Timbers visit Northwest rival Seattle Saturday

PORTLAND
, Ore. –
The Portland Timbers make their final trip to Seattle to play the Sounders as USL First Division rivals on Saturday at Qwest Field at 7 p.m. The match in Seattle begins a slate of three road matches for the Timbers.




Portland (3-0-1, 10pts) faces Seattle in its first road match of the season on Saturday after beginning the year with four consecutive home matches at PGE Park. Saturday’s match kicks off a three-game road stretch that takes the Timbers to Puerto Rico and Miami next week. Last season, the Timbers were 6-5-3 on the road.




The Cascadia Cup showdown is the second match between the Timbers and Sounders (1-1-1, 4pts) this season. In their first meeting, the Timbers recorded a 2-0 shutout win on April 26 at PGE Park on goals by forward
Takayuki Suzuki
and midfielder
Miguel Guante
. The Timbers are 11-15-4 against the Sounders since 2001, including a 4-9-2 record in Seattle.




A live broadcast of Saturday’s match in Seattle is available online at
www.portlandtimbers.com
, with a live video webcast available through USL Live at www.usllive.com.




With a 0-0 draw against the Rochester Rhinos on Thursday at PGE Park, the Timbers currently occupy the top spot in the USL First Division with an unbeaten record through the season’s first four matches. Led by the backline, Portland has posted three shutouts in its first four matches.




The Sounders open their 2008 home schedule against Portland with their only regular-season game of the 2008 season at Qwest Field. Seattle captured its first win and shutout of the season on May 2 with a 2-0 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks in a rematch of the 2007 USL First Division final. Aiding in the Sounders’ victory was midfielder Leighton O’Brien and defender Taylor Graham, who each earned Team of the Week honors.




The Timbers and Sounders meet for the final time as USL opponents on Aug. 7 in Portland at PGE Park as the city of Seattle prepares for its Major League Soccer expansion franchise to being play in 2009.




Saturday’s match also counts towards the Cascadia Cup standings. With a win on April 26, the Timbers currently hold the lead in the annual derby between the Timbers, Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps. The team with the best head-to-head record among the three Northwest rivals during the regular season wins the cup.




Portland returns home on May 24 to face the Vancouver Whitecaps at PGE Park at 7 p.m. The first 1,000 fans on May 24 receive Timbers T-shirts courtesy of FSN. Tickets, starting at $11, are available through the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at
www.ticketmaster.com
or by calling (503) 224-4400.

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