SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Conceding an early first-half goal, 10-man T2 fell 1-0 on the road to Sacramento Republic FC before 11,569 fans at Papa Murphy’s Park on Saturday night, snapping Portland’s four-match unbeaten run.
T2 form
With the loss, T2 are 6-2-1 in their last nine games dating back to Aug. 11. Portland now sits in fifth place in the Western Conference standings, two points behind fourth-place Real Monarchs SLC. Portland is one of five teams in the Western Conference to clinch a spot in the 2018 USL Cup Playoffs.
Key plays
Sacramento took an early 1-0 lead in the sixth minute of play after forward Cameron Iwasa headed in Elliot Hord’s cross from close range.
After defender Marco Farfan laid the ball off to midfielder Jack Barmby on the left wing, his shot from the edge of the box was curled into the arms of Sacramento goalkeeper Josh Cohen in the 19th minute. In the 33rd minute, a failed clearance fell on the edge of the box to midfielder Andre Lewis, whose half-volleyed effort forced Cohen into a diving save at the far post.
To start the second half, Barmby’s low shot from the left edge of the penalty area was parried aside by Cohen in the 49th minute.
T2 were reduced to 10 men in the 74th minute of the match after defender Nathan Smith was shown a red card after being issued his second yellow card of evening.
In the 78th minute, defender Modou Jadama’s dipping shot from 30 yards out skipped wide past the post.
In stoppage time, Jadama found himself in space inside the penalty area, but his shot was fired over the crossbar in the 91st minute. Four minutes later, Lewis’ shot from the edge of the 18-yard box missed over the target.
Next Game
Next up, T2 play host to Reno 1868 FC in the regular-season home finale at Merlo Field on Wednesday, Oct. 3. Beginning at 7 p.m. (Pacific), the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Postgame Quote Sheet
T2 head coach Cameron Knowles
General thoughts on the match…
“It was a disappointing result. I thought we played well enough to get something out of that game. I thought we controlled large portions of it, but unfortunately we couldn’t get ourselves out of the hole we dug ourselves in the first five minutes.”
On the final two regular-season matches with the playoffs looming…
“This game we just played and the next two matches are all against teams that will be potential playoff opponents. Each one of those matches is going to feel like a playoff game, which is good for our guys because we haven’t played those games. We haven’t been in the playoffs before, so to get a sense of it… playing at home to Reno and then at Phoenix Rising FC is going to be really good. That being said, we’re not in it for the experience. We’re there to get points. We’ve got to keep looking to get ourselves in the top four so we can host a playoff game.”
T2 (16-12-4, 52pts) vs. Sacramento Republic FC (16-7-8, 56pts)
Sept. 29, 2018 – Papa Murphy’s Park (Sacramento, Calif.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 0 0 0
Sacramento 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
SAC: Iwasa (Hord), 6
Misconduct Summary
POR: Smith (Caution), 58
POR: Smith (Second caution – Ejection), 74
POR: Zambrano (Caution), 83
SAC: Seiler (Caution, 90+4
POR: Diz Pe (Caution), 90+6
Lineups:
POR: GK McIntosh, D Smith, D Diz Pe, D Jadama, D Farfan (Batista, 82), M Zambrano ©, M Lewis, M Arboleda (Hanson, 87), M LorĂa (Williams, 61), M Barmby, F Langsdorf
Substitutes Not Used: GK Mangels, D Mulligan, D Ornstil, M Anguiano
TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Three players tied, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Barmby, 2); FOULS: 16 (Farfan, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 4
SAC: GK Cohen, D Hord, D Klimenta, D Taintor, D Gomez, M Hall, M Partain (Seiler, 85), M Bijev, M Matjasic (Eissele, 61), M Aleman (Kneeshaw, 79), F Iwasa
Substitutes Not Used: GK Diaz, D Turnley, D Schmidt, M Vazquez
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Bijev, 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; (Bijev, 3) FOULS: 15 (Bijev, 4); OFFSIDES: 3x; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3
Referee: Michael Radchuk
Assistant Referees: Deleano Quan, Andrew Hanks
4th Official: Turan Ozdemir
Attendance: 11,569
Weather: Clear, 70 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
