PORTLAND, Ore.
– After an extended break, the Portland Timbers return to league play with a pair of home matches this week as they play host to USSF Division-2 Pro League newcomers Crystal Palace Baltimore on Thursday and AC St. Louis on Saturday at PGE Park; both matches kick off at 7 p.m.
Tickets start at $12 in advance and are available for purchase through the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000. The first 2,000 fans for Saturday’s match receive a limited-edition Timbers skateboard deck.
The Timbers (3-0-1, 10pts) remain unbeaten through their first four games of the 2010 regular season and sit just one point behind the Rochester Rhinos in first place in the USSF D-2 Pro League’s USL Conference. Portland was in action last on May 1, in an exhibition match against Costa Rica’s Puntarenas FC at PGE Park.
Entering Thursday’s match against Baltimore, midfielder
Ryan Pore
has scored in each of the Timbers first four games of the 2010 campaign, netting a league-high total of six goals.
Crystal Palace Baltimore (0-3-1, 1pt) makes its first trip to PGE Park since joining the USSF D-2 Pro League; the club competed in the USL Second Division from 2007-09. Baltimore earned its first points of the season May 8 with a scoreless draw on the road against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The club’s roster features former Timbers goalkeeper
Chase Harrison
(2008) and defender
Takuro Nishimura
(2009). Thursday’s contest marks the first of two meetings between the clubs this month; the Timbers travel to Baltimore on May 22.
On Saturday, the Timbers face AC St. Louis (1-5-0, 3pts) for the second time this season. Portland defeated AC St. Louis 3-0 at PGE Park on April 22, using a pair of goals and an assist from Pore in the victory. It will be the last scheduled visit to the Rose City this season for AC St. Louis, which will host the final two games of the regular-season series against Portland in St. Louis.
Both matches this week will be televised live on FSN and broadcast on 95.5 The Game. A live Spanish-language broadcast will also be available on 910AM+1390AM ESPN Deportes, with a live video webstream available at
www.portlandtimbers.com/live
.
Saturday’s match is part of a Timbers doubleheader at PGE Park as the club’s development team, the Timbers U-23s, begins its 2010 Premier Development League season against the Washington Crossfire at 2:30 p.m.
