PORTLAND, Ore. – Playing the first of a two-match home stand, T2 fell 2-1 to Orange County SC at Providence Park on Saturday night.
After Orange County SC (2-1-0, 6pts) took the early lead in the ninth minute from a converted penalty kick attempt in the ninth minute, T2 (0-4-0, 0pts) equalized in the 19th minute. Defender Kyle Bjornethun sent in a cross from the left flank that forward Augustine Williams headed into back of the net from inside the six-yard box to record his second goal of the 2017 USL season.
Continuing to apply pressure in the first half, Williams delivered a cross just outside the six-yard box that picked out midfielder Neco Brett, and his acrobatic effort was saved by goalkeeper Charlie Lyon in the 32nd minute. Eight minutes later, Brett released midfielder Victor Arboleda into space behind the Orange County defense and his right-footed shot flashed wide of the target.
Orange County took the lead in the 58th minute after midfielder Victor Pineda drilled a long-range shot that beat a diving Kendall McIntosh into the top corner of the net. Searching for an equalizer, Portland nearly tied the score in the 69th minute after midfielder Andre Lewis’ low-driven shot was saved by Lyon. Five minutes later, Lewis again fired an angled shot from the edge of the penalty area and his effort went wide of the post in the 74th minute. Late in the match, Bijev found second-half substitute Russell Cicerone inside the edge of the six-yard box and his shot was parried aside by Lyons in the 93rd minute.
T2 defender Harold Hanson made his professional debut, playing all 90 minutes.
Next up, T2 will play host to Cascadia-rival Whitecaps FC 2 on Sunday, April 16; kickoff is set for 2 p.m. (Pacific) at Providence Park.
The April 16 match will also be available via a live, high-definition web stream at www.timbers2.com.
Postgame Quote Sheet
T2 head coach Andrew Gregor
On his team’s performance today…
“I think it was a better performance than last week. I still think there are little mistakes that are causing us problems, but we’ve got some young players out there and they’ve got to learn. This is the environment for them to learn. We’re going to get punished until we figure it out, but I did like that we’re looking closer to the team we want to be in attack.”
On Harold Hanson’s professional debut…
“I think Harold did a good job. He got a little bit tired towards the end, but you can see what Harold’s abilities are going forward, which is what we like. He’s another player that has been converted. He’s going to need to learn a bit, but going forward we like what he has to offer. I think he did a good job for his first professional game.”
On the assist from Kyle Bjornethun to Augustine Williams…
“It’s what we want to do. We want to try to manipulate the defense to make them make a decision and they decided to defend narrowly. We want our outside backs to get forward and Kyle whipped in a good ball. I thought Augustine’s movement to lose his defender was fantastic and we scored a good goal. I wish we could see a little bit more of it in the first half, but that patience piece in our attack still needs a little bit of time. I think we’re trending in the right direction.”
On building off of this performance heading into Sunday’s match against Whitecaps FC 2…
“We’re going in the right direction. There’s nothing better than playing against one of your rivals. Even though we didn’t win the game, there’s confidence in that we’re moving in the right direction because we did play well at times and they recognized it. We don’t have a victory yet, but Vancouver would be a great way to start.”
T2 defender Kyle Bjornethun
On his assist to Augustine Williams…
“It felt nice to be able to get forward. They were sitting back a bit, so it gave us more of an opportunity to attack. I looked up and I saw a few guys in the box. Augustine was right in the middle and I know he’s a big strong forward, so I just hung it up in there for him so he can finish it off. It was a good goal.”
On how he has adjusted in his first professional season…
“It’s been great. I’ve honestly loved it. It’s a very professional environment here. They’re setting us up for success here. The trainings are hard and good. I’ve honestly really loved it and it’s been great.”
On heading into Sunday’s match against Cascadia-rival Whitecaps FC 2…
“We were able to get in the attacking third a little bit more. Now that we’re able to get into the attack more and figuring ourselves out, I think we’ll be able to find more goals as the season goes along.”
T2 (0-4-0, 0pts) vs. Orange County SC (2-1-0, 6pts)
April 8, 2017 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 1 0 1
Orange County SC 1 2 2
Scoring Summary
OC: Van Ewijk (Penalty Kick), 9
POR: Williams (Bjornethun), 19
OC: Pineda, 58
Misconduct Summary
POR: Clarke (Caution), 8
OC: Chaplow (Caution), 30
OC: Van wijk (Caution), 77
OC: Pineda (Caution), 90
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK McIntosh ©, D Hanson, D Clarke, D Batista, D Bjornethun, M Montes (Cicerone, 87), M Lewis, M Brett (Bodily, 87), M Bijev, M Arboleda, F Williams
Substitutes Not Used: GK Hamilton, D Jimenez, D Ornstil, M Damraoui, M Mohamed
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Brett, Lewis, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Three players tied, 1); FOULS: 9 (Clarke, Montes, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 2
OC: GK Lyon, D Franco, D Wbias, D Navarro, D Ocegueda (Meeus, 46), M Pineda, M Chaplow © (A. Pineda, 88), M Alvarez (Fernandes, 67), M Villalobos, M Van Ewijk, F Lacroix
Substitutes Not Used: GK Beyers, D Sorto, F Jeon
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Van Ewijk, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Van Ewijk, 2); FOULS: 12 (Van Ewijk, 3); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 2
Referee: Joseph Dickerson
Assistant Referees: Cephas Quartson, Billy Baldwin
4th Official: Ian Miller
Attendance: 1,834
Weather: Cloudy, 50 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
