The Timbers face the Austin Aztex tonight with the USL First Division Commissioner's Cup on the line at PGE Park; kickoff is at 7 p.m. Listen to tonight's game live at portlandtimbers.com or watch it on USL Live. Follow updates on Twitter.
Tonight, fans are encouraged to bring an item to donate to the team's canned-food drive, benefitting the Oregon Food Bank.
Click here for tonight's match notes.
Tonight's Starters:
POR:
AUS:
Match Preview:
The Portland Timbers enter tonight's contest against the Austin Aztex in position to capture the Commissioner's Cup as the USL First Division regular-season champion. The two sides close out a home-and-home set this week as well as the regular-season series between them tonight in Austin's only visit to PGE Park.
With the Minnesota Thunder's victory over the Puerto Rico Islanders Thursday, the Timbers (15-2-10, 55pts) can claim their second Commissioner's Cup in modern-franchise history with a win or draw against the Aztex. Portland last won the regular-season title in 2004, assembling a league-best 18-7-3 (57pts) record.
The Commissioner's Cup winner enters the USL First Division playoffs as the No. 1 seed and earns a first-round bye to the semifinals. The Timbers currently sit in first place with a five point lead and a game in hand over the second-place Puerto Rico Islanders.
On Monday, the Timbers used an 85th-minte goal by defender
Stephen Keel
and four saves by goalkeeper
Steve Cronin
to open their home-and-home set against the Aztex with a 1-0 road win. Portland is 2-0-0 against the Austin this season, with both wins coming away from PGE Park. In their first-ever matchup, the Timbers used a stoppage-time strike by midfielder
Johan Claesson
to secure a 2-1 win on July 11. Tonight marks the first time the USL First Division-expansion Aztex have played at PGE Park.
The Timbers are 2-0-1 against USL First Division expansion teams this season. Under head third-year head coach
Gavin Wilkinson
, the Timbers are 7-0-2 overall against expansion sides in their inaugural seasons.
With a total attendance of 114,140 through the first 12 regular-season home matches at PGE Park this season, the Timbers are 14,369 fans shy of eclipsing the modern-franchise record for regular-season attendance at 128,509 fans set last season. Including tonight's contest, Portland has three home matches remaining on its regular-season schedule.
Portland welcomes the expansion Cleveland City Stars to PGE Park on Sunday, led by former assistant coach
Rod Underwood
; kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. It will be the first of two matches against Cleveland as the Timbers wrap up the 2009 regular-season campaign.
