PORTLAND, Ore. – Playing the last of a two-match home stand, T2 fell 1-0 to Whitecaps FC 2 at Providence Park on Sunday afternoon.
Whitecaps FC 2 (2-1-1, 7pts) took the lead late in the match when forward Thomas Sanner finished from inside the six-yard box following a rebounded save from goalkeeper Jeff Attinella in the 84th minute. Shortly after, Portland defender Zarek Valentin was played into a pocket of space by defender Chance Myers inside the 18-yard box, and Valentin’s ensuing shot was fired just high over the goal in the 86th minute. A minute later, second-half substitute Augustine Williams directed the ball to Victor Arboleda, who finished the match with a game-high six shots, at the top of the box, but his volleyed attempt went over the target in the 87th minute for T2 (0-5-0, 0pts).
Portland created a number of additional scoring opportunities at the start of the second half. In the 56th minute, Villyan Bijev rifled a shot from the top of the 18-yard box that missed the target. After Bijev played a perfectly weighted pass to Arboleda on the left edge of the box, Arboleda’s shot was saved by Whitecaps FC 2 goalkeeper Sean Melvin in the 64th minute. Two minutes later, Jack Barmby dribbled past a number of Whitecaps FC 2 defenders, but his left-footed effort from inside the box was saved in the 66th minute.
Searching for a goal early in the first half, Arboleda attempted a volley from outside the box that flashed wide of the goal in the 21st minute, while forward Jeremy Ebobisse placed a weighted pass to Bijev inside the six-yard box and his shot forced a save from Melvin in the 23rd minute.
Continuing to pressure Whitecaps FC 2, T2, who held a 16-9 advantage in shots in the match, nearly scored from a quick counter attack in the 34th minute. After T2 cleared a WFC2 corner kick, Arboleda chased down the ball and dribbled the length of the field past multiple Vancouver defenders into the goal box, sending a low-driven shot on frame that was saved by the onrushing goalkeeper. Five minutes later, Arboleda cut inside from the left flank, delivering a right-footed shot from the left edge of the box, resulting in a save in the 39th minute.
Next up, T2 will travel on the road to play Sacramento Republic FC at Papa Murphy’s Park on Saturday, April 22; kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (Pacific).
The April 22 match will also be available via a live, high-definition web stream at www.timbers2.com.
Postgame Quote Sheet
T2 head coach Andrew Gregor
Overall thoughts on the match…
“We’re disappointed with the result because it felt like we were the better team on the day. I thought we did the right things the majority of the time. The chances didn’t go in for us. Give them credit. Their keeper made a couple of big saves, and then we fell asleep late in the game and got caught on a counter-attack. We have to make sure we take advantage of those opportunities, and put the game away earlier on in the game.
On the play of midfielder Victor Arboleda…
“Victor was busy today. He was causing problems with his pace and he got into some good spots. He was a little bit unlucky on the two chances the keeper got a save on. Maybe on a different day he scores both of them, but the balls don’t seem to be going in right now. We’ve got to keep on putting our head down and continue what we’re doing. Eventually, the opportunities will start going in.”
On next week’s road match against Sacramento Republic FC…
“It’s another difficult game that we have going down to Sacramento. It’s a really good environment to go play in. It’s a difficult game, so it will be good for the boys to play in that environment and we’ve got to continue playing the way that we want to play. Over time, the opportunities will start going in for us. We’ve got to continue to learn and get better in dealing with certain situations so that we’re not getting punished.”
T2 midfielder Villyan Bijev
On his thoughts from today’s match…
“I thought we played at a really high level, especially with the way we started the game. I really like the way we possessed the ball. We completed a lot of passes. We want to be a team that possess, and they only had 155 passes. We doubled their passes, and that’s important for us to move forward. I think the biggest thing for us is to get it to click in the final third. When goals start falling for us, I think that’s when we’re going to have a lot of success.”
On heading into next week’s match against Sacramento Republic FC…
“We completed 611 today. Whoever our personnel is, we have to keep the same standard and can’t let it drop. When we go there, we’re going to want to keep possession the same way. We’re going to move them around, squeeze them in, get some crosses in and hopefully score some goals.”
T2 (0-5-0, 0pts) vs. Whitecaps FC 2 (2-1-1, 7pts)
April 16, 2017 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 0 0 0
Whitecaps FC 2 0 1 1
Scoring Summary
VAN: Sanner, 84
Misconduct Summary
VAN: De Vries (Caution), 50
VAN: Norman (Caution), 54
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK Attinella, D Myers, D Valentin, D Batista (Williams, 86), D Vytas, M Okugo ©, M Lewis, M Barmby, M Bijev, M Arboleda, F Ebobisse
Substitutes Not Used: GK McIntosh, D Bjornethun, D Hanson, M Granitto, M Montes, M Bodily
TOTAL SHOTS: 16 (Arboleda, 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Arboleda, 3); FOULS: 10 (Lewis, 3); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 14; SAVES: 4
VAN: GK Melvin, D Wynne, D Dean, D De Vries, D Seiler, M De Wit ©, M Norman (Seymore, 66), M McKendry, M Baldisimo (Thoma, 46), F Sanner, F Campbell (Amanda, 65)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Village, M Metcalfe, F Bair
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Sanner, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Sanner, 3); FOULS: 13 (de Wit, 3); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 5
Referee: Jeff Arthurholtz
Assistant Referees: Jason Perlewitz, Lucas Brooks
4th Official: CJ Koll
Attendance: 1,226
Weather: Cloudy, 60 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
