PORTLAND, Ore. – T2 earned their second shutout of the season, playing to a 0-0 draw against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC in front of 7,277 fans at Providence Park as part of Providence Health & Fitness Day on Wednesday afternoon.
Holding a 6-3 shot advantage in the first half, T2 (1-7-1, 4pts) created a number of scoring opportunities. Early on, after midfielder Tomás Granitto played a long ball inside the box, forward Augustine Williams evaded a defender and struck a right-footed curling shot that missed the target in the first minute. Three minutes later, midfielder Jack Barmby slipped in midfielder Omar Mohamed behind the defense of Switchbacks FC (3-2-4, 13pts), and his shot from the center of the box was saved by Colorado Springs goalkeeper Moise Pouaty in the fourth minute.
Continuing to apply pressure, Williams pounced on a loose ball inside the box, and his shot was saved by an onrushing Pouaty in the 15th minute. Six minutes later, the ball fell to Mohamed at the top of the 18-yard box and his half-volleyed attempt was fired high over the crossbar in the 21st minute. Williams’ curling effort from the left edge of the penalty area was struck wide of the post in the 24th minute. Just before the end of the half, Arboleda’s right-footed effort from the edge of the penalty area was saved by Pouaty in the 45th minute.
After T2 earned a free kick from about 30-yards out, Barmby sent a curling effort over the wall that Pouaty parried aside for a Portland corner kick in the 65th minute. Cutting in on his left foot, Barmby’s long-range effort went wide of the post in the 81st minute. Portland nearly scored in the final moments of the match. Defender Marco Farfan played a pass to Barmy at the top of the box, and his first-time shot went inches past the far post in the 92nd minute.
Goalkeeper Wade Hamilton recorded his second shutout of the season in his third start this year, making three saves.
Next up, T2 will travel to play OKC Energy FC on Wednesday, May 24; kickoff is set for 5 p.m. (Pacific).
The May 10 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 after today’s draw...
“You look at the point, and you walk away thinking there could have been more in it for us. Maybe we left two points on the table, but you give credit to the fact that in games past when teams come in and bunker in on that and try to counter, we’ve given away goals. It’s better on that side of things. It helped having Amobi [Okugo] in the back bringing a little bit more experience, but for sure there were opportunities that we missed and didn’t go in today. We have to do a better job in the first half. We’ve got to have that killer instinct to take advantage of those opportunities.”
On the performance from midfielder Omar Mohamed…
“I thought Omar’s last two performances have been very good. He’s getting into dangerous spots and is taking care of the ball. His passing has been good. You saw him get in behind today with a couple of opportunities that he was a little bit unlucky on. I don’t think he can do much differently on those opportunities. Give credit where credit is due. The goalkeeper made a couple of good saves on him, but he got in those spots and those will start going in for him as the season continues. I’m very pleased with his performance the last two games.”
On what the team can take away from this performance heading into the next match against OKC Energy FC…
“It’s the same thing for us. I think we’ll see this a lot this year where teams are sitting back and looking to counter, especially the independent teams. We might see that in OKC, although it’s away from home, so you never know what you’re going to get. We’ve got to put away our opportunities when we get them early in the game. The trend has been opposing teams coming out in the first half, but then ultimately sit back and look to counter. We had good possession of the ball today, but I thought there could have been more patience. We’ve just got to push on. That road trip is going to be hard, so it will be a good challenge for the team.”
T2 midfielder Omar Mohamed
On his overall thoughts on the match after today’s draw...
“I think we did well. We kept the ball pretty well and created a lot of chances. It’s a positive result. Moving forward, we should be able to build off this game.”
On his play in the last two appearances…
“I’ve just been working hard in training and waiting to get my name called. We have a deep roster. Whenever you get an opportunity, you try to show well. I think I’ve just been trying to do well in helping the team out and get us over the hump hopefully.”
On the environment playing in front of Portland-area students on Providence Health & Fitness Day…
“That was pretty fun having all these kids here. It was so much fun just hearing them scream. It looked like they had a great time at the game.”
On how the team can build off of this result heading into the next match on the road against OKC Energy FC…
“Just getting this result helped us. We’re a young group, so we just need to keep the ball and keep on creating chances in the final third. This was a positive result getting a point at home. We’ll have an extra week of training, so we just need to work on finishing those chances that we had today.”
T2 (1-7-1, 4pts) vs. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (3-2-4, 13pts)
May 10, 2017 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 0 0 0
Colorado Springs 0 0 0
Scoring Summary
none
Misconduct Summary
COS: Kacher (Caution), 22
POR: Lewis (Caution), 41
COS: Suggs (Caution), 42
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK Hamilton, D Hanson (Valentin, 46), D Okugo, D Batista, D Farfan, M Granitto (Damraoui, 79), M Lewis, M Mohamed (Bijev, 57), M Barmby, M Arboleda, F Williams
Substitutes Not Used: GK Herrera, D Amick, M Bodily, F Cicerone
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Barmby, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Four players tied, 1); FOULS: 10 (Williams, 3); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 3
COS: GK Pouaty, D Phillips, D McFarlane, D Burt, D Suggs, M Prugh, M Argueta ©, M Malcolm, M Perez (Tae-Song, 70), M Kacher (Bevans, 82), F King (Frater, 46)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jackson, D Gutierrez
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Frater, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Frater, 2); FOULS: 15 (Frater, Suggs, 3); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 4
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Assistant Referees: Michael Kampmeinert, Ian Miller
4th Official: Andrew Brooks
Video Assistant Referee: Baboucarr Jallow
Attendance: 7,277
Weather: Sunny, 65 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
