The Timbers finish a home-and-home series with the NSC Minnesota Stars tonight in Minnesota; kickoff is set for 5 p.m. (Pacific). Listen to the match live on 95.5 The Game or watch it live online. Follow in-game updtes on Twitter.
Click here for tonight's match notes.
Tonight's Starters:
POR:
MIN:
Match Preview:
The Portland Timbers make their first visit to Minnesota this season to conclude a home-and-home series against the NSC Minnesota Stars. Tonight’s match is the second matchup between the two sides in the past three days.
At the end of a stretch of three matches in five days this week, the Timbers face their sixth game in 14 days tonight, including regular-season and U.S. Open Cup contests. Portland began the week with a 3-0 win over the Sonoma County Sol Tuesday at PGE Park in the first round of the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
On Thursday in Portland, the Timbers were dealt their second consecutive loss in USSF Division-2 Pro League play. The loss to the Stars also marked the third straight league fixture in which the Timbers have been held scoreless. Portland has gone eight games without a win in league action; the team’s last win was a 2-0 result over the Vancouver Whitecaps on April 29.
While the Timbers may be facing the Stars for the first time on the road, they are not strangers to the National Sports Center. Last season, Portland battled former USL club, the Minnesota Thunder, to a pair of 1-1 draws at the facility. Midfielders
Tony McManus
and
Ryan Pore
both scored in Minnesota to help Portland pick up road points in 2009.
As the midway point in the season draws closer, the Timbers (3-5-4) sit in fifth place in the USL Conference with 13 points. The Timbers continue to look for their first road win of the season, posting a 0-2-2 record in their four previous away contests.
