The Portland Timbers return to league action tonight as visit the Carolina RailHawks at 4 p.m. (Pacific) Tune into a live broadcast online at portlandtimbers.com with Andy McNamara, watch it on USL Live or follow updates on Twitter.
Click here for tonight's match notes:
Starters:
POR:
CAR:
Match Preview:
The Portland Timbers return to league action tonight as they face the Carolina RailHawks and they open a two-game road trip to the Southeast. Portland started a stretch of three road games in five days on Tuesday with a 3-0 win over the Premier Development League's Kitsap Pumas in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup.
The Timbers extended their unbeaten streak in league play to eight matches last week with a 1-0 win over the Montreal Impact on June 4 at PGE Park. Including their U.S. Open Cup match and an exhibition game against Mexico's Club America Reserves, the Timbers have won five straight games and have shutout opponents in three of those contests.
Portland's backline earned its fifth shutout of the season against Montreal, limiting the Impact to just two shots in the match. The Timbers defense currently ranks second in the USL First Division in the fewest goals allowed, conceding just four goals through the first nine matches of the season.
Tonight, the Timbers conclude their regular-season series against the RailHawks. Earlier this season, the Timbers put the first blemishes on Carolina's record in a two-game series from April 30-May 2 at PGE Park. In their first meeting of the season on April 30, the two sides played to a 0-0 draw. Two days later, the Timbers received goals from midfielder
Brian Farber
and
Ryan Pore
to capture a 2-0 victory over the RailHawks on May 2. The Timbers and RailHawks have split the all-time series, 2-2-3.
Tonight's contest marks the Timbers lone trip to Carolina during the regular season, where they are 1-2-2 all-time. The Timbers have not won a match in Carolina since 2007.
Midfielder Ryan Pore and Tony McManus, defender Takuro Nishimura and forward Antou Jallow are all unavailable for tonight's match due to injury.
Portland faces the Charleston Battery on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (Pacific) to finish a stretch of three games in five days. A live broadcast of Saturday's game will air on 95.5 The Game and online at www.portlandtimbers.com with broadcaster
Andy McNamara
calling the action. A live video webcast is available through USL Live at www.usllive.com.
