The Portland Timbers take on their Northwest rival Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer in a U.S. Open Cup third-round match up tonight at PGE Park at 7 p.m. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on FSN, 95.5 The Game and USL Live.
Click here for tonight's match notes.
Starting Lineups:
POR:
SEA:
Match Preview:
The Portland Timbers enter tonight's U.S. Open Cup match against Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders FC on a 15-game unbeaten streak (12 in league matches). The Timbers currently sit in third place in the USL First Division, just twopoints behind table leader the Puerto Rico Islanders.
With a 4-0 shutout victory over the Montreal Impact on Sunday at PGE Park, the Timbers extended their modern-franchise record unbeaten streak to 12 matches in league play and remain unbeaten at home this season (6-0-1). At PGE Park this season, the Timbers have out-scored their opponents 20-3 (seven league matches; one exhibition).
Led by goalkeeper
Steve Cronin
, Portland's defense has allowed just six goals in its first 13 games this season and paces the league in fewest goals allowed. On the other side of the field, the Timbers rank second in the league in scoring with 20 goals; six coming from forward
Mandjou Keita
.
The Timbers defeated the Kitsap Pumas (3-0) of the Premier Development League in the first round of the 2009 U.S. Open Cup and then eliminated the Sonoma County Sol (3-0) of the U.S. Adult Soccer Association in the second round to advance to tonight's match against Seattle. Including this season's run, the Timbers are 5-5-0 in U.S. Open Cup matches since joining United Soccer Leagues in 2001.
If Portland wins tonight's match, they will travel to face the Kansas City Wizards in the quarterfinal round scheduled for July 7.
Portland has advanced as far as the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup, facing MLS' San Jose Earthquakes in both the 2004 and 2005 tournaments at PGE Park. The Timbers and Sounders have met in previous U.S. Open Cup tournaments. In 2005, the Timbers knocked Seattle out of the third round with a 2-0 win at PGE Park. Then in 2007, Seattle used a one-man advantage to overcome a one-goal deficit and defeat Portland 2-1 in a second-round matchup at Starfire Sport Complex. Timbers defender
Cameron Knowles
was issued a straight red card in that match, following a challenge with Sounders forward
Roger Levesque
on a ball in the air.
The spirited Portland-Seattle rivalry dates back to 1975, when both were members of the North American Soccer League. The Timbers were 11-16-5 against the Sounders in regular-season meetings in the USL First Division from 2001-08, and the two clubs split the all-time USL First Division series, 7-7-2, in games played in Portland. Last season, the Timbers were 1-1-1 against the Sounders, including a 2-0 win at PGE Park on April 26, 2008. This spring, the Timbers defeated the
Sounders FC reserves 3-2 in a preseason contest on April 13, 2009 at Starfire Sports Complex.
Following tonight's U.S. Open Cup match, the Timbers play host to an international friendly tomorrow night at PGE Park in the Spirit Mountain Casino presents Timbers vs. Bayern Munich II exhibition match powered by Lufthansa and Widmer Brothers at 7 p.m. German club Bayern Munich II features the rising stars of successful German club Bayern Munich, who competes in Germany's famed top league - the Bundesliga.
