PORTLAND, Ore. – In Week 11 of the 2017 USL regular season, T2 fell 1-0 to Cascadia-rival Whitecaps FC 2 at Providence Park on Sunday afternoon.
Whitecaps FC 2 (4-5-2, 14pts) scored the lone goal of the match after midfielder Marco Bustos slotted his penalty attempt past T2 goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh in the 56th minute following a handball inside the box.
Holding a 15-10 shot advantage in the match, T2 (1-10-1, 4pts) created several scoring opportunities in the second half. In the 58th minute, midfielder Victor Arboleda sped past his defender on the left flank and laid a ball off to midfielder Omar Mohamed, who fired a left-footed shot at Whitecaps FC 2 goalkeeper Spencer Richey from point-blank range to force a corner kick. On the ensuing set-piece seconds later, midfielder Villyan Bijev sent in a cross to the near post that found defender Max Ornstil, and his headed attempt at the back post was cleared off the line by a Whitecaps FC 2 defender.
Moments later, midfielder Ben Zemanski floated in a cross from the right wing that picked out forward Augustine Williams, and his strong header forced Richey into a save in the 62nd minute. From a set-piece play, Mohamed’s cross found midfielder Andre Lewis, whose headed attempt missed the target in the 75th minute.
Continuing to apply pressure late in the second half, Bijev’s long-distance shot was fired over the crossbar in the 76th minute. Shortly after, Bijev fired a right-footed curling shot that just missed the target in the 82nd minute. From a quick reset in stoppage time, defender Harold Hanson dribbled past two defenders inside the box and fired a right-footed shot that was parried aside by Richey in the 91st minute.
In the first half, Arboleda played a ball from the left wing that found Bijev in a pocket of space at the top of the box, and his low shot flashed wide of the target in the fourth minute. In the 26th minute, Bijev fired a right-footed shot from the top of the 18-yard box that went wide of the top right corner of the net. Avoiding a challenge on the left flank, Bijev sent in a driven cross towards the top of the six-yard box that found Arboleda, and his first-time shot was parried away by Richey in the 34th minute.
Next up, T2 will travel on the road to play Real Monarchs SLC at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday, June 10; kickoff is set for 6 p.m. (Pacific).
The June 10 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 overall thoughts on the match…
“I thought it was a good match for both teams. I thought Vancouver played well today and I thought we played well today. You’ve got to give credit to Vancouver. They stuck to what they were doing, but we were fighting towards the end and we were a little unlucky not to get the equalizer. You’ve got to give a little bit of credit to our boys for continuing to put the fight in late in the game.”
On the performance of defenders Michael Amick and Max Ornstil…
“I thought they did a good job today. They managed [Whitecaps FC 2 forward] Kyle Greig, who is first-team contracted player. He’s an experienced player that has scored goals in this league and I thought they did a good. It was a pretty steady game from both of them, and that’s what you want from center backs. You don’t really want to notice them sometimes and that was exactly the case with them. I thought they did a good job.”
On what the team can take away from this afternoon’s match heading into next week’s contest against Real Monarchs SLC…
“We’re trending in the right direction, even though the results aren’t there. We’ve got to find a way to break through that barrier. We’re in a little bit of a rut when it comes to winning games right now, but we’re going to the league leaders in Real Monarchs. We’re going to their stadium to play on a beautiful grass pitch. We should be up for it. They got us earlier in the year when we were very inexperienced to start the year. Now, we’ve got a little bit of experience and it might be something that can push us over the edge and get us going in the right direction when it comes to winning games.”
T2 (1-10-1, 4pts) vs. Whitecaps FC 2 (4-5-2, 14pts)
June 4, 2017 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
T2 0 0 0
Whitecaps FC 2 0 1 1
Scoring Summary
VAN: Bustos (Penalty Kick), 52
Misconduct Summary
POR: Ornstil (Caution), 20
VAN: McKendry (Caution), 42
POR: Farfan (Caution), 80
VAN: Seymore (Caution), 87
POR: Lowe (Caution), 93
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK McIntosh, D Hanson, D Ornstil, D Amick, D Farfan, M Lewis, M Zemanski (Lowe, 75), M Mohamed (Cicerone, 75), M Bijev, M Arboleda, F Williams
Substitutes Not Used: GK Hamilton, D Bjornethun, M Granitto, M Bodily, F Cini
TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (Arboleda, Bijev, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Williams, 2); FOULS: 19 (Lewis, 4); OFFSIDES: 5; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 4
VAN: GK Richey, D Thoma, D De Wit ©, D Seiler, D Chung, M Baldisimo (Seymore, 83), M McKendry, M Bustos, F Campbell (Serban, 70, Bartman 80), F Gardner, F Greig
Substitutes Not Used: GK Melvin, M Norman, F Sanner, F Amanda
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Three players tied, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Bustos, 2); FOULS: 13 (Six players tied, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 4
Referee: Daniel Radford
Assistant Referees: Andrew Deuker, JJ Blodgett
4th Official: Alexander Luttman
Attendance: 2,499
Weather: Cloudy, 62 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
