remember that historic date, right? That was the last time the Portland Timbers played a soccer match in the Republic of Texas. The Timbers lost to the El Paso Patriots 3-1 in a game played in front of 1,735. No surprise that a team drawing 1,735 for a professional soccer match is a team not long for this world. El Paso went el foldo (and by el foldo I mean they dropped down to PDL obscurity) and we never had to witness their theatrics tactics again.
On Saturday the Timbers return to Texas. This time they will square off against the Austin Aztex, an expansion club that hopes that it will avoid El Paso’s fate. So far, so-so. They are averaging 3,019 per game, a figure that is pretty solid for a first year USL-1 club and a number that places them ahead of Minnesota, Miami and Cleveland in the attendance table.
Category: Timbers Team NewsInternational Exhibition: Portland Timbers 2-0 Bayern Munich II
By: Bob Kellett | 1 Comment
Bottom Line: Trialist Kevin Forrest and forward Anton Jallow scored to pace the Portland Timbers to a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich II in an international friendly played in front of 9,340 at PGE Park. Forrest, who was released by the Seattle Sounders last week, opened the scoring in the 8th minute by heading in a cross from Alex Nimo. Jallow added the second goal by converting a pass from Shawn Higgins in the 55th minute for the Timbers, who played many of their reserve players a night after squaring off against the Seattle Sounders in the US Open Cup. Keeper Brian Visser picked up the shutout. Midfielder Ryan Pore saw his first action since picking up an injury against Montreal a month ago.
I didn’t make this one so know inane insightful commentary from me. I will say that a two-day attendance total of 25,722 is impressive. Definitely a winning week for soccer in the Rose City.
Next up: @Minnesota on July 4. Kicks off a stretch of four games on the road before the team returns to PGE Park to play Puerto Rico on July 23.
Match Reports
- Visser, Jallow anchor Timbers win over Bayern Munich II (Portland Timbers)
- Reserves for Timbers pass German test (The Oregonian)
- Photo Gallery (Soccer City USA)
- Timbers 2-0 over Bayern Munich II (Dropping Timber)
Photo: Alex McDougall
Category: FriendliesUS Open Cup: Portland Timbers 1-2 Seattle Sounders
By: Bob Kellett | 9 Comments
Bottom Line: First half goals by Roger Levesque and Stephen King lifted the Seattle Sounders to a 2-1 victory over the Portland Timbers in a US Open Cup match played in front of 16,382 at PGE Park. Levesque, a former member of the USL Sounders, stunned the packed stadium with a goal in the first minute. The visiting Sounders took a two-goal lead in the 26th minute when King struck a shot from outside the box and beat Timbers keeper Steve Cronin. The Timbers pulled one back in the 43rd minute when Mandjou Keita emerged from a scrum in front of the net and poked it past Sounders keeper Kasey Keller. The Timbers were unable to find the equalizer and lost for the first time in 14 games. With the win Seattle advances to the next round of the US Open Cup and will face the Kansas City Wizards.
A Packed Stadium, An Old Rivalry, A New Beginning, Sappy Headlines
By: Bob Kellett | 8 Comments
It is difficult to imagine a better way of renewing a rivalry that dates back more than thirty years. More than 16,000 people will be jammed into PGE Park (imagine if this was being played in front of 2,000 at Starfire!) this evening to watch the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders go at it in the US Open Cup. A few years ago when the announcement was made that Seattle would leave for MLS, many of us assumed that the only chance we would have to see the Pacific Northwest rivals battle one another again would be in meaningless exhibitions. This is not a meaningless exhibition. Nor will it be the last non-meaningless game we see between the two clubs. With Portland joining Seattle in MLS in 2011 (something even more difficult to have imagined a couple of years ago), the rivalry will live on. Tonight is a preview of what is to come. Show up early. Expect a physical, ugly game. And savor this moment. It might not be back for a couple of years.
Match Previews
- Timbers-Sounders game provides proving ground for some Portland players (The Oregonian)
- Timbers renew rivalry that has some legs (The Columbian)
- Smoldering soccer rivalry gets new fire (The Olympian)
- Sounders still all the rave (green) (Seattle P-I)
- Former Portland soccer star Keller returns as rival (KGW)
- Portland vs. Seattle soccer rivalry more friendly back in NASL days (Seattle Times)
- Portland Timbers fans take rivalry with Sounders FC to another level (Seattle Times)
- Seattle-Portland rivalry remains intense (MLSnet)
Photo: Allison Andrews/Soccer City USA
Category: Timbers Team NewsPortland-Seattle US Open Cup Match Nearing Sellout
By: Bob Kellett | 1 Comment
The word from the boss is that there are only 2,300 tickets left for Wednesday’s game against the Seattle Sounders. Full stadium*. Amazing. Now would be the time to secure your spot in PGE Park, you slacker, you.
*Full=16,000 capacity
*Full=Happy scalpers
Category: Timbers Team NewsMatch 13: Portland Timbers 4-0 Montreal Impact
By: Bob Kellett | 6 Comments
The Bottom Line: Mandjou Keita scored a pair of goals and George Josten tallied a pair of assists to lift the Portland Timbers to a 4-0 victory over the Montreal Impact in front of 7,783 at PGE Park on a gorgeous summer Sunday afternoon. Keita started the scoring in the 9th minute when headed home a David Hayes corner kick. In the 47th minute, he picked up another goal on a give-and-go with Josten that resulted in a Keita shot that deflected off an Impact (5-5-2, 17pts) defender and into the goal. Josten set up the third Portland (7-1-5, 26pts) goal of the match when he played a through ball to Brian Farber who beat Montreal Brian Matt Jordan in the 56th minute. The scoring was capped off by an own goal by Montreal in the 64th minute. The victory extends Portland’s unbeaten run in league play to 12 games. It is the second time this season the Timbers have defeated Montreal at PGE Park.
Category: Match ReportsAnd so it begins again on Sunday
By: Bob Kellett | 1 Comment
By the time they take the pitch at 5pm on Sunday the Portland Timbers will have had eight days off since their last game, a 5-1 drubbing of the Minnesota Thunder. Eight days off is roughly the same as 3.75 dog lives in the USL First Division. Witness the four games in seven days that are to follow.
Sunday’s match is against the Montreal Impact (5-4-2, 17pts), a club that has won its past three league games since falling to Portland (6-1-5, 23pts) 1-0 back on June 4 at PGE Park. You’ll recall that it took a Keith Savage goal in the 90th minute to lift the Timbers to victory in a game in which they outshot the Impact 19-2. You may also recall that the game against the Impact was the last time that Ryan Pore was on the pitch for the good guys. After sitting out a few games, he is back in the fold along with midfield mate Tony McManus, forward Antouman Jallow and defender Takuro Nishimura.
Category: Timbers Team NewsWell that was quite a run
By: Bob Kellett | 7 Comments
Half the starting midfield was out with injuries. The travel itinerary included Kitsap, Cary, Charleston, Santa Rosa, and finally Portland. Five games in 11 days. A pair of tricky US Open Cup games on the road against lower division clubs. A pair of league games over a three day stretch in ridiculous humidity. Another league game at the end of the stretch against a bottom of the table team that could have easily been overlooked. How did the Portland Timbers do?
Category: Timbers Team NewsUS Open Cup: Portland Timbers defeat Sonoma County Sol; Advance to Face Seattle
By: Bob Kellett | 4 Comments
So yeah, taking the US Open Cup a little more seriously might not have been a bad move after all.
A year after fielding a largely reserve squad that proceeded to be bounced from the competition by the amateur side Hollywood United, the Portland Timbers have advanced to the third round of the US Open Cup thanks to a 3-0 victory over the Sonoma County Sol in Santa Rosa, CA on Tuesday evening. George Josten scored in the 7th minute and Mandjou Keita sealed the deal with a late brace to lift the Timbers to a victory over the amateur Sol. This being the US Open Cup, one of the oldest soccer tournaments in the world and one of the most heinously neglected competitions in this country, we could only follow the action 140 characters at a time. Painful
It will be easier to keep abreast of the action in the next round. The Timbers host the Seattle Sounders at PGE Park on July 1. This will be the first time the Timbers will play the MLS version of their longtime rival and you can bet that the park will be abuzzin’ and the players will be aplayin’.
Good stuff.
Category: Match Reports
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