TUKWILA, Wash. – Playing their third regular-season game against Seattle Sounders FC 2, T2 were unable to overcome a late, deflected second-half goal, falling 1-0 at Starfire Stadium on Sunday night.
Searching for an early goal, T2 (5-11-3, 18pts) threatened in the 22nd minute when forward Kharlton Belmar released midfielder Blake Bodily inside the left side of the18-yard box. Cutting back, Bodily avoided an S2 defender’s challenge, but his right-footed shot went just wide of the far post.
T2 goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh, who finished the match with a game-high six saves, came up with key stops in the first half to keep Portland in the match. In the 14th minute, McIntosh did well to come off his line to make a diving save on S2 forward Andy Craven’s shot inside the six-yard box. Three minutes later, McIntosh produced another save when he made a diving stop to his left from a long-range effort to force a corner kick.
In the second half, midfielder Neco Brett was picked out by midfielder Andre Lewis inside the box, but Brett’s left-footed shot was blocked by a Seattle defender in the 59th minute. After receiving the ball from Lewis on the left wing, Brett cut inside on his right foot and fired a shot from outside the box, which was blocked by a Seattle defender.
Seattle (6-9-5, 23pts) benefitted from midfielder Mark O’Ojong’s deflected goal in the 89th minute to take a 1-0 lead late in the match. O’Ojong found space inside the box and fired a right-footed shot that deflected off Portland defender Trevor Morley and made its way into the back of the net.
Next up, T2 will return to Merlo Field to play host to Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at Merlo Field on Wednesday, Aug. 3; kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (Pacific). The Aug. 3 match will also be available via a live, high-definition web stream at www.timbers2.com.
Postgame Quote Sheet
T2 head coach Andrew Gregor
On his overall thoughts on the match…
“It’s a difficult game to play always with it being a rivalry game and we played away from home. I thought it wasn’t a pretty much and it’s a game we’re going to have to try and grind out. A part of the development of these guys is figuring out a way to get a result even when the game isn’t necessarily going the way that we want it. It’s unfortunate to give up a goal late on a deflection.”
On T2 goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh’s performance…
“I thought Kendall did a good job today of managing the game. A part of the development process is to keep us in those games away from home. It’s never easy in those conditions and for the most part I thought he did pretty well.”
On the performance of Michael Gallagher and Trevor Morley at center back…
“I thought they did a decent job of managing the counter attack. We knew that was something that S2 does very well. At times they did a good job with it, but another part of the development with a group like this is seeing a game out. If you give up a goal so late, in the circumstances that it happened, it’s a difficult one for players to handle, but it’s also got to be used as a very good learning situation for them and an experience for them to hopefully take with them to get better and learn how to manage those games and finish them out so we get a result.”
T2 (5-11-3, 18pts) vs. Seattle Sounders FC 2 (6-9-5, 23pts)
July 24, 2016 – Starfire Stadium (Tukwila, Wash.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 0 0 0
Sounders FC 2 0 1 1
Scoring Summary:
SEA: O’Ojong, 89
Misconduct Summary:
POR: Damraoui (Caution), 61
SEA: Mathers (Caution), 74
Lineups & Stats:
POR: GK McIntosh, D Peay ©, D Morley, D Gallagher, D Farfan, M Lewis, M Besler (Casiple, 90), M Arboleda (Brett, 33), M Bijev (Damraoui, 56), M Bodily (Polk, 56) F Belmar
Substitutes Not Used: GK Luthy, D Thoma
TOTAL SHOTS: 2; SHOTS ON GOAL: 0; FOULS: 11; OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 6
SEA: GK Lyon, D Fisher, D Nelson, D Delem, D Tolo, M Schweitzer, M O’Ojong, M Mathers (Alihodzic, 84), F Jones (Hinds, 90), F Craven ©, F Samuel (Patino, 77)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Bersano, D John, M Ramos, M Kapawa
TOTAL SHOTS: 16; SHOTS ON GOAL: 7; FOULS: 13; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 10; SAVES: 0
Referee: Alejandro Mariscal
Assistant Referees: Charles Farr, Cameron Siler
4th Official: Connor Hazelwood
Attendance: 1,618
Weather: Clear, 81 degrees
