PORTLAND, Ore. – Behind two second-half goals, T2 rallied for a 2-1 victory over Real Monarchs SLC on Wednesday night at Providence Park. Dairon Asprilla logged his team-leading sixth goal of the season, while Modou Jadama notched the game-winning goal.
Home form
In six home matches in 2019, T2 have only lost once, posting a 3-1-2 record at home thus far this season. Additionally, four of Asprilla’s six goals this campaign have come in home matches.
T2 against Real Monarchs SLC
Wednesday's match marked the 11th regular-season meeting between Real Monarchs SLC (3-6-3, 12pts) and T2, with the series tied at 4-4-3. In five matches played in Portland between the two clubs dating back to March 29, 2015, T2 hold a 4-1-1 record against Real Monarchs. T2 and Real Monarchs will square off again once more during the USL Championship regular season, playing at Zions Bank Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 14.
Providence Park soft-opening matches
With just three days remaining before the much-anticipated full opening of Providence Park when the Portland Timbers play host to Los Angeles FC on Saturday, June 1, T2 played the second of two soft-opening matches in the win over Real Monarchs.
Goals from outside the box
With Jadama’s game-winning goal, a curling free-kick finish from the top of the 18-yard box, T2 (6-2-4, 22pts) have scored five goals from outside the box this season. The five goals scored from outside the box rank tied for second in the USL Championship, behind only Reno 1868 FC (7).
Key plays
In the 24th minute, a cross from Marco Farfan to the far post found Claude Dielna, but his header missed wide past the post.
Real Monarchs took a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute when Douglas Martínez’s rifled his right-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area into the far corner of the net.
In the 53rd minute, Marvin Loría’s off-balance shot from the top of the box was dragged to the right of the far post.
T2 leveled the match at 1-1 in the 63rd minute when Farfan beat his marker down the left wing and played a cross into the box to Ryan Sierakowski, who flicked the ball to the back post. Loría was first to the ball and fired a right-footed shot from inside the six-yard box that struck right post. The resulting rebound fell to Asprilla, who powered his shot past a Real Monarchs defender on the goal line from the center of the penalty area. With the goal, Asprilla has scored in three straight matches for T2 dating back to a 4-1 win against the Tacoma Defiance on May 12.
Continuing on the attack, Loría raced past his marker before firing a powerful shot from distance just inches over the crossbar in the 67th minute.
Portland scored the game-winning goal in the 70th minute when Jadama’s free-kick attempt from the top of the box was curled into the upper left corner of the net, past the outstretched arms of Real Monarchs goalkeeper Alex Horwath. Jadama is tied for second on the team with Foster Langsdorf with four goals scored in 2019.
In the 76th minute, Asprilla’s header at midfield fell to second-half substitute Cristian Ojeda, whose low shot from 20-yards out forced Alex Horwath into a diving save. Second-half substitute Brayan Hurtado was then played in behind the Real Monarchs defense by Gio Calixtro, before taking a shot from the left edge of the 18-yard box that was parried aside by Horwath in the 87th minute.
Next game
Next up, T2 travel to face Austin Bold FC at Bold Stadium on Saturday, June 8. Beginning at 5:30 p.m. (Pacific), the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Postgame Quote Sheet
T2 head coach Cameron Knowles
On the team’s resilience to bounce back…
“I think, obviously, it’s really encouraging. We don’t want to be putting ourselves in these holes, but we knew that there were goals in the game for us. We knew that we had controlled large portions of the first half, so it was really important for us to come out in the second half on the front foot and score that next goal.”
On the team’s mentality heading into the second half…
“We just knew we had to clean up a couple of things. We talked about keeping things simple and just doing those simple things really well. I think in the second half we started doing more of that and started to then build into the game and create more problems for the opposition.”
On Modou Jadama’s game-winning free kick…
“It was great. He could have done it without the celebration and getting a yellow card, but I thought the free kick as a whole was outstanding.”
T2 (6-2-4, 22pts) vs. Real Monarchs SLC (3-6-3, 12pts)
May 29, 2019 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 0 2 2
Real Monarchs SLC 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
SLC: Martínez (Kacher), 37
POR: Asprilla, 63
POR: Jadama, 70
Misconduct Summary
SLC: Kacher (caution), 28
SLC: Plewa (caution), 59
SLC: Heard (caution), 68
POR: Jadama (caution), 71
POR: Farfan (caution), 88
POR: Hanson (caution), 89
POR: Asprilla (caution), 90+1
Lineups:
POR: GK McIntosh, D Hanson, D Jadama, D Dielna (Miller, 45), M Anguiano, M Wharton, M Asprilla, M Loría (Hurtado, 84), M Sierakowski (Ojeda, 71), F Calixtro, 84
Substitutes Not Used: GK Lyon, D Smith, D Ornstil, M Hurtado, F Langsdorf
TOTAL SHOTS: 18 (Loría, 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Loría, 2); FOULS: 12 (Sierakowski, 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 11; SAVES: 2
SLC: GK Horwath, D Brody (Coffee, 79), D Plewa, D Powder, D Okumu, M Ruiz, M Chang, M Pena, F Martínez (German, 45), F Heard (Moberg, 71), F Kacher
Substitutes Not Used: GK Finney, D Ryden, M Brown, F Schmitt
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Kacher, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Three players tied, 1); FOULS: 16 (Pena 4); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 4
Referee: Jon Freemon
Assistant Referees: Eric Wood, Seth Martin
4th Official: Mike Hohnholz
Attendance: 2,523
Weather: Clear, 74 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
