MATCH INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2015
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. (Pacific)
Location: Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Forecast: Rainy, 60 degrees
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referees: Joshua Haimes, Michael Kampmeinert
Fourth Official: JJ Blodgett
SPECIAL DOUBLE HEADER
The Portland Timbers open their 2016 U.S. Open Cup campaign against the San Jose Earthquakes Tuesday evening at Providence Park kicking off at 7:30pm PT.
The match is the second of a special doubleheader following T2's 4:30pm PT match against the Seattle Sounders FC 2, with one ticket gaining admission to both the Timbers U.S. Open Cup match and T2 game. Tickets for the doubleheader at Providence Park are included as part of the Timbers Annual Membership.
- TICKETS: Timbers vs. Quakes and T2 vs. S2
ABOUT THE U.S. OPEN CUP
Entering its 103rd year of competition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup features a tiered-bracket and single-game knockout format, with a record number of teams participating. This year’s U.S. Open Cup features 92 teams, a record in the tournament’s modern era (1995 to present). As in 2015, teams will be paired geographically from the First Round through the Fourth Round. After the Fourth Round, a geographically-based random draw will take place to determine the Round of 16 matchups and set a fixed bracket to the Final, scheduled for Sept. 21. The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, recognized as U.S. Soccer’s national club championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. The tournament has crowned a champion for 102 consecutive years dating back to 1914. This year’s winner will earn $250,000, a spot in the 2017-18 CONCACAF Champions League tournament and have its name engraved on the historic Dewar Challenge Trophy, one of the oldest nationally contested trophies in American team sports. The runner-up will take home $60,000, while the team that advances the furthest from each lower division will earn a $15,000 cash prize. Sporting Kansas City is the defending U.S. Open Cup champion, having won a second tournament title (following its triumph in 2012) after a penalty shootout road victory against the Philadelphia Union on Sept. 30, 2015 at PPL Park, in Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
LAST MATCH RECAP
Playing the entire second half with 10 men, the Portland Timbers recorded their first shutout of the season and defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 before a sold-out crowd of 21,144 fans at Providence Park on Wednesday night. Defender Liam Ridgewell recorded the game-winning goal, his first of the 2016 season, heading midfielder Diego Valeri’s cross into the back of the net in the 11th minute of play as the Timbers extended their unbeaten run in league play to three games. In their second win against San Jose in three games played between the two teams this season, the Timbers (5-6-4, 19pts) capitalized on their first goal-scoring opportunity of the game when Ridgewell nodded a glancing header into the far corner, marking his first regular-season goal since September 7, 2014.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
Tuesday’s match marks Portland’s 25th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match since first reaching the tournament in 2004 as a second-division club. As an MLS side, the Timbers have played nine Open Cup matches, earning a 6-4 overall record. Outside of the tournament, the Timbers contested two Open Cup play-in games in 2011 that aren’t reflected in the total numbers.
Portland has won at least one match in U.S. Open Cup play during each of the last three editions of the tournament (2013, 2014, 2015). The club made its deepest run in the annual competition in 2013, reaching the semifinals.
Tuesday’s fixture marks the fourth-overall meeting between Portland and San Jose in 2016, and the first Open Cup match between the two teams as MLS clubs. Overall, Tuesday’s game signifies the 38th meeting in all competitions across all eras (since 1975) between the Timbers and the Earthquakes, with Portland leading the all-time series 19-11-7.
Unbeaten at home against San Jose during their MLS era (6-0-3), the Timbers have won four of their last five home matches (4-0-1) against San Jose, with a 8-1 advantage in goals scored.
SCOUTING THE EARTHQUAKES
San Jose enters Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup match with two points in its last three regular-season games, drawing twice before falling 1-0 to the Timbers at Providence Park on June 1. Forward Chris Wondolowski leads the team in goals (7), shots (29) and shots on target (11), while forward Quincy Amarikwa leads the team in assists (3). Heading into Tuesday’s match, San Jose will be without four key players due to international duty, including Wondolowski (USA), Simon Dawkins (Jamaica - unavailable due to injury), Alberto Quintero (Panama), and Anibal Godoy (Panama). In U.S. Open Cup play, the Earthquakes have never earned a victory against an MLS side, currently holding an 0-9 record, forcing penalty kicks on three occassions. In the 2015 edition of the tournament, the Earthquakes suffered a 1-0 defeat to the LA Galaxy in the Round of 16.
