SACRAMENTO, Calif. – T2 shut out Sacramento Republic FC 2-0 on the road at Papa Murphy’s Park to earn their first win of the 2017 USL season Saturday night. Midfielder Villyan Bijev scored his second goal of the season, while midfielder Victor Arboleda recorded his first goal of the year.
T2 (1-5-0, 3pts) took the lead in the 40th minute after being awarded a penalty kick as midfielder Blake Bodily skipped past his defender and was fouled inside the box. Bijev stepped up to the penalty spot and sent Republic FC goalkeeper Evan Newton the wrong way for his second goal of the USL season.
Portland doubled its lead in the 68th minute when Arboleda was first to a loose ball inside the box, rounded the goalkeeper and slotted home from inside the six-yard box.
T2 created a number of scoring chances early in the game. Defender Zarek Valentin found Bijev at the top of the box, and his shot went just wide of the post in the 11th minute. In the 20th minute, midfielder Tomás Granitto’s shot from distance missed the target. Just before halftime, forward Augustine Williams drew in two defenders, which freed Bijev into space at the top of the box and his shot from the edge of the penalty area was saved by Newton in the 43rd minute.
Portland continued to pressure the Sacramento (3-3-0, 9pts) defense in the second half. After earning a free kick on the edge of the 18-yard box, Granitto’s driven shot was parried aside by Newton in the 55th minute for a T2 corner kick. In the 74th minute, Williams whipped in a cross from the right flank that fell to the feet of Bijev, whose shot from inside the six-yard box was saved by Newton.
Portland goalkeeper Wade Hamilton made his first start of the season, making four saves in the shutout. Late in the second half, Hamilton made a diving save to his right on Sacramento midfielder Dan Trickett-Smith’s headed attempt in the 84th minute. In the 94th minute, Hamilton saved Sacramento defender Jeremy Hall’s header from the center of the six-yard box to preserve the shutout.
Next up, T2 will play host to San Antonio FC at Providence Park on Friday, April 28; kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (Pacific).
The April 28 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 what today’s performance says about the group...
“The result was very good. It’s never easy to go down to play at Sacramento. They have a good, experienced team. I thought we did a good job of managing the game on the road and taking advantage of our opportunities when they were there. Overall, I thought there were some very good performances in a tough environment to go down to. It was sold out tonight. It was a big crowd at a small venue. The development we saw in some of the younger guys tonight… They grew up a little bit tonight, which is important for us to keep pushing that along. I felt very pleased for the group. They thoroughly earned the victory tonight.”
On building off of tonight’s win heading into next Friday’s match at home against San Antonio FC…
“As the season goes on, I don’t think you’re going to see many teams winning at Sacramento. We’ve go to get back to work next week and continue to get better. It’s one game. We still have plenty of games left, but I think it’s a good confidence builder for these guys to know that the work they’ve been putting in was rewarded tonight. San Antonio is top of the league right now and they’re a good, experienced team. We’re going to have to go out and perform well to get a result that we want. Not much changes. We’ll move on, continue to get better and take it game by game."
T2 (1-5-0, 3pts) vs. Sacramento Republic FC (3-3-0, 9pts)
April 22, 2017 – Papa Murphy’s Park (Sacramento, Calif.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 1 1 2
Sacramento 0 0 0
Scoring Summary
POR: Bijev (Penalty Kick), 40
POR: Arboleda, 68
Misconduct Summary
POR: Clarke (Caution), 4
POR: Williams (Caution), 28
SAC: Barrera (Caution), 62
POR: Lewis (Caution), 71
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK Hamilton, D Valentin ©, D Clarke, D Batista, D Bjornethun, M Granitto, M Lewis, M Bodily (Brett, 78), M Bijev (Ornstil, 91), M Arboleda (Cicerone, 82), F Williams
Substitutes Not Used: GK Herrera, D Jimenez, D Hanson, M Mohamed
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Bijev, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Bijev, 2); FOULS: 16 (Arboleda, Williams, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 4
SAC: GK Newton, D Kiffe, D Christian, D Klimenta, D Hord, M Barrera ©, M Kneeshaw, M Hall, M Trickett-Smith, F Caesar (Williams, 63), F Ochoa (Blackwood, 74)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jakubek, D James, M Cazarez, M Gissie, M Suma
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Trickett-Smith, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Four players tied, 1); FOULS: 14 (Barrera, 4); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 2
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Assistant Referees: Deleana Quan, Turan Ozdemir
4th Official: Joseph Dickerson
Attendance: 11,569
Weather: Cloudy, 58 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
