PORTLAND
, Ore.
–
The Portland Timbers hit the road for a two-game road trip this weekend against the Montreal Impact on Friday at 4:30 p.m. (Pacific) and Rochester Rhinos on Sunday at 3 p.m. (Pacific). Friday’s match in Montreal will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel starting at 5 p.m. (Pacific).
The Timbers will have to play without head coach
Gavin Wilkinson
and forward
Takayuki
Suzuki
on Friday against the Impact due to one-game, league-imposed suspensions for their red cards issued on Monday against Miami FC at PGE Park. Assistant coach
Rod
Underwood
will oversee the sidelines in Montreal.
Both matches will be broadcast live on
www.portlandtimbers.com
and a live video webcast of Sunday’s match is available through USL Live at www.usllive.com.
The Timbers (3-2-4, 13pts) suffered back-to-back losses last weekend to the Vancouver Whitecaps and Miami FC Blues at PGE Park – their first defeats of the season. Portland is now in a three-way tie for third place in the USL First Division with the Minnesota Thunder and Carolina RailHawks at 13 points. The Timbers’ consecutive losses are the first since the end of the 2006 season.
In three matches on the road this season, the Timbers are 0-0-3 and have recorded two shutouts. Forward
Chris Brown
and midfielder
Lawrence Olum
have scored goals on the road this season, both coming in a 2-2 draw at the Puerto Rico Islanders on May 16.
Looking for their first win since April 26, the Timbers have a 3-2-2 all-time record against the Impact, including a 2-0-1 record in Montreal. Last season, a penalty kick goal by midfielder
Andrew Gregor
sealed a 1-0 road victory over the Impact.
The Timbers and Rhinos played to a scoreless draw in their first meeting this season on May 8 at PGE Park. Sunday marks the first of two trips to Rochester, where the Timbers have yet to record a win in four games (0-3-1) since 2001.
Both Montreal (2-4-1, 7pts) and Rochester (0-4-3, 3pts) are playing just their second home games of the season against the Timbers this weekend.
The trip to Montreal and Rochester begins a stretch of seven matches in 16 days for the Timbers, including a first-round U.S. Open Cup match against Hollywood United on June 10 and an exhibition match against Juventus Primavera on June 14 at PGE Park.
ABOUT MONTREAL IMPACT
The Impact have had an 11-day break between league matches, but faced Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC in a 1-0 loss at Saputo Stadium on Wednesday in the new Nutrilite Canadian Championship tournament. Montreal is 0-2-1 in its last three USL First Division matches and has been held scoreless in each of those matches. The Impact started the season with a stretch of six consecutive road matches while waiting for the final stages of their new venue, Saputo Stadium, to be completed.
ABOUT ROCHESTER RHINOS
The Rhinos begin a stretch of four consecutive home matches on Sunday against the Timbers. In their last match against the Carolina RailHawks, forward Mauricio Salles scored the Rhinos’ second goal of the season to record a 1-1 draw on the road. Both Salles and defender Luke Kreamalmeyer, a former Timber, earned USL First Division Team of the Week honors for their performances against Carolina. Over their last three matches, the Rhinos are 0-1-2 and have scored their only two goals on the season.
