Timbers travel to Bakersfield for first round of USOC

PORTLAND
, Ore.
– The Portland Timbers continue their stretch of road games as they face the Bakersfield Brigade of the Premier Development League (PDL) in the opening round of the U.S. Open Cup Tuesday night in Bakersfield, Calif. The two sides square off at Bakersfield Christian High School; kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. A broadcast of the match will not be available.
The winner between the Timbers and Brigade will face the winner of the Banat Arsenal (USASA) and Seattle Sounders (USL-1) match in the second round on June 26.
The Timbers are 2-3-0 in U.S. Open Cup play since 2001 and have reached as high as the fourth round in 2004 and 2005. Last season, the Timbers were eliminated by the Charleston Battery (USL-1) in the third round.
The Timbers are coming off a three-point, two-game road trip through Montreal and Rochester over the weekend with a 1-0 win over the Montreal Impact on June 8. With a record of 4-2-2 (14pts), the Timbers are in a three-way tie for fifth in the USL First Division. Including Tuesday’s match, the Timbers have played three games in five days in three different cities.
The Timbers will have to play without the team's leading scorer, midfielder
Andrew Gregor
, who left for a six-day training camp in Spain with the U.S. Futsal National Team on Sunday.
Bakersfield (5-4-0, 15pts) is currently ranked second in the Southwest Division of the PDL's Western Conference. Led by forward Santiago Aguilera-Navarro, the Brigade are 2-1-0 in their last three matches with wins over the San Jose Frogs and San Francisco Seals last weekend. Navarro has scored two goals in the last two games to lead the team in goals scored (5) and points (11).
The Brigade was the first PDL team to qualify for the 2007 U.S. Open Cup, winning the first three of its four qualifying matches over the Fresno Fuego (April 28), Orange County Blue Star (May 5) and Lancaster Rattlers (May 18). This is Bakersfield's first U.S. Open Cup appearance.
Portland returns home for an international exhibition match against AC Milan Primavera, the U-21 squad of Champions League champions, AC Milan, on June 19 at PGE Park at 7 p.m. For ticket information log on to
www.portlandtimbers.com
.
For more information on the U.S. Open Cup visit,
www.usopencup.com
.
For more information on the Bakersfield Brigade visit,
www.bakersfieldbrigade.com
.