TIMBER BITS - Defense Recognized in USL Week 21 Honors

- Good to see the defense get some acknowledgement for their crucial effort against the Charleston Battery this week at Blackbaud Stadium. They had to battle the sloppy conditions, but Cronin was on his game and Keel had a multiple goal-saving tackles in the box. Both made the USL team of the week, the second time on season for each. Remember, the Timbers have the best defense in the league with 14 goals allowed on the year, only 4 of those given up at PGE park.

Two days later on Friday, August 28, Portland goalkeeper Steve Cronin made three saves while defender Stephen Keel played the full 90 minutes and held the Battery to five shots to push Portland’s unbeaten streak to 24 games in the
formidable environment of Charleston’s Blackbaud stadium. On the other side of the ball, Charleston midfielder Scott Buete was the top player for the third place Battery.

Full article here

- Over on PortlandTimbers.com they have their "Man of the Month" award going on. For August five Timbers are nominated for the honor and it's a tough decision, which isn't surprising - usually a lot of stuff is going right when your team hasn't lost a match.

Cronin captured all five wins for the Timbers during the month of August,
adding to his league-leading totals in that category. Last month, he collected
25 saves, recorded three shutouts and limited opponents to just four goals in
seven matches.

Keel contributed in all three of the Timbers’
shutouts in August and was a part of the team’s backline that posted a 0.57
goals-against average during the month. He started all seven matches and played
every minute of those contests.

Pore scored six goals during the
month of August – one in each of the first six games to set a new
modern-franchise record for goals scored in consecutive matches. Among his six
strikes, two were game-winners. He was named to the Team of the Week twice last
month.

Savage also played in all seven games on the Timbers’ August
schedule, including five starts. He totaled one goal and two assists. Savage’s
goal helped the Timbers record their first-ever win on the road over the
Rochester Rhinos on Aug. 15.

Keita totaled four goals and four
assists last month, earning USL First Division Team of the Week honors in three
straight weeks – Week 18, 19, 20. Two of his goals came in a 3-1 win over the
Miami FC Blues; it was the second time this season he recorded multiple goals in
a single game.

If you're interested head over and vote in the fan poll.

Also, they started their annual vote for Player of the Year. Make sure and cast your vote, but FIRST, look over at our sidebar & vote in the Dropping Timber's MVP Poll - it's fun!
here's the other link.

- If you have the time, check out what Oregonlive.com community blogger Kip has to say when comparing this 2009 Timbers team to the 2007 team that finished 2nd in the regular season and made a nice run into the semifinals during the playoffs. Although on the longer side, his anecdotes and commentary are often insightful.

What this team has is balance, as 16 different players have tallied a point for the Timbers for either a goal or an assist, while 13 of them have scored at
least one goal. If teams focus on Keita, they run the risk of Josten, Pore, or
Farber scoring, while focusing on the midfielders allows Keita, Josten, and recent signee Kevin Forrest to roam free up top. The team also has depth in all positions, which means Wilkinson can keep his guys fresh for the remaining weeks of the season. It's this combination of speed and skill that I feel the 2007 Timbers were lacking and what makes this 2009 version that much more dangerous.

Full article here.

- Over at the RhinosZone, a useless Rochester Rhino's fan site, they'll probably be starting a pre-game discussion thread soon about the upcoming game this Thursday. They talked some trash earlier in the month when the clubs met, many there predicting they would end the streak. We beat them 4-1. So, check their forum out if you want a good laugh and it's not looked down upon to harass them a bit too. Go get em'!

- One Last Drop: Here's a big deal - Saturday, Sept. 5th, Mamadou Danso and David Hayes will be signing autographs and hanging out over at the Beaverton Best Buy from 1-2 pm. As if Best Buy wasn't cool enough. That's obviously the place to be this weekend; you think I'm joking.