Last night at PGE Park, in front of a crowd of nearly 14,000 - the Portland Timbers with their 3-1 victory over the Miami FC Blues, became the first team in the USL First Division to clinch a spot in this year's playoffs. Their historic unbeaten streak now stands at 23 matches and the Timbers sit at 1st place in the league standings, 6 pts ahead of Carolina and Charleston, who are tied in 2nd. With their sights certainly set on higher goals, the Timbers will take this postseason berth in passing, their focus prudently aimed on winning the Commissioner's Cup (the regular season championship) and earning the first round playoff bye that comes with it. Another question must linger in the back of the minds of the Timber's players - with only two road games remaining, can this team finish the rest of the regular season unbeaten? The talent, depth, and confidence level of this team seems to suggest it might be so.
Before anything else, i'd like to say what a wonderful tribute it was to defender Cameron Knowles, that the Timber Army flew New Zealand flags throughout the crowd to honor him for all he's done for this team - a great gesture. And now to the game - forward Mandjou Keita, scored two goals, pushing his season total to a team leading 11 scores. He now leads the USL in goals scored and total points with 28. Enough can't be said about the job Keita has done for this squad, his combination of speed and strength constantly putting pressure on the defense, and his quick strike and reflexes in the box make him one of the most dangerous players in the entire league. As expected for a first year player, he came out of the gates a little slow, taking time to adjust to the new league, but he's sure found his way now, hasn't he?
Although not the Team's best overall performance this season, Portland still played a very solid game, outshooting the Blues 19-7 and earning more corner kicks 8-1. Unfortunately, with the exception of Keita's 1st half goal, the Timbers weren't able to capitalize on their advantage in possessions. And after the Blues scored the 2nd half equalizer it appeared the Timbers were ready to cough up another two points in the standings, a dissapointment they've had to face a few times this year. However, the players pulled together and responded - Merritt's score serving as a wake up call - the Timber's tallying off two more goals to close out the game. It was a real showing of grit and tenacity by this team, something Coach Wilkinson should be able to find pride in.
It has been a season of magical moments and Saturday night was no different. After Keita's go ahead goal in the 81st minute, the only dissapointment remained that Ryan Pore had not been able to find the back of the net and keep his individual scoring streak alive. Then, magically, in stoppage time, Taka suddenly broke up a play, sent a lead pass to Keita in the corner, who then whipped a beautiful ball to Pore across the box. And almost unbelievably, Pore was wide open, nobody even near him, giving him time to take a few touches before blasting the ball past the helpless and defenseless Blues keeper. The streak within the streak! Really an incredible moment in an incredible season, and we're not done yet.
One last drop - the importance of the Timber's depth needs to be noted again. It allows Coach Wilkinson to make substitutions liberally, ensuring the team can play freely and with aggresion, and still have fresh legs down the stretch. Also, during moments this season when we've had injuries, the team has been able to keep going without missing a beat, plugging in another skilled player off the bench. Cameron Knowle's recent injury is a good example, even with a player of his value out, this team has prevailed - players like Mamadou Danso and Takuro Nishimura filling in valiantly. Nishimura especially looked sharp with some nice tackles and some fancy ball work, even blasting a couple shots on goal. I'll be eager to see what he can bring the rest of the year.
Before anything else, i'd like to say what a wonderful tribute it was to defender Cameron Knowles, that the Timber Army flew New Zealand flags throughout the crowd to honor him for all he's done for this team - a great gesture. And now to the game - forward Mandjou Keita, scored two goals, pushing his season total to a team leading 11 scores. He now leads the USL in goals scored and total points with 28. Enough can't be said about the job Keita has done for this squad, his combination of speed and strength constantly putting pressure on the defense, and his quick strike and reflexes in the box make him one of the most dangerous players in the entire league. As expected for a first year player, he came out of the gates a little slow, taking time to adjust to the new league, but he's sure found his way now, hasn't he?
Although not the Team's best overall performance this season, Portland still played a very solid game, outshooting the Blues 19-7 and earning more corner kicks 8-1. Unfortunately, with the exception of Keita's 1st half goal, the Timbers weren't able to capitalize on their advantage in possessions. And after the Blues scored the 2nd half equalizer it appeared the Timbers were ready to cough up another two points in the standings, a dissapointment they've had to face a few times this year. However, the players pulled together and responded - Merritt's score serving as a wake up call - the Timber's tallying off two more goals to close out the game. It was a real showing of grit and tenacity by this team, something Coach Wilkinson should be able to find pride in.
It has been a season of magical moments and Saturday night was no different. After Keita's go ahead goal in the 81st minute, the only dissapointment remained that Ryan Pore had not been able to find the back of the net and keep his individual scoring streak alive. Then, magically, in stoppage time, Taka suddenly broke up a play, sent a lead pass to Keita in the corner, who then whipped a beautiful ball to Pore across the box. And almost unbelievably, Pore was wide open, nobody even near him, giving him time to take a few touches before blasting the ball past the helpless and defenseless Blues keeper. The streak within the streak! Really an incredible moment in an incredible season, and we're not done yet.
One last drop - the importance of the Timber's depth needs to be noted again. It allows Coach Wilkinson to make substitutions liberally, ensuring the team can play freely and with aggresion, and still have fresh legs down the stretch. Also, during moments this season when we've had injuries, the team has been able to keep going without missing a beat, plugging in another skilled player off the bench. Cameron Knowle's recent injury is a good example, even with a player of his value out, this team has prevailed - players like Mamadou Danso and Takuro Nishimura filling in valiantly. Nishimura especially looked sharp with some nice tackles and some fancy ball work, even blasting a couple shots on goal. I'll be eager to see what he can bring the rest of the year.
| Timbers' winning goals |
This was an awesome game. Portland dominated Miami.
ReplyDeletePore's goal was the best part of the game! AWAZING! Timbers don't seem like they can lose this year - maybe they won't!
ReplyDeleteWhat does AWAZING mean?
ReplyDeleteDan, stop making fun of people, everybody knows we're born with different spelling abilities. Plus, Anonymous might have some sort of real disability, like a coke addiction or something, so don't be making fun of disabled people.
ReplyDelete