PORTLAND, Ore. – Playing their second-consecutive home match, T2 fell 2-1 to Reno 1868 FC Saturday night at Merlo Field. Midfielder Victor Arboleda registered his team-leading third goal of the season, as Portland saw its three-match unbeaten run come to an end.
Key plays
Applying pressure early on, defender Jimmy Mulligan saw his long-distance effort sail over the crossbar in the third minute, before Arboleda’s shot from inside the 18-yard box was fired wide past the far post three minutes later. Midfielder Renzo Zambrano nearly opened the scoring when his long-range effort was fired off the crossbar in the 19th minute.
T2 took the lead in the 38th minute after Arboleda intercepted a Reno defender’s back pass in his own half. Avoiding the last Reno defender inside the 18-yard box, Arboleda fired his finish into the roof of the net to score his third goal of 2018.
Just before halftime, Foster Langsdorf forced Reno goalkeeper James Marcinkowski into a save following his long-range shot in the 42nd minute.
Reno 1868 FC leveled the match in the 75th minute after forward Daniel Muvoski finished from close range following a scramble inside the box. Reno scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute when midfielder Antoine Hoppenot’s pass across the face of goal was tucked away into the back of the net by Musovski for his second goal of the night.
Next Game
Next up, Portland closes out a three-match homestand when it plays host to Sacramento Republic FC at Providence Park on Wednesday, May 2. Beginning at 7 p.m. (Pacific), the match against Sacramento Republic FC will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Postgame Quote Sheet
T2 head coach Cameron Knowles
On this overall thoughts on the match…
“Obviously it is incredibly disappointing to give up a lead, especially at home, and not just that, but to play the way we played. We need to be more dominant, especially when we start the game at one-nil. We need to take care of that and make sure it’s a guaranteed three points.”
On Victor Arboleda’s performance…
“He’s been good. He’s worked hard. We’ve asked him to do a lot of defending too and he’s accepted that role. His pace is always going to make him dangerous going forward. It’s something that the opposition has to manage.”
On what the team can build on in the upcoming off week…
“The best thing is it gives us time to work. We need to sit down we need to evaluate the performance, individually, collectively, and we need to work on that in training. We have the time and we have the days in training where we can correct some of these issues and make sure our next performance is a better one.”
T2 (3-3-1, 10pts) vs. Reno 1868 FC (1-3-1, 4pts)
April 21, 2018 – Merlo Field (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 1 0 1
Reno 1868 FC 0 2 2
Scoring Summary:
POR: Arboleda, 38
RNO: Musovoski (Hoppenot), 75
RNO: Musovoski (Hoppenot, Thiaw), 89
Misconduct Summary:
RNO: Hoppenot (caution), 80
POR: Williams (caution), 85
Lineups:
POR: GK McIntosh, D Mulligan, D Phillips ©, D Jadama, D Lowe, M Zambrano, M Williamson, M Barmby (Loría, 64), M Langsdorf (Vuelto, 80), M Arboleda, F Ebobisse (Williams, 75)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Mangels, D Elliot, D Hanson, M Lewis
TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (Arboleda, Langsdorf, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Arboleda, Langsdorf, 1); FOULS: 10 (Zambrano, 4); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3
RNO: GK Marcinkowski, D Carroll, D Kiffe, D Murrell ©, D Richards, M Casiple (Thiaw, 67), M Hoppenot, M Abend (Mfeka, 75), M Fernandes (Partida, 46), F Musovoski
Substitutes Not Used: GK Ihn, D Janjigian, F Gonzalez, F Lacroix
TOTAL SHOTS: 18 (Musovski, 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Musovski, 5); FOULS: 11 (Hoppenot, x3); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 11; SAVES: 1
Referee: Farhad Dadkho
Assistant Referees: Chris Wattam, Joshua Haimes
4th Official: Corbyn May
Attendance: 1,834
Weather: Partly cloudy, 57 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
