TULSA, Okla.– Behind two first-half goalsscored over a four-minute span, T2 defeated Tulsa Roughnecks FC 2-0 for their first road win of the 2016 USL season at ONEOK Field Saturday night. Midfielder Andre Lewis and forward Kharlton Belmar both found the back of the net, while T2 recorded their second shutout of the season in taking the full three points in their second match of a two-game road trip over a four-day span.
Outshooting Tulsa Roughnecks FC (1-3-1, 4pts)8-5 in the first half, T2 (2-4-0, 6pts)opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when Belmar reacted quickly to pounce on a loose ball outside of the box. After midfielder Dylan Damraoui was dispossessed at the top of the 18-yard box, the ball trickled out to Belmar, who fired his low, one-time strike to the right corner of the net to build a 1-0 lead for T2.
Four minutes later, Lewis scored his first career goal for T2 when he powered his left-footed strike to the top-right corner in the 26th minute. After defender Taylor Peay’s lofted ball from the backline was headed down in the box by a Roughnecks FC defender, Lewis, who was sitting under the contested header, took a quick touch before pinging a strike off the crossbar and over the goal line.
With the win, T2 improved to 3-0-0 against Tulsa in their two USL seasons.
In the second half, T2, who tallied a season-high six shots on goal in the game, continued to threaten through forward Villyan Bijev when his one-time volley in the box narrowly missed the crossbar in the 71st minute. Nine minutes later, the second-half substitute nearly added to Portland’s lead when his long-range strike was parried away for a corner kick in the 80th minute.
Next up, T2 will travel to Arizona to play Arizona United SC on Saturday, April 30, at Peoria Sports Complex; kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (Pacific).
Saturday’s match will be available via a live, high-definition web stream at www.timbers2.com.
Post match quotes
T2 head coach Andrew Gregor
Overall thoughts on the match…
“Overall, I thought we played a very disciplined game. I thought we took advantage of certain moments on both ends of the field and I thought overall we put in a good team performance.”
On the two first-half goals…
“Both goals were very nice. We did a good job on both of them by transitioning on knock-downs. Both of the goals showed really good skill, especially Andre’s [Lewis] in the top corner and [Kharlton] Belmar’s nice strike to the corner. Both of those guys really earned it after putting solid shifts in tonight.”
On the play of the backline…
“It was Kendall’s [McIntosh] first game for us and I thought he had a solid performance. The backline, especially the two center backs, did a really good job tonight. For Marco Farfan to handle that type of pressure was really good experience for him. All together, the backline was very solid in managing Tulsa’s style of play, which was very direct and trying to win flick-ons, so I thought they played solid tonight.”
On the team’s resilience going forward in the second half…
“We knew how they were going to play and we knew if we did some of the dirty work, it would open up for us. I thought the guys did really well on second balls and that created opportunities for us to go forward. In the first half, we had multiple opportunities to use our team speed to get forward. This is the first time we’ve had a 2-0 lead with this young group, so I thought they did well in a tough game to end the trip right.”
T2 (2-4-0, 3pts) vs. Tulsa Roughnecks FC (1-3-1, 4pts)
– ONEOK Field (Tulsa, Okla.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 2 0 0
Tulsa Roughnecks FC 0 0 0
Scoring Summary
POR: Belmar, 22
POR: Lewis, 26
Misconduct Summary
POR: McIntosh (Caution), 19
POR: Brett (Caution), 19
TUL: Davoren (Caution), 46
TUL: Kaleem (Caution), 54
TUL: Morgan (Caution), 65
TUL: Ballew (Caution), 91
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK McIntosh, D Richards, D Peay ©, D Gallagher, D Farfan, M Besler, M Lewis (Morley, 95), M Damraoui (Bijev, 64), M Arboleda (Polk, 75), F Belmar, F Brett
Substitutes Not Used: GK Luthy, M Meva, M Lowe, M Idowu
TOTAL SHOTS: 12; SHOTS ON GOAL: 6; FOULS: 17; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 2
TUL: GK Mangels, D Cennerazzo, D Whatley, D Grimes (Peters, 62), D Abidor, M Martinez (Ramos Carpio, 59), M Henri (Ballobi, 82), M Davoren Pellegrino, 74), M Kaleem (Ballew, 56), F Morgan, F Ochoa ©
Substitutes Not Used: GK Feener
TOTAL SHOTS: 11; SHOTS ON GOAL: 2; FOULS: 16; OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 4
Jon Freemon
Assistant Referees: Jonathan Johnson, Michael Cap
4th Official: Roy Robinson
Attendance: 4,087
Weather: Sunny, 80 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
