Preseason Friendly: Portland Timbers 1-0 Gonzaga University

By: Bob Kellett | March 30th, 2008

The Portland Timbers wrapped up their weekend with a 1-0 victory over Gonzaga University in a preseason friendly played in front of 913 fans at Pacific University in Forest Grove. Neil Dombrowski notched the game’s lone goal in the 65th minute. Dombrowski collected a pass from Chris Brown just outside the box and beat the Gonzaga keeper with a low shot.

Lineups
POR: GK James, D Adzemian (S. Thompson, 45), D Knowles (Karalexis, 45), D Bolkan (J. Thompson, 84), D Guante, M Olum, M Dombrowski (Ready, 79), M Lara (Taylor, 79), M Higgins, F Hughes (Brown, 45), F Bagley (Suzuki, 45)

GU: GK Hickman, D Muravez, D Barclay, D Heinrichs, D Connor, M Harrison, M Garre, M Baranski, M Mullaney, F Funkhouser (Love, 77), F Perdido (Schilperoort, 45)

Men of the Match
If anyone has a suggestion for this I’d love to hear it. No one in particular stood out to me….at least not in a good way.

Did you notice…

* The Timbers started with a lineup full of reserves and trialists and boy did it show. Playing against a Gonzaga team that graduated 10 players from last season, Portland could do very little in the first half. The ball was in the Timbers’ attacking third most of the half but they barely challenged the Zags’ keeper.

* The second half was a little better with the additions of Suzuki and Brown up front. In both halves the Timbers controlled the run of play but consistently broke down with their passes between the midfield and the forwards. The timing is off. That is a sign that they are still early in training.

* Maurice Hughes started at forward and showed little that would indicate he deserves to be on the roster on opening day. Adzemian, who had his name on his jersey and apparently will be on the team, was unimpressive playing in the back. Scott Bolkan, still nameless on his shirt, was rarely challenged in the central fullback spot. He could be another big body on the bench.

* What the heck is Tom Taylor doing back? The guy barely saw any minutes last season and was released from his two-year contract to go try out for Puerto Rico and now he is back in Portland. Hard to figure.

* Gonzaga’s offense was so feeble that the Timbers backline was barely even challenged. Guante played the full 90 at left back and I don’t recall him having to do anything in terms of defense. James was not tested in goal.

* Nice to see Justin Thompson come in for the final 10 minutes. He just arrived in Portland this weekend.

* Someone needs to tell Chris Brown that wearing the 11 shirt for the Timbers is the kiss of death. As Allison Andrews points out, that is the same number worn by a certain midfielder who never scored in his five-year career with the Timbers and whose name is banned from this blog.

* I didn’t see Arsene Oka on the bench for either this game or the game against San Jose. Is he injured or has he been released? He is still listed on the roster.

* The pitch in Forest Grove is brand spanking new and it is a nice little facility. The crowd had a number of Japanese speaking fans as well as a fair number of Spanish speakers. It had $4 PBR and $5 McMenimans.

* Merritt Paulson was in attendance and so was his wife who evidently was once a reality tv star.

* It hailed. It does not need to hail again this season. Thank you.

Final thoughts: Every preseason there is a game when I question my existence and why I choose to follow a lower division team in a sport that can cure insomnia at times. This was the one. Watching a poor college team (they lost to Seattle 4-0 on Saturday) play against an uninspired reserve team was a bit painful, but it happens every year. Gavin Wilkinson got a look at some of the younger players and new guys. My guess is that he largely won’t be happy with what he saw but that he also has a better idea about his team than he did before the weekend. It would be discouraging if this was the last exhibition before the season and the starters played so poorly, but we still have a few more weeks and the pieces are still learning how to play with one another.

Match Reports
Portland Timbers
Soccer City USA

Video Highlights (Courtesy of the one and only Timbers Howie)

First Half Part 1