MATCH INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, June 20, 2015
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. (Pacific)
Location: Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Forecast: 82 degrees, mostly sunny
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Assistant Referees: Ian Anderson, Michael Kampmeinert Fourth Official: Alejandro Mariscal
Local TV: KPTV
Talent: Keith Bleyer (play-by-play), Ross Smith (analyst), Samantha Yarock (reporter)
English Radio: 750 The Game (KXTG 750AM, 102.9FM)
Talent: Jake Zivin (play-by-play), Rob Baarts (analyst)
Spanish Radio: La GranD (KGGD 93.5FM, 1150 AM)
Talent: Josue del Castillo (play-by-play), Ozkar Ramos (analyst)
MATCH PREVIEW
The Timbers return to MLS regular-season play following Tuesday’s 3-1 victory after extra time over Seattle Sounders FC in the fourth round of the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, playing host to the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at Providence Park. Kickoff for Saturday’s game, presented by KeyBank, is set for 7:30 p.m. (Pacific). New to the Western Conference this season following the addition of MLS expansion teams New York City FC and Orlando City SC, Houston and Portland have a relatively short history as the clubs have faced each other just six times in MLS since 2011. Saturday’s match marks only the third meeting at Providence Park dating back to 2011. Portland traveled to face Houston earlier this season, sustaining a 3-1 loss on May 16 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.
LAST MATCH RECAP
The Timbers advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 3-1 win after extra time against Cascadia-rival Seattle Sounders FC in front of 4,022 fans at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Wash., on Tuesday night. Timbers midfielder Rodney Wallace registered a goal and an assist in the victory, netting the game-winning goal 10 minutes into the first half of extra time, while forward Maximiliano Urruti added a late insurance goal in the 116th minute. Setting Portland off on the right foot, midfielder Diego Valeri tallied the opening goal for the Timbers in the 48th minute off a cross from Wallace on the left flank. Seattle picked up a goal in the 79th minute, but finished the match with seven players due to three red cards and a late-game injury.
ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES
Saturday’s match marks the seventh all-time meeting between the Timbers and Houston, dating back to the 2011 season. While Portland trails the all-time MLS series with a 1-3-2 record, the Timbers are 1-1-0 at Providence Park against the Dynamo and have lost just once in the last four games overall against Houston. Houston makes its first trip to Portland since the 2013 season on Saturday, a span of 805 days between visits to the Rose City for the new Western Conference club. The two sides already have met once this season, with the Timbers falling 3-1 on the road after two late goals provided the Dynamo with the win at BBVA Compass Stadium on May 16. In their most recent match at Providence Park, the Timbers registered two goals in the second half for a 2-0 shutout against Houston on April 6, 2013.
LAST TIME VS. HOUSTON
Despite overcoming an early deficit on the road, the Timbers couldn’t overcome a late second-half surge by the Dynamo, conceding two goals inside the final 15 minutes in a 3-1 loss at BBVA Compass Stadium on May 16. After conceding the opening goal to Houston forward Will Bruin on a header off a free kick in the ninth minute, the Timbers did well to kick off the second half strong – capturing the equalizer in the 48th minute. Picking up a loose ball, midfielder Diego Valeri delivered a through ball into the right side of the penalty box for forward Fanendo Adi, who shouldered Dynamo defender DaMarcus Beasley out of his path and fired the game-tying goal past goalkeeper Tyler Deric. However, Bruin and Giles Barnes netted goals in the final 15 minutes to give Houston the win.
SCOUTING THE DYNAMO
Houston enters Saturday’s match following a 2-0 win over USL side Austin Aztex on Wednesday in the fourth round of the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Head coach Owen Coyle sat many of his regular first-team players against the Aztex as Leonel Miranda and late substitute Ricardo Clark each scored in the shutout win at BBVA Compass Stadium. In regular-season play, the Dynamo earned a 4-2 victory over the New York Red Bulls on June 5 at BBVA Compass Stadium. Coyle’s side is 1-2-3 overall on the road this season, including consecutive winless matches against New York City FC (May 30) and the LA Galaxy (May 22). Houston is led by forward Will Bruin with seven goals in 14 appearance, while forward Giles Barnes has registered six goals and one assist.
DIVERSE ATTACK
Entering the weekend, the Timbers rank tied for second in the league in the amount of players who have tallied at least a goal or an assist this season. Portland has seen 14 players contributed at least one point through the team’s 15 matches, which trails only D.C. United (16) for the league lead.
HOME SUCCESS
Portland has compiled one of the league’s best home records with an overall mark of 19-5-17 (.671) over the last two-plus seasons since 2013. The Timbers have lost just one home game (5-1-5) in their last 10 at Providence Park dating back to the 2014 season. Additionally, when scoring first at Providence Park since the 2013 season, the Timbers have registered a 17-1-5 overall record.
STINGY DEFENSE
Through 15 league games, the Timbers have conceded the third-fewest goals to their opponents (14). Only Sounders FC (11) and the Colorado Rapids (12) have conceded fewer goals.
LATE-GAME DRAMATICS
Never out of a contest, the Timbers are tied for first in the league with seven goals scored in the final 15 minutes of games. Recently, Portland netted the game-winning goal at Colorado in second-half stoppage time on May 30.
FOUL DIFFERENTIAL
So far in the 2015 season, no team has a higher foul differential than the Timbers. Portland has suffered 50 more fouls than they have conceded through 15 regular-season game and no individual player has been fouled more in MLS than Darlington Nagbe, who has been fouled 45 times.
GOOD FORM
The Timbers enter Saturday’s match on a three-game winning streak in MLS regular-season play. The three-game streak is currently tied with Toronto FC for the longest active winning streak in MLS. Portland has won four of its last six league matches heading into Saturday’s contest against Houston.
CONSISTENT BACK LINE
Portland has utilized the same back line combination of Alvas Powell, Nat Borchers, Liam Ridgewell and Jorge Villafaña along with goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey in 14 of the team’s 15 regular-season matches this season. The only game with a different starting back line was May 27 against D.C. United as defender Noberto Paparatto made his first start of the season, helping the Timbers to a 1-0 win at Providence Park.
AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS
Goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey ranks among the league’s top goalkeepers in several categories. Kwarasey is tied for third among all goalkeepers with six shutouts this season, just two behind Seattle’s Stefan Frei (8) for the lead. Kwarasey also ranks in the top eight in saves percentage (73.1) and is tied for second in minutes played (1,350) among goalkeepers.
UPCOMING MILESTONES
With his next assist, midfielder Jack Jewsbury will move into a tie for 10th place overall on the Timbers all-time career assists chart with Timbers Ring of Honor member Jimmy Conway (1978-80). Jewsbury currently sits in 11th place with 15 assists for Portland since 2011.
Defender Liam Ridgewell enters Saturday’s match with 30 consecutive starts for the Timbers. Ridgewell has started every league match for Portland since his debut on July 18, 2014. Ridgewell has played an MLS-club record 2,700 con- secutive minutes and can extend his record on Saturday with a start Houston.
Defender Nat Borchers next goal will be his 15th career MLS goal. Entering the weekend, Borchers has netted 14 career goals, including two with the Timbers, since 2003. His next goal will also tie a single-season MLS career high (3) set in 2011 with Real Salt Lake.
Midfielder Will Johnson is just 173 minutes shy of reaching the 15,000 minutes played milestone for his MLS career. Johnson has logged 14,737 minutes in 178 career MLS matches spanning nine seasons with Chicago, Real Salt Lake and Portland.
Forward Fanendo Adi’s next appearance for the Timbers will mark his 40th career MLS game for Portland. Adi has scored 15 goals in 39 regular-season appearances since joining the club on May 13, 2014.
