The Portland Timbers finish up the 2009 regular season tonight on Fan Appreciation Night as they face the Cleveland City Stars at PGE Park live on FSN. Catch tonight's match at portlandtimbers.com or USL Live. Follow updates on Twitter.
Among tonight's Fan Appreciation Night festivities are post-game fireworks, the team's annual Jersey-Off-Our-Back Auction presented by Toyota and the Comcast Fan-Choice Giveaway. The first 4,000 fans will be entered to win a variety of premium prizes and giveaways.
Click here for tonight's match notes.
Tonight's Starters:
POR: GK Cronin, D Hayes, D Keel, D Thompson, D Nishimura, M Farber, M Claesson, M McManus, M Suzuki, F Keita, F Josten
CLE: GK Gilstrap, D Roberts, D Stovall, D Kanu, D Ballard, M Gueye, M Stewart, M Oka, M Hotchkin, F Bangura, F LaCrone
Match Preview:
The Portland Timbers close out the 2009 regular season tonight as they play host to the Cleveland City Stars at PGE Park. It's the third and final meeting between the two clubs this season and the second matchup between the two in the last five days in Portland.
The Timbers (15-4-10, 55pts) occupy first place in the USL First Division table and have won the 2009 Commissioner's Cup as the regular-season champion. Portland has retained its position in the standings even with losses in three of their last four matches.
Tonight's contest is the Timbers' regular-season home finale. Since 2001, the Timbers are 6-2-0 in their final regular-season match at PGE Park.
Last weekend, the Timbers were handed their third straight defeat at home in a 1-0 loss to the City Stars. A first-half, free-kick goal by Jason Hotchkin sealed the win despite the Timbers' 24 shots on goal. In two matches against Cleveland this season, Portland has recorded 20-plus shots in each match, but has yet to find the back of the net. Earlier this season, the two clubs played to a 0-0 draw in Ohio.
Forward Mandjou Keita enters the week with a four-point lead in the race as the USL First Division Scoring Champion. Keita has 28 points from 11 goals and six assists in 28 matches this season; he would become the first Timbers player to win the honor since McKinley Tennyson in 2002. He is also in a three-way tie for the league's goal-scoring crown. Keita, along with Vancouver's Charles Gbeke and Rochester's Johnny Menyongar, each have 11 strikes on the season. The last Timbers player to earn that title was Alan Gordon in 2004.
In tonight's game, Portland's backline has a chance to match a modern-franchise record for the fewest goals allowed in a single season. The Timbers have conceded a league-low 18 goals this season, which is also the current mark first set back in 2007.
Following tonight's match, the Timbers will have a two-week break before entering the USL First Division playoffs in the semifinal round scheduled for Oct. 1-4. They received a first-round bye as the Commissioner's Cup champion.
