PORTLAND
, Ore.
– The Portland Timbers make their second trip of the season to the East Coast, facing the Atlanta Silverbacks and Charleston Battery this weekend. Playing on back-to-back nights, the Timbers’ trip wraps up a stretch of three games in four days.
When the Timbers face Atlanta (7-6-4, 25pts) on Saturday and Charleston (5-8-5, 20pts) on Sunday, it will mark just the sixth and seventh matches on the road for Portland this season. The Timbers are 3-2-0 away from PGE Park.
Kickoff is scheduled for 4:55 p.m. (Pacific) on Saturday in Atlanta. In Charleston on Sunday, kickoff is set for 3 p.m. (Pacific). Both matches can be heard live on
www.portlandtimbers.com
with broadcaster Andy McNamara calling the play-by-play.
The Timbers will play in Atlanta without the services of midfielder
Andrew Gregor
due to a one-game, league-imposed suspension for yellow card accumulation. Gregor, who leads the team in scoring (16 pts) and is tied for the league lead in goals (7), will be available for Sunday’s match in Charleston.
Portland (10-2-3, 33pts) defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 on Thursday at PGE Park to hold on to first place in the USL First Division. In their last match, the Timbers tied a franchise record with their sixth consecutive win, a record previously set in 2004.
The Timbers return home to face the Silverbacks on July 26 at PGE Park before they host England’s Preston North End for The Oregonian Timbers vs. Preston North End Exhibition presented by Widmer on July 28 at PGE Park at 7 p.m.
ABOUT ATLANTA SILVERBACKS
The Silverbacks had a four-game winning streak snapped with a 1-0 loss to the California Victory on Tuesday in San Francisco. Atlanta has won its last three home games, defeating the Charleston Battery, Rochester Raging Rhinos and Vancouver Whitecaps by a combined score of 9-3. Atlanta forward Dan Antoniuk, who played for the Timbers from 2003-2005, leads the league in scoring with 20 points (6g, 8a). Antoniuk was traded to Atlanta from the Montreal Impact prior to the 2007 season. The Silverbacks are 2-1-0 against the Timbers in Atlanta.
ABOUT CHARLESTON BATTERY
The Battery are winless in their last six matches, including a pair of loses in their last two matches to the Puerto Rico Islanders on July 13 and July 15 in Puerto Rico. Charleston’s last win was a 3-2 result over Atlanta at home on June 22. With a record of 0-3-1 record in July, Charleston wraps up the month with home matches against Portland on Sunday and Miami FC on July 31. Forward Byron Alvarez, the Timbers’ modern franchise leading scorer with 91 points (41g, 9a) in four seasons in Portland, joined the Battery prior to the 2007 season. Alvarez leads the Battery with seven goals in 16 matches and is in a three-way tie for the league lead. All-time, the Battery are 3-3-0 against the Timbers and are 2-1-0 against the Timbers in Charleston.
