PORTLAND, Ore.
– The Portland Timbers face the NSC Minnesota Stars in a home-and-home series this week, starting Thursday at PGE Park at 7 p.m. The two sides meet again Saturday in Minnesota at 5 p.m. (Pacific).
Tickets for Thursday’s matchup start at $12 in advance and are available for purchase at the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000.
Portland’s two matches against NSC Minnesota continues a stretch of three games in five days, starting Tuesday with the Timbers’ 3-0 win over the Sonoma County Sol in the first round of the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at PGE Park. Across all competitions, the Timbers are 2-1-1 in their last four home matches at PGE Park.
The Timbers (3-4-4, 13pts) sit just below the Stars (4-7-2, 14pts) in the USL Conference standings in fifth. Portland begins a four-game, regular-season series against the new Minnesota club on Thursday. The game in Minnesota marks the first of two trips to the face the Stars on the road this season.
In league play, the Timbers recently faced the Austin Aztex and Miami FC Blues on a two-game road trip. After a scoreless draw against the Aztex on June 9, Portland was handed a 1-0 loss by the Blues on June 12.
Thursday's opening match of the home-and-home series will be televised on FSN. Both matches against the Stars this week will be broadcast live on Sportsradio 95.5 The Game, with a live video webcast available online at
www.portlandtimbers.com/live
. Thursday’s matchup in Portland will also be broadcast in Spanish on 910AM+1390AM ESPN Deportes.
ABOUT NSC MINNESOTA STARS
NSC Minnesota marks its first season in the USSF Division-2 Pro League in 2010. The Stars defeated the Montreal Impact 1-0 in their last league match on June 9; forward Melvin Tarley scored the decisive goal in the 87th minute. With the win over Montreal, the Stars are 2-0-1 in their last three league contests. On Tuesday, forward Warren Ukah scored twice to pace the Stars to a 4-2 win over the Kansas City Athletics in a first-round matchup in the U.S. Open Cup.
