PORTLAND, Ore. – In their opening game of the 2017 USL regular season, T2 fell 2-1 to Real Monarchs SLC at Providence Park on Saturday night.
After going 2-0 down following James Moberg’s header from a corner kick in the 11th minute and Nick Besler’s finish inside the penalty area off a set piece in the 48th minute, T2 (0-1-0, 0pts) responded in the 64th minute with their first goal of the season as forward Augustine Williams capitalized on a poor pass from goalkeeper Andrew Putna, and slotted home with a composed finish from outside the box.
Down 1-0 in the first half, T2 threatened to find an early equalizer in the 13th minute when midfielder Villyan Bijev fired a right-footed shot from the top of the box that just flashed wide of the target. In the 31st minute, Bijev dribbled out of a tight area outside the left side of the box, and fired a right-footed shot that forced Putna into a diving save to his left to force a corner kick. Shortly before halftime in the 43rd minute, Bjiev found winger Victor Arboleda on the right side of the box, and Arboleda’s right-footed shot missed the frame.
Goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh, on loan from the Portland Timbers, recorded a six saves for T2. In the 78th minute, McIntosh made a diving save to his right on Real Monarchs’ midfielder Daniel Haber’s right-footed shot from outside the box, while he made an acrobatic save diving to his left on forward Chandler Hoffman’s attempt from inside the penalty area.
Searching for the equalizer in the 73rd minute, T2 defender Shaquille Jimenez whipped in a cross from the right flank inside the penalty area that found the foot of midfielder Blake Bodily, whose effort went high above the target.
Next up, T2 will travel to Portland to face Swope Park Rangers in their first road match of the 2017 season on Wednesday, March 29, beginning a two-game road trip; kickoff is set for 5 p.m. (Pacific) at Children’s Mercy Victory Field in Kansas City, Mo.
Wednesday’s match will also be available via a live, high-definition web stream at www.timbers2.com.
Postgame Quote Sheet
T2 acting head coach Shannon Murray
On the team's performance in the season opener…
“In some ways, the second half was better. We came out and battled. For a young group, I think we showed some of that youth and inexperience early, but that’s what this is all about. We’ve got a young group that the average age is just under 21 years old today. We had a couple of key moments, and I think we showed some inexperience there. We gave up goals on two set-pieces, but we fought. Just like last year, we’ll get them into the film room and we’ll get back onto the training pitch. This is how we learn. I think we had three or four guys make their professional debuts today. At the end of the day for us, a couple positives came out of it.”
On what the team can build on heading into Wednesday’s game against Swope Park Rangers on the road…
“Just the pace and the team of professional soccer, and that’s part of the learning experience. We got to play against an older team that had a lot of experience on the field, relative to us. We’ll take some positives from this game, so the team can see what it takes to be successful at this level. We’ll try to learn from it and adjust for the next game.”
T2 forward Augustine Williams
On playing in front of the Providence Park fans…
“I’m really excited to be back in front of our crowd. I’m happy that we started our season, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. Unfortanetley, we weren’t able to get the win today, but we’ll keep our heads up and we’ll be ready for the next match.”
On scoring his first goal of the season…
“I was looking at the goalkeeper to see what he was going to do, and then I knew he was going to drop the ball. I was lucky to be at there at the right time and I was lucky to be able to get the goal and I’m happy.”
On how the team can build on it’s effort in the second half heading into Wednesday’s game against Swope Park Rangers…
“In the second half, we started a lot better than we did in the first half. If we can have that same momentum and that mentality, I think we’ll do well.”
T2 (0-1-0, 0pts) vs. Real Monarchs SLC (1-0-0, 3pts)
March 25, 2017 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 0 1 1
Real Monarchs SLC 1 1 2
Scoring Summary
SLC: Moberg (Adams), 11
SLC: Besler (Adams), 48
POR: Williams, 64
Misconduct Summary
SLC: Besler (Caution), 45
POR: Batista (Caution), 58
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK McIntosh, D Jimenez, D Clarke ©, D Batista, D Bjornethun (Cicerone, 88), M Granitto, M Lewis (Montes, 73), M Arboleda, M Bijev, M Bodily (Brett, 79), F Williams
Substitutes Not Used: GK Hamilton, D Hanson, D Ornstil, M Damraoui
TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Bijev, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Three players tied, 1); FOULS: 5 (2, Bijev); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 10 ; SAVES: 6
SLC: GK Putna, D Kyle, D Orozco, D Moberg, D Lachowecki, M Adams, M Besler, M Brody, M Minter (Minter, 63), M Velasquez (Leal, 85), F Hoffman (Milne, 89)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Osgood, D Gallagher, D Peay, M Hanlin
TOTAL SHOTS: 17 (Brody, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 9 (Hoffman, Haber, 2); FOULS: 8 (Curinga, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 9; SAVES: 2
Referee: Armando Villarreal
Assistant Referees: Joshua Haimes, Seth Martin
4th Official: Jason Perlewitz
Attendance: 2,602
Weather: Overcast, 50 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
