T2 travel to take on Whitecaps FC 2 next Sunday
HILLSBORO, Ore. - Timbers2 dropped their first result of the year against Earthquakes II 2-0 in their opening match of the MLS NEXT Pro regular season at Hillsboro Stadium on Wednesday night.
Goal-Scoring Plays
SJ – Eduardo Blancas (penalty kick) 66th minute: Eduardo Blancas converted a penalty kick from a foul conceded in the box.
SJ – Nathan Scott (Jerry Ayon), 69th minute: Jerry Ayon dribbled into the top of the box and slid the ball through two T2 defenders. Nathan Scott found the ball, took two touches, and shot a right-footed ball that found the back of the net.
Notes
- T2 entered their seventh season as an organization, and first in the MLS Next Pro league.
- T2 kicked off their first regular season match of the season today against Earthquakes II.
- It was Shannon Murray’s first match as the team’s head coach.
- Murray is the fourth T2 head coach since its inception, following Jay Vidovich (2015), Andrew Gregor (2016-2017) and Cameron Knowles (2018-2020).
- Former T2 and Timbers first team player Andres Flores is on Murray’s staff as an assistant coach for T2.
- Gerardo Duran led the team in shots (2) and shots on goal (1) tonight.
- Blake Bodily, Julian Bravo, Mitch Ferguson, Selmir Miscic and Hunter Sulte recorded 90-minute performances tonight.
- Six active Timbers players started in tonight’s match (Ayala, Bodily, Bonilla, Gutierrez, Rasmussen, Sulte).
- All six players were loaned out from the Timbers for tonight’s match.
- Eleven players in tonight’s match roster are Timbers Academy Players (Akau, Duran, Dunne, Enriquez, Ferguson, Gogo Peters, McDowd, Moreno, Schnebly, Shaul, Wray).
Next Game
Next up, T2 will travel to face Whitecaps FC 2 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, B.C. in Canada on Sunday, April 10. Beginning at 2 p.m. (Pacific), the match against Whitecaps FC 2 will be streamed on MLSNEXTpro.com.
Video Highlights
Highlights of the match can be viewed by clicking here.
Timbers2 (0-0-1, 0pts.) vs. Earthquakes II (1-0-0, 3pts.)
March 30, 2022 – Hillsboro Stadium (Hillsboro, Ore.)
Scoring Summary:
SJ: Eduardo Blancas Maravilla, 65
SJ: Nathan Scott (Jerry Ayon), 69
Misconduct Summary:
POR: Vivas (caution), 83
Lineups:
POR: GK Sulte, D Bonilla (Akau, 45), D Bravo, D Ferguson, D Rasmussen (Vivas, 45), M Ayala (Moreno, 45), M Miscic, M Shaul (Enriquez, 77), M Bodily, F Duran (Gogo Peters, 70) , F Gutierrez
Substitutes Not Used: GK Schnebly, D Dunne, D McDowd, M Griffith, M McCartney, M Wray
TOTAL SHOTS: 4 (Duran, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 1 (Duran, 1); FOULS: 15 (Duran 3, Vivas 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 3
SJ: GK Ochoa, D Lemus (Carrillo, 84), D Walls, D Cano, D Grey, M Scott, M Eisenberg (Reyes, 62), M Ayon, M Blancas, F Otoya (Robinson, 62), F Arfsten (Baptista, 83)
Substitutes Not Used: GK De La Cerda, D Kohler, M Asiaba, M Juarez, F Castro Jr.
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Arfsten, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Blancas, 2); FOULS: 12 (Arfsten, 3); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 1
Referee: William Hoffman
Assistant Referees: Hunter Zachwieja, Justin Fillmore
4th Official: Christopher Calderon
Attendance: 509
Weather: Partly cloudy, 46 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
T2 POST-GAME QUOTES
Timbers2 vs. Earthquakes II
March 30, 2022 - Hillsboro Stadium (Hillsboro, Ore.)
Final: Timbers2 0, Earthquakes II 2
T2 head coach Shannon Murray
Thoughts on tonight's match…
“I think for a young group and a group of mixed players, in terms of first team guys, academy guys and T2 guys, and the minimal amount of time we have been able to be together, there’s a lot to be excited about. Especially in those 20 to 25 minutes of the second half, we had really grown ourselves into the game. So, we made adjustments and the guys got comfortable with the pace and the physicality of the game. There’s a lot to draw from those pieces. When the goal happens, it happens. For a young group, making the transition from academy soccer to the professional level, it’s how we react to giving up a first goal. Then we ended up giving up a second goal not too long after. So, how can we then say, ‘okay goals happen, move on from there, now put the opponent back under pressure, putting ourselves in spots where we can breathe a little bit and regain our grip on the game.’ From that standpoint, it’s a good starting point for what we are trying to accomplish, and we made some good strides tonight. Of course, we want to win every game but at the same time, you know it’s about learning how to win the games and that’s a piece of the puzzle we learned a little bit tonight. We will get back to the drawing board during the week and look at video, teach and work with individuals and all those things to get better. Overall, a lot of good things to say about the group and how we grew, even playing down a man at the very end of the game. We still played hard and tried to take the game to everybody else. So, I felt good about it.”
On how the first match as head coach for T2 tonight…
“That’s a good question, I haven’t really thought about it. I think it’s my seventh year in the club, so I feel comfortable with it. I enjoyed my staff – I trust my staff. My staff works hard, we communicate well, and hopefully we’re communicating well to our players. It was fun to be the guy walking up around the bench versus being the guy always sitting on the bench, but at the same time it is a good step forward for me to as I learn to manage games.”
On what players stood out tonight…
“There’s a few that I thought did well. I’m extremely proud of Alex Moreno who came in the game at halftime, one of our U17 players and a 16-year-old. Dylan Akau who that came in as the right-back, a U19 player. I thought did very well. Mitch Ferguson as a center-back performed really well. Then you have the T2 guys, I’m very proud of Julian Bravo, as one of our left-sided center backs. Then there’s the older guys that have been around. I think Blake Bodily’s leadership, attitude and work rate was phenomenal. Good example set for everybody. There’s a lot of guys to be proud of, I thought Hunter (Sulte) having not had a chance to play games in the last two seasons, was a good night for him to get reacquainted with the pace and the physicality of the game. I thought he performed quite well. There’s a lot of guys I think asserted themselves and grew into the game. I knew it was going to take us a few minutes to do so, but we eventually got there.”
