PORTLAND, Ore.
– The Portland Timbers kick off the 2007 regular season Saturday, April 21, when they play host to the Puerto Rico Islanders at PGE Park, it was announced today as the club unveiled its schedule for the upcoming United Soccer Leagues (USL) First Division campaign.
The 28-game schedule includes three matches against each of the Timbers’ four regional rivals – the Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps, Minnesota Thunder and the expansion California Victory – plus two matches against each of the remaining eight USL First Division teams.
The Timbers start the 2007 season by playing five of their first six matches at PGE Park, featuring games against the rival Sounders and first-ever meetings with California and the Carolina RailHawks.
Highlights of the 2007 home schedule include Seattle’s only trip of the season to PGE Park on May 11, two visits from the defending USL First Division-champion Whitecaps on July 19 and August 11, and a home match against perennial-powerhouse Montreal on June 21.
The 14-game home schedule includes a combination of Thursday, Friday and weekend games, consisting of the following breakdown: Thursdays (5), Fridays (3), Saturdays (3), Sundays (3). Standard home game times are 7 p.m., and 6 p.m. on Sundays.
The Timbers conclude the regular season by traveling to Vancouver on Sept. 9.
Season tickets, club seats, group packages, party suites, flex plans and mini-plans for the 2007 campaign are currently on sale. Timbers ticket plans start as low as $63 and are available by contacting the team’s ticket office at (503) 553-5555. Additional details on Timbers ticket plans can be found at www.portlandtimbers.com.
With the addition of two expansion teams, the USL First Division playoffs will expand to eight teams in 2007, with all eight qualifying clubs playing a two-game, aggregate-score series in the quarterfinals. The winning clubs will then be re-seeded for the semifinals – also a two-game, aggregate-score series – to determine the two clubs for the championship game to be hosted by one of the two finalists.
2007 TIMBERS SCHEDULE NOTES
HOME DATES BY DAY OF THE WEEK:
Thursday (5), Friday (3), Saturday (3), Sunday (3)
ROAD DATES BY DAY OF THE WEEK:
Wednesday (1), Thursday (2), Friday (1), Saturday (6), Sunday (4)
HOME DATES BY MONTH:
April (1), May (4), June (2), July (4), August (3), September (0)
ROAD DATES BY MONTH:
April (0), May (1), June (3), July (2), August (5), September (3)
LONGEST HOME STRETCH:
4 matches (May 11 – May 27)
LONGEST ROAD STRETCH:
5 matches (Aug. 25 – Sept. 9)
BACK-TO-BACK MATCHES (on back-to-back days):
4 (June 8-9, July 21-22, Aug. 25-26, Sept. 1-2)
