PORTLAND, Ore.
– A late, equalizing goal by defender Mike Ambersley canceled out a dominate offensive performance by the Portland Timbers, as they played AC St. Louis to a 1-1 draw in front of 10,057 at PGE Park on Saturday.
Forward Mandjou Keita led the Timbers’ attack with his first goal of the season, putting the Timbers on top 1-0 in the second half. Midfielder Ryan Pore earned his second assist on the year and took a team-high five shots, while forward O.J. Obatola contributed four shots of his own. Portland (3-1-2, 11pts) out-shot AC St. Louis 14-3 in the contest.
The Timbers move into a two-way tie with the Rochester Rhinos for first place in the USSF Division-2 Pro League’s USL Conference at 11 points with the draw.
Timbers goalkeeper Steve Cronin appeared to be on his way towards his third shutout of the season, not needing to make a save during regulation. However, in second-half stoppage time, Ambersley capitalized on a loose ball in the box to help AC St. Louis (1-5-1, 4pts) earn the draw and break the club’s four-game losing skid on the road.
The Timbers’ attack put AC St. Louis under pressure from the opening whistle. Pore and Keita, the Timbers’ two leading scorers from a season ago, looked to link up throughout the match and led the charge in the first half. In the 13th minute, Pore led a 3-on-2 break with Keita on the left flank. Pore’s feed out wide to Keita was a little too heavy and rolled out before the striker could catch up to the ball.
In the 28th minute, Pore got in behind the St. Louis defense and Keita found him with a pin-point pass across the box. Under pressure, Pore pushed his shot wide right of the goal.
The Timbers backline looked to get involved in the offense in the first half. In the 16th minute, a free kick by Pore from 35 yards out connected with defender Mamadou Danso near the edge of the six yard box; Danso’s header looped just over the crossbar.
Late in the first half, defender Quavas Kirk started a build up along the right touch line. He found Alex Nimo near the midfield line, who then slipped a pass to Johan Claesson, with room to attack. Claesson set up Obatola for a shot square on goal, but he put his attempt into the chest of St. Louis goalkeeper Alec Dufty for one of his five saves on the night.
Portland had another quality opportunity just before the break. Fighting off his man near the top left corner of the box, Obatola laid a pass off for defender Ian Joy running down the left side. Joy fired off his first shot of the season from 12 yards out, forcing Dufty into another timely save.
Pore brought the crowd to its feet in the 58th minute, receiving a cross from Kirk with space just 10 yards out from goal. He settled the pass and pulled the trigger on his second touch, but Dufty was in position to deny the shot with a timely kick save near the left post.
With the ball at his feet in the 66th minute, Pore set up the Timbers’ go-ahead goal. As he attacked the box, his defender closed in and Pore laid the ball off for Keita just beyond the arc. After a quick back-track, Keita unleashed a low drive inside the left post to lift the home side to a 1-0 lead.
Even with the lead, the Timbers continued their offensive pursuit. In the 70th minute, Claesson sprung Keita on a run up the middle of the park and appeared to get in behind the defense, but was ruled off side to end the threat. Five minutes from time, Pore put another hard shot on frame that was stopped by a diving effort by Dufty, which kept the chance for the equalizer alive.
In second-half stoppage time, St. Louis played the ball into the box. While the visitors had the initial touch, the ball rattled around inside the penalty area. Before the Timbers could clear it away, Ambersley shed his marker, crashed the loose ball and hammered home the equalizing strike from the doorstep.
The Timbers round out a stretch of three games in seven days on Wednesday, May 19, as they play host to the Montreal Impact at PGE Park at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $12 in advance and are available through the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster locations, online at
www.ticketmaster.com
or by phone at (800) 745-3000.
Notes:
Portland’s Danso returned to the line up on Saturday after missing Thursday’s match against Baltimore due to a one-game, league-imposed suspension for his red card on April 29 … Keita’s goal on Saturday was his first in 11 appearances for the Timbers, dating back to Aug. 22, 2009 … Forward Bright Dike (DEE-kay) made his league debut for the Timbers against St. Louis … Saturday’s attendance was the team’s second crowd of over the 10,000 fans in 2010.
Lineups:
POR: GK Cronin, D Kirk, D Joy, D Purdy, D Danso, M Claesson (McManus, 78), M Marcelin, M Nimo (Lopez, 66), M Pore, F Obatola (DeMartin, 71), F Keita (Dike, 84)
STL: GK Dufty, D Velten, D Traynor, D Ambersley, D Barna, M Cole (More, 69), M Kreamalmeyer, M Kante, M Bloom (Leske, 60), M Gauchinho, F Titton (Stisser, 71)
Scoring Summary:
POR: Keita (Pore), 66
STL: Ambersley, 90
Timbers Player Ratings (as submitted by members of Portland media; on a scale of 1-10):
GK – Steve Cronin – 6.5, D – Quavas Kirk – 7, D – Ian Joy – 7, D – Steve Purdy – 7, D – Mamadou Danso – 7, M – Johan Claesson – 7, M – James Marcelin – 7, M – Alex Nimo – 7, M – Ryan Pore – 7, F – O.J. Obatola – 7, F – Mandjou Keita – 8.5
M – Rodrigo Lopez – 7, M – Tony McManus – 4.5, F – Doug DeMartin – 4.5, F – Bright Dike – 7
