The Portland Timbers square off against Crystal Palace Baltimore tonight at 6 p.m. at PGE Park live on FSN. A live radio broadcast of tonight's match is available on 95.5 The Game, with a video webcast online at www.portlandtimbers.com/live.
Click here for tonight's match notes.
Tonight's Starters:
POR: GK Cronin, D Purdy, D Keel, D Danso, D Kirk, M Claesson, M McManus, M Pore, M Savage, F Dike, F DeMartin
BAL: GK Bush, D Pejic, D Marshall, D Nishimura, D Veeder, M Robson, M Yoshitake, M Lader, M Fusilier, F Neto, F Brooks
Match Preview:
The Timbers continue their final regular-season homestand at PGE Park with their second match in four days as they play host to Crystal Palace Baltimore. Portland enters tonight’s contest on a four-game unbeaten streak (2-0-2).
The Timbers (9-7-8, 35pts) remain in third place in the USL Conference – a position they’ve held since July 28. Portland ranks fourth in the overall USSF Division-2 Pro League Standings, with a one-point lead over the Carolina RailHawks (34pts) and five points back of the third-place Vancouver Whitecaps (39pts). The top eight teams in the league advance to the postseason, with the two conference winners occupying the top two seeds.
In addition to extending their recent unbeaten run with the draw against Austin on Thursday, the Timbers also pushed their unbeaten streak in league contests at home to five. Portland has not lost a home match in league play at PGE Park since June 27, and in fact, has just one loss at home since the beginning of June (2-1-4 home record since June 6).
Portland’s defense is tied for second in the league, along with the first-place Rochester Rhinos, in fewest goals allowed with 20. In their two-game, regular-season series with the Aztex, the Timbers held the league’s highest scoring outfit to just a single goal.
Crystal Palace Baltimore (6-12-6, 24pts) makes its second and final trip to the Rose City during the regular season. The Timbers have come out on the losing end in each of the first two matchups against Baltimore in 2010. Crystal Palace Baltimore made a first-half goal stand in a 1-0 win at PGE Park on May 13. The loss was the first of the season for Portland and broke a four-game unbeaten run to open the 2010 campaign. Nine days later in Baltimore, Crystal Palace Baltimore scored two unanswered goals in the final 16 min. of the match, including the game-winning strike by Randi Patterson, to secure a 2-1 win over the Timbers on May 22.
Portland wraps up its three-game homestand and regular-season home slate Thursday, Sept. 2, as it plays host to the Puerto Rico Islanders at PGE Park at 7 p.m.
