CORVALLIS, Ore. – During an off-week from Major League Soccer play, the Portland Timbers defeated Oregon State University 1-0 in a training match Saturday evening at Paul Lorenz Stadium. Midfielder Darlington Nagbe’s second-half tally punctuated a solid outing for the Timbers.
A match in which the Timbers controlled the run of play and out-shot OSU 16-6, the Timbers’ persistence paid off in the 63rd minute. From the right side, midfielder Ryan Pore played Nagbe into the box on a diagonal run towards the right post. With a man on his back, Nagbe redirected the ball with a slight touch, placing it inside the far post as he charged through.
Fielding a team of primarily reserves, Saturday’s training match offered several Portland players the opportunity to get in a full 90 minutes of work, including Nagbe, who is making his return from recent sports hernia surgery. For OSU, the match kicked off their offseason spring schedule.
The Timbers had the Beavers back on defense most of the match, and it started early with midfielder Adam Moffat’s shot in the opening minutes that was cleared near the line by an OSU defender. Midfielder Freddie Braun nearly put the Timbers on the board in the 43rd minute, but pushed his diving header just wide of the right post.
OSU goalkeeper Steve Spangler, a member of last season’s Timbers U-23s squad, recorded all four of his saves in the second half, including a diving stop on a free kick by Timbers second-half sub Rodrigo Lopez from the top of the arch just over 10 minutes into the half. Spangler also made a stop on a point-blank shot by Pore in the 67th minute.
The Timbers return to league action Thursday, when they play host to the Chicago Fire in their MLS home opener at JELD-WEN Field; kickoff is set for 8 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN2.
Notes:
- Futty saw his first action with the Timbers since returning from duty with The Gambia National Team, starting and playing a full 90 minutes. He earned his first senior cap with The Gambia in a friendly against Equatorial Guinea on March 29.
- OSU featured two players who played for the Timbers’ record-setting development team in 2010. Spangler and midfielder Roberto Farfan, who both started Saturday, helped the Portland Timbers U-23s to an undefeated championship season in the Premier Development League last year.
- The weather at kickoff: partly cloudy and 54 degrees.
- Portland wore its green training kits against OSU, the same ones worn during the preseason Cascadia Summit – green jersey, white shorts, green socks.
- Goalkeeper Kevin Guppy, a MLS league pool goalkeeper, saw his first competitive action with the Timbers since joining the team last week.
- Trialist Constantin Arbănaş started for the Timbers and played all 90 minutes at right back.
Portland Timbers at Oregon State University – Training game
April 9, 2011 – Paul Lorenz Field (OSU Campus)
Scoring Summary
POR: Nagbe (Pore), 63
Misconduct Summary
POR: Thompson (Caution), 31
OSU: Hansteen (Caution), 57
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK Guppy, D Arbănaş, D Danso, D Goldthwaite, D Taylor, M Pore, M Braun, M Moffat, M Nagbe, F Johnson, F Thompson (Lopez, 46)
trialist
TOTAL SHOTS: 16; FOULS:8; OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 10; SAVES: 1
OSU: GK Spangler, D Anderson, D Hansteen, D von Allworden (Swenson, 46), D Parker, M Penny, M Murillo, M Seymore, M Farfan (Raskowsky, 61), F Mitchell (Eckerson, 70), F Van Vleet (Chavez-Salceda, 81)
TOTAL SHOTS: 6; FOULS: 10; OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 4
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
