Returning to league play at home, the Timbers U-18 Academy side scored eight goals, while only conceding once, in two games played this past weekend.
Portland’s U-18s opened the weekend with a strong 5-0 shutout win over Arsenal FC’s U-18s, with three different players scoring in the win. Following an early finish from Coby Atkinson in the 18th minute of play, Jose Perez doubled the Timbers lead in the 33rd minute, leading to a brace from Cedric Rosevelt Tchoumkeu Tatchou, and an Arsenal own goal in the final 45.
On the Sunday, the Timbers continued their strong play, taking a 3-1 win over Real So Cal’s U-18 side. Giovanni Calixtro tallied a brace, finishing in the 18th and 76th minutes, respectively, while Lucas Cini managed to score the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute of play.
Cini also made his USL debut for T2 on Friday night, coming on in the 83rd minute in their 2-0 loss to Seattle Sounders FC 2 in Tukwila, Wash. Cini almost scored six minutes after coming on when his headed effort from the center of the box went just wide of the post.
"I think he’s earned the opportunity," said T2 head coach Andrew Gregor after the match. "I thought he did a good job as far as bringing a little bit of energy. I thought we were unlucky not to get a goal due to an offside call on Villyan Bijev’s shot that hit the crossbar, but Cini did a great job to react and follow it up. That’s what Lucas is about. He works hard and he scores goals. It’s just unfortunate the goal was disallowed.”
Meanwhile, Timbers U-18 midfielder Adrian Villegas helped the U.S. U-17s to a second place finish in the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship this past weekend in Panama. Villegas made one appearance in the tournament starting in the U.S.'s 1-0 win over El Salvador to help close out an undefeated run in group stage play.
The Timbers U-16s split their weekend matches beating Arsenal FC 2-1 on Saturday. On Sunday, 2016 MLS Sueño winner Alan Gaytan scored a brace in the U-16's 4-3 loss to Real So Cal.
Next up, the Timbers U-16 and U-18 Academy sides will close out the 2017 season with a road match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s U-18 Academy team at Simon Fraser University.
