USL MATCH RECAP | Austin Bold FC: 2, Portland Timbers 2: 2

AUSTIN, Tex. ā€“ Behind goals from Eryk Williamson and Todd Wharton, T2 erased a two-goal deficit and earned a point on the road with a 2-2 draw against Austin Bold FC in front of 2,815 fans at Bold Stadium on Saturday night. With the draw, T2 extended its unbeaten streak to four games and improved to 3-1-3 (12pts) on the road this season.

Road form
In seven away matches to begin the 2019 season, T2 has only lost once, posting a 3-1-3 record. Additionally, T2 currently ranks first in away goals scored this season (18), outscoring their opponents in away games 18-13.

Key plays
T2 earned an early chance in the seventh minute after Foster Langsdorf found a long pass from Modou Jadama, before taking a curling shot from outside the box that went over the crossbar.

In the 16th minute, Cristian Ojeda filtered a through pass to Brayan Hurtado, who found space on the left side of the box and fired a left-footed shot, but Austinā€™s goalkeeper Diego Restrepo controlled his effort.

Austin Bold FC opened the scoring in the 19th minute of the match after AndrƩ Lima connected on a header from the top of the six-yard box to the high center of the goal. Kris Tyrpak doubled the lead for the home side in the 33rd minute after he struck a header at the back post off a cross from Sonny Guadarrama.

Shortly before the break, Williamson pulled one back for T2 in the 43rd minute, his third goal of the season. He started an attack in T2ā€™s half and finished an elaborated play, collecting a pass from Langsdorf inside the box and dribbling an Austin Bold FC defender before unleashing a right-footed shot to the middle left side of the goal.

In the 52th minute, Kendall McIntosh produced an acrobatic save as he pushed away a shot from JosuƩ Soto from outside the box. Shortly after, McIntosh stopped a one-one-one challenge against Tyrpak in the 59th minute, making a kick save to record one of his eight saves in the match.

T2 leveled the match at 2-2 in the 81st minute when Wharton picked up a rebound off a save by Restrepo, calmly finishing with a left-footed shot from the middle of the box. 

McIntosh made another couple of key stops in the 83rd minute, as he made back-to-back saves from point-blank-range on shots from Lima and Kleber to keep things tied. He made one final save in the dying moments of the match, stopping a right-footed shot by Kleber from the right top corner of the box in the 88th minute.

Next game
Next up, T2 will play host to Fresno FC at Providence Park on Sunday, June 16. Beginning at 2 p.m. (Pacific), the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Postgame Quote Sheet
T2 Head Coach Cameron Knowles
On his overall thoughts on the matchā€¦
ā€œTo come back from two goals down, itā€™s outstanding. When I think from the time where we conceded that second goal and towards the end of the half we started to ride the ship a little bit and scored that first goal, I thought from that point we were very good; we created some really good chances and it was good that we scored the equalizer; but I think the guys are disappointed they didnā€™t get more. They know we are capable of winning games like that one and itā€™s just disappointing we had to come from behind.ā€


On the teamā€™s effort to find the equalizerā€¦
ā€œThe effort, you canā€™t question it. We havenā€™t been able to question that all year. The character of this group is incredible. We are proven to be a very difficult team to beat, which is an important part of developing and growing as a team. This was a difficult environment against a very experienced team that does very well at home, so to keep putting in that effort to find our way back into the game and then to create the chances to win was outstanding.ā€

On coming back from behind to earn points on the road, yet once againā€¦
ā€œI think it speaks a lot to their belief. They know that even when they go down they have the quality to get back in the game. They know that in a lot of these games a couple of mistakes are getting punished and they understand that if they can just correct those few moments and take care of chances on the other end, they are capable of winning any game against any team.ā€  


T2 (6-2-5, 23pts) vs. Austin Bold FC (5-5-4, 19pts) 
Bold Stadium (Austin, Tex.)

Goals by Half                 1          2          F
T2                                   1          1          2
Austin Bold FC               2          0          2                   

Scoring Summary:
AUS: Lima (Tyrpak), 19
AUS: Tyrpak (Guadarrama, McFarlane), 33
POR: Williamson (Langsdorf), 43
POR: Wharton, 81

Misconduct Summary
POR: Ornstil (caution), 8
AUS: BƔez (caution), 19
AUS: Saramutin (caution), 43
POR: Langsdorf (caution), 51
AUS: Lima (caution), 68
POR: Jadama (caution), 90+1
POR: Anguiano (caution), 90+4

Lineups:
POR: GK McIntosh, D Hanson (Smith, 81), D Jadama Ā©, D Farfan, D Ornstil, M Wharton, M Williamson, M LorĆ­a, M Ojeda (Anguiano, 70), M Hurtado (Sierakowski, 61), F Langsdorf

Substitutes Not Used: GK Lyon, D Diz Pe, F Kobayashi, F Calixtro

TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Williamson, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Williamson, 3); FOULS: 16 (Jadama, Langsdorf, 4); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 8

AUS: GK Restrepo, D McFarlane, D Okugo, D Taylor, D Soto, M BĆ”ez (Faris, 76), M Saramutin (Mallace, 63), M Guadarrama (Adams, 82), M Tyrpak, F Lima, F Kleber Ā©

Substitutes Not Used: GK RamĆ­rez, D Garcia, M Avila, F Gaines

TOTAL SHOTS: 25 (Lima, 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 10 (Lima, 4); FOULS: 14 (Kleber, Lima, 3); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 4

Referee: Mark Allatin
Assistant Referees: Jeremy Weed, Jennifer Garner
4th Official: Jesus Barrera
Attendance: 2,815
Weather: Clear, 94 degrees

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial