MATCH INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, June 6, 2015
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. (Pacific)
Location: Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Forecast: 89 degrees, sunny
Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Assistant Referees: Jeff Hosking, Jeremy Hanson Fourth Official: Daniel Radford
Local TV: KPDX (PDX TV)
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), Adin Brown (analyst)
Spanish Radio: La GranD (KGGD 93.5FM, 1150 AM)
Talent: Josue del Castillo (play-by-play), Ozkar Ramos (analyst)
MATCH PREVIEW
The Timbers and New England Revolution square off for just the sixth time in MLS on Saturday at Providence Park. Portland enters Saturday’s game following consecutive wins for the first time this season with a 1-0 victory against D.C. United on May 27 and a dramatic, 2-1 road win at Colorado on May 30. Midfielder Jack Jewsbury tallied the game-winning goal for the Timbers in the third minute of second-half stoppage time against the Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Portland’s latest-ever game-winning goal on the road since 2011. New England comes to Providence Park following a 2-2 draw against the LA Galaxy on May 31. The Revolution have compiled a 2-3-1 road record this season, including wins against Colorado and Philadelphia in April. New England comes into Saturday’s match off back-to-back home draws.
LAST MATCH RECAP
Midfielder Jack Jewsbury registered the game-winning goal in the final minute of second-half stoppage time and the Timbers earned their second straight win in a span of four days with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids on May 30 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. The road win marked Portland’s second consecutive victory and the team’s first win at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park since joining MLS in 2011. Midfielder Gastón Fernández netted the opening goal in the 38th minute.
ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES
Saturday’s match marks the sixth all-time meeting between the Timbers and the Revolution and just the third meeting all-time between the two clubs in Portland. The Timbers have registered a 1-1-3 record all-time against New England and are unbeaten in the two previous meetings (1-0-1) at Providence Park, both shutouts.
Saturday’s match will be the first meeting between the two teams at Providence Park in more than two years since a scoreless draw on May 2, 2013. New England last visited Portland 765 days ago and has not scored a goal in the Rose City since Portland joined MLS in 2011. Each of the last two games between the clubs have finished in a draw, including a 1-1 tie on Aug. 16, 2014, at Gillette Stadium that saw Portland defender Liam Ridgewell score his first career goal for the club.
LAST TIME VS. NEW ENGLAND
Benefiting from defender Liam Ridgewell’s first career Major League Soccer goal and a strong second-half effort, the Timbers overcame a halftime deficit to earn a road point in a 1-1 draw against the New England Revolution before 16,409 fans at Gillette Stadium on Aug. 16, 2014. Trailing 1-0 in the 65th minute, Ridgewell intercepted a Revolution pass at midfield and continued to dribble through two New England defenders and into the penalty box before burying a left-footed shot inside the far right post for the equalizer.
SCOUTING THE REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution sit in second place in the Eastern Conference, coming off a 2-2 draw against the LA Galaxy on May 31 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. New England has lost just once in its last 12 matches. The Revolution enter the week ranked third in MLS in goals (20), led by forward Charlie Davies’ five goals. A total of eight different players have registered at least one goal for head coach Jay Heaps’ side, including five players who have recorded multiple goals. Midfielder Scott Caldwell has registered a team-high four assists, while midfielder Kelyn Rowe has recorded three goals and three assists.
GETTING CHANCES
Through their first 14 matches, the Timbers rank among league leaders in several offensive categories. Entering the week, Portland ranks second in total shots (182) including blocked shots, while ranking third overall in shooting accuracy (52 percent), according to Opta. Shooting accuracy is a calculation of shots on goal divided by total shots (excluding blocked attempts). Portland ranks second overall in shots on goal (66) and fourth in overall chances created (137), according to Opta.
AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS
Goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey has started each of the team’s first 14 games this season, logging a 1.00 goals-against average and five shutouts. Kwarasey’s five clean sheets is tied for third among MLS goalkeepers. Kwarasey also ranks among league leaders in minutes played (1,260), saves (35) and saves percentage (71.43).
TACKLES
Defender Alvas Powell leads MLS with 75 total tackles through 14 appearances this season. The mark is 13 more than the next player, Vancouver’s Matias Laba (62). Of Powell’s 75 total tackles, he was won 72 of them for a tackle success rate of 96 percent, which ranks second among players with more than 30 total tackles. In fact, defender Jorge Villafaña ranks first with a tackle success rate of 96.88 percent (31-of-32 tackles).
PUSHING THROUGH THE FOULS
Portland ranks first overall in the league in dribbles completed (127). The stat tracks moments when an individual player successfully dribbles around an opponent while retaining possession. Portland’s mark is 18 more than the next-best team. Midfielder Darlington Nagbe (42) and defender Alvas Powell (31) rank second and fourth, respectively, in the league. Highlighting the stat is the fact that the Timbers are the most fouled team in MLS (199), while Nagbe is the most-fouled player in MLS (40).
HOME SUCCESS
Portland has compiled one of the league’s best home records with an overall mark of 18-5-17 over the last two-plus seasons since 2013. The Timbers have lost just one home game (4-1-5) in their last 10 at Providence Park dating back to the 2014 season.
DIVERSE ATTACK
Entering the week, 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 13 players contributed at least one point through the team’s 14 matches, which trails only D.C. United (14) for the league lead.
WINNING DUELS
Defender Alvas Powell (145) and midfielder Darlington Nagbe (100) rank first and second overall, respectively, among all MLS players in duels won. According to Opta, a duel is defined as a 50-50 contest for the ball between two players on opposing sides. Among players with at least 30 duels won this season, defender Jorge Villafaña ranks third in the league with a 70.79 percent duel success rate.
JOHNSON CALL UP
Timbers midfielder Will Johnson was named to the Canada National Team roster for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Dominica on June 11 and June 16. Johnson, who made his 2015 MLS season debut on May 27 against D.C. United, will not miss any Timbers regular-season matches while away on international duty.
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 29 consecutive starts for the Timbers. Ridgewell has started every match for Portland since his debut on July 18, 2014. Ridgewell has played an MLS-club record 2,610 consecutive minutes and can extend his record on Saturday with a start against New England.
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 Diego Chara’s next start will mark the 130th start of his Timbers MLS career. Chara has made 130 appearances (129 starts) since joining the club in April 2011.
Defender Alvas Powell’s next start will be his 30th career start for the Timbers. Powell, still just 20 years old, has made 34 appearances (29 starts) for Portland since joining the team on June 28, 2013.
Midfielder Will Johnson is just 263 minutes shy of reaching the 15,000 minutes played mileston 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.
