PORTLAND, Ore. –
In front of a sold-out crowd at PGE Park, the Portland Timbers battled Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders FC to a 1-1 draw, before losing on penalty kicks 4-3 in a third-round matchup in the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup before 15,422 on Wednesday.
After going down a goal early, the Timbers were able to pull level late in the first half on a strike by forward Bright Dike. The Northwest rivals played even at 1-1 for 75 minutes, through the second half and a half hour of overtime, before the match was decided in a penalty-kick shootout. Sounders FC goalkeeper Kasey Keller turned in two saves during the shootout to help the MLS side secure the victory and advance to quarterfinals of the tournament.
Forward Nate Jaqua scored the go-ahead goal, midfielder Sanna Nyassi recorded an assist, and Keller recorded six saves during regulation to help Sounders FC defeat Portland in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup for a second straight season. Seattle will face the Los Angeles Galaxy in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, July 7.
Goalkeeper Steve Cronin managed a backline which faced just 12 shots in 120 minutes of play, Dike scored his fourth goal in U.S. Open Cup play and attempted a team-high four shots and midfielder Ryan Pore logged an assist to lead the Timbers, who faced Sounders FC for a final time in a competitive match before they will joins Seattle in MLS in 2011.
Jaqua, a native of Eugene, Ore., gave Seattle the lead in the 13th minute. From the left side, midfielder Miguel Montano crossed the ball into the box, and Nyassi caught up to it on the back side, just beyond the right post. The midfielder chipped a pass back in for Jaqua on a short, near-sided run. Jaqua re-directed the ball past Cronin and into an open net on the far to lift Sounders FC to a 1-0 advantage.
Dike scored his fifth goal in three games to pull the Timbers even in the 38th minute. Defender Scot Thompson moved the ball up field to Pore inside the offensive third. Pore turned, and then delivered a centering pass to Dike at the top of the box. Fighting off his man, Dike hit a rolling shot from 16 yards out under the out-stretched arms of a diving Keller to knot the score at 1-1.
After a hard-fought second half and 30 minutes of overtime, the match went into a penalty-kick shootout. Keller gave Seattle the advantage on the first attempt from the spot, saving shot by Pore. Sounders FC then converted its first three attempts – Nathan Sturgis, Steve Zakuani and Fredy Montero – to own a 3-2 edge after the first three rounds. A second save by Keller on a shot by Timbers defender Ross Smith allowed Sounders FC defender Zach Scott to cap the shootout at 4-3 in favor of Seattle. Forward Doug DeMartin, midfielder Rodrigo Lopez and defender Mamadou Danso all converted their attempts from the spot for the Timbers.
The Timbers gained a one man advantage in the 101st minute, when Sounders FC defender Taylor Graham was sent off with his second yellow card of the night, following a hard tackle on Dike just outside the box.
Portland had its chances to capture the lead in the second half, and out-shot its MLS counterpart 6-3 in the stanza. Dike drilled a shot on frame in the opening minutes of the second half, but Keller was in position to make the stop.
In the 74th minute, Lopez nearly found the Timbers second goal of the night, aiming at an open net. Keller left his line to challenge Dike all alone at the top of the box. The ball was deflected out to Lopez, who then tried to chip the goalkeeper from 25 yards out, but his shot sailed over the goal.
In the 99th minute, Seattle defender James Riley nearly snuck one by Cronin on a shot from distance. From 30 yards out, Riley drilled a shot from the right and Cronin was able to get in front of it, but the ball popped out of his hands and seemed destined to cross the goal line, but the goalkeeper was able to reel the ball in just in time to keep things level.
The Timbers return to action on Saturday, as they play host to the Vancouver Whitecaps in USSF Division-2 Pro League action at PGE Park; kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The first 2,000 fans receive a polyresin log slab courtesy of SolarWorld. Tickets start at $12 and are available through the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster locations, online at
www.ticketmaster.com
or by phoning (800) 745-3000.
Notes:
Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match marked the first time a competitive Timbers match was decided with penalty kicks since the 2007 USL First Division semifinal series against the Atlanta Silverbacks … The 15,422 on hand marked the Timbers’ second sold-out crowd at PGE Park since 2001, and was the largest home crowed of the 2010 campaign … Earlier in the day, Dike was voted the Player of the Round for Round 2 of the U.S. Open Cup by the website
www.TheCup.us
following his three-goal performance in the Timbers’ 4-1 win over the Kitsap Pumas on June 22.
Lineups:
POR: GK Cronin, D Thompson, D Danso, D Smith, D Joy, M Nimo (Lopez, 69), M McManus, M Marcelin (Keita, 109), M Suzuki (DeMartin 85), F Pore, F Dike
SEA: GK Keller, D Riley, D Scott, D Graham, D Wahl, M Nyassi, M Sturgis, M Seamon (Ianni, 102), M Montano (Zakuani, 69), F Levesque, F Jaqua (Montero, 65)
Scoring Summary:
SEA: Jaqua (Nyassi), 13
POR: Dike (Pore), 38
PK Shootout Summary:
POR: Pore - Save (0-0)
SEA: Sturgis - Goal (0-1)
POR: DeMartin - Goal (1-1)
SEA: Zakuani - Goal (1-2)
POR: Danso - Goal (2-2)
SEA: Montero - Goal (2-3)
POR: Smith - Save (2-3)
SEA: Ianni - Miss (2-3)
POR: Lopez - Goal (3-3)
SEA: Scott - Goal (3-4)
Timbers Player Ratings (as submitted by members of the Portland media; scale of 1-10):
GK - Steve Cronin - 7.5, D - Ian Joy – 7.5, D – Scot Thompson – 7.5, D – Ross Smith – 7.5, D - Mamadou Danso - 8, M – Tony McManus - 8, M - James Marcelin – 7.5, M - Alex Nimo - 7, M – Takayuki Suzuki – 7.5, F - Ryan Pore – 7.5, F – Bright Dike - 8.5
M - Rodrigo Lopez – 7.5, F – Mandjou Keita – 7.5, F - Doug DeMartin – 7
