PORTLAND, Ore.
- Dan Antoniuk scored two goals and the Portland Timbers overcame a halftime deficit to defeat the Puerto Rico Islanders 2-1 in front of 5,992 Thursday night at PGE Park.
Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar assisted on both Antoniuk goals in the second half.
With revenge on its mind after falling to Puerto Rico 2-0 on the road last week, Portland (5-3-3, 18pts) found its touch in the second half and dominated possession for the majority of the match, out-shooting the Islanders 13-4.
Puerto Rico (3-3-3, 12pts) played a man down for the last 11 minutes after Alexis Rivera was tossed from the game after drawing his second caution of the evening.
Despite outplaying the Islanders in the first half, the Timbers allowed Puerto Rico to tally the first strike. On a corner kick play in the 44th, the ball bounced around the box off several players before Corey Woolfolk managed to foot it into the back of the net, giving the Islanders a 1-0 lead entering halftime.
Portland came out firing in the second half and quickly tallied the equalizer when Alcaraz-Cuellar served a sharp ball into the path of Antoniuk, who spun it off his head and past Puerto Rico goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.
Antoniuk linked up with Alcaraz-Cuellar for a second time in the 71st, this time booting in a corner kick from eight yards out to seal the match.
After breaking for a day, the Timbers return to PGE Park on Saturday, June 18 to take on the Rochester Raging Rhinos in a 7 p.m. kickoff.
TIMBERS NOTES:
Thursday’s match was highlighted by “Pugs at the Park,” an event featuring the nine best-dressed canines from this year’s Pug Crawl at halftime… Antoniuk’s two-goal performance marked the first time this season a Timber has scored multiple goals in a game … there were 47 total fouls committed between the two clubs.
SCORING SUMMARY:
Woolfolk, 45’ (UA); Antoniuk, 48’ (Alcaraz-Cuellar); Antoniuk, 71’ (Alcaraz-Cuellar).
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
POR Poltl, YC (21’), Higgins, YC (43’); PRI Velez, YC (29’), Ortiz, YC (48’), Rivera, YC (57’), Gores, YC (68’), DaSilva, YC (76’), Rivera, RC (79’), DaSilva, RC (79’).
LINEUPS:
PUERTO RICO (3-3-3) Kennedy GK, Ortiz D (McAthy 89’), Rivera D, Zuleta D, Velez D, Gores M, DaSilva M (N. Delgado 78’), Maliza M, Villegas M (Gonzalez 72’), Salles F (A. Delgado 78’), Woolfolk F; PORTLAND (5-3-3) J. Saunders GK, Wilkinson D, Thompson D, Morrison D, Alcaraz-Cuellar M, Winters M, Higgins M, Poltl M, Miranda M, Antoniuk F, Alvarez F.
