The Timbers take on the Minnesota Thunder tonight at PGE Park at 7 p.m. on a Miller Lite Thursday. A live broadcast of tonight's match is available here through portlandtimbers.com; and a live video webcast available through USL Live.
Click here for tonight's match notes.
Starting lineups:
POR:
MIN:
Match Highlights:
18 - Shot just wide by Minnesota's Stephen deRoux on lofted cross from right side of field
19 - Timbers shot over crossbar by Miguel Guante
21 - Shot by Thunder player deRoux on breakaway up left side, save by Timber goalie Jordan James
36 - Yellow card issued to Minnesota's Brian Kallman for unsportsmanlike conduct
45 - Yellow card issued to Minnesota's Ricardo Sanchez
Halftime Stats
Score: Timbers-0 Thunder-0
Shots: Timbers-3 Thunder-5
Fouls: Timbers-13 Thunder-6
50 - Timber Cameron Knowles header just wide left off corner kick from Takayuki Suzuki
54 - Clear breakaway by Thunder player Melvin Tarley, diving save made by James
58 - Yellow card issued to Timber Bryan Jordan
59 - Timber shot by Andrew Gregor from just outside the box, save made by Nic Platter
61 - Timber substitution: Shaun Higgins in for Tom Poltl
63 - Shot driven by Timber Leonard Griffin just above the crossbar
65 - Timbers scoring opportunity: Chris Brown header on cross from Guante deflected wide of the goal sets up a corner kick
74 - Yellow card issued to Timber Shaun Higgins
78 - Thunder substitution: Aaron Paye in for Brian Kallman
78 - Diving save made by James, ball rebounded by Thunder and shot wide of net
82 - Shot on breakaway by Thunder player Paye, off right goalpost
90 - Shot just wide of right post by Minnesota's Jeremiah Bass off pass from Paye
Match Preview:
Portland returns home from a two-game road trip through Montreal and Rochester that saw it snap a six match winless streak against the Impact on May 30 before falling to the Rhinos two days later. The road trip last weekend wrapped up the Timbers’ busiest month of the season with seven regular-season matches during the month of May. Portland had a 1-2-4 record in May.
With tonight’s match, the Timbers will pull even with Miami FC for the most games played in the USL First Division at the 12-match mark of a 30-game regular-season schedule. Last season, the Timbers played their 12th regular-season match on July 7. Portland is two games into a stretch of seven matches in 16 days, including two non-league games next week.
Breaking a run of 18 unbeaten regular-season matches at PGE Park on May 24, the Timbers have lost their last two matches at home falling 1-0 to the Vancouver Whitecaps (May 24) and 2-0 to Miami FC on May 26. Portland has not scored a goal at PGE Park since a 2-0 shutout-win over the Seattle Sounders on April 26 - a run of three games.
Despite going 1-3-1 in their last four matches, the Timbers remain in third place in the USL First Division and with a victory tonight over the Minnesota Thunder can move into a two-way tie with the Whitecaps in first place at 19 points.
Portland faces two matches this week in three days and will have to do so with a series of injuries and missing players. Forwards
Chris Brown
(hamstring) and
Takayuki Suzuki
(ankle) are questionable for tonight’s match, while midfielder
Lawrence Olum
(quad) and forward
Benjamin Totori
(knee) will not be available due to injuries. Goalkeeper
Ray Burse
, who is on loan this season, has been recalled by FC Dallas for the MLS club’s regular-season match in Boston against the New England Revolution on Friday and is not available tonight. To help fill out the roster, forward
Bryan Jordan
has joined the team for tonight’s match on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS). Jordan was a member of the Timbers 2007 team recording five goals and one assist.
The Timbers defeated the Thunder 2-1 on April 24 at PGE Park to take a 1-0-0 lead in the 2008 season series between the two clubs. Portland has a 10-5-9 record against Minnesota since it joined the league in 2001, including a 5-3-4 record at PGE Park. The Timbers’ win over Minnesota earlier this season was the team’s first since the 2006 season - the two sides battled to ties in all three regular-season contests in 2007.
