GOripCity "TICKETS"

Nagbe found the back of the net in the second half off a cross from trialist Jorge Perlaza to level the score against the 2009 PDL National Champions, Ventura County Fusion. 

Head coach John Spencer called the rookie’s debut Landon Donovan-esque. “There were a couple flashes in the game there were guys tried to get close to him and he just goes past them. He is almost a little bit like Landon (Donovan) was a few years ago when he came back from Germany to San Jose.”

Nagbe appeared to really find his legs in the second half when he found space behind Perlaza up top compared to his wide midfield role in the first half. When asked about which role he preferred, Nagbe said, “It all depends who is on the field for me. Coach Spencer knows what he is doing, I trust wherever he puts me at.”

Although the result was not what Timbers wanted, Spencer took some positives from it. “Even though we want to win games, it was a good step in the right direction.” He said the Timbers plan to focus on the fitness level of his club over the course of the next month prior to their opening fixture at the Colorado Rapids. 

First Half: 
The teams spent the opening moments adapting to the artificial turf at Ventura College as neither side could string passes together. 

The game started to open up when Timbers forward Bright Dike exploited the space between the two Fusion center backs. Dike’s speed pushed him behind the defense in the seventh minute, but a fine save from Fusion keeper Sam Hayden thwarted the former Notre Dame striker. 

Five minutes later, Dike turned provider as he instrumented a beautiful one-two with Kalif Alhassan 25 yards from goal. Alhassan’s effort went just wide of the near post. 

The combination play would be Dike’s last contribution of the night as he was taken off in the 17th minute after an off the ball injury. Timbers spokesman said about Dike’s status, it is “a right leg injury with evaluations pending at the hospital.”

Fusion capitalized on their slight man advantage when Dike was down on the sideline with a flowing counter-attack that saw the PDL side break through the Timbers defense for the opening goal. Eidur Vaca would get credit for the goal after his shot took a deflection and went through Troy Perkins’ legs. 

Second half:
Timbers came out on the front foot to start the second half. In the opening minutes, a cross by Jorge Perlaza from the right side found Nagbe open six yards from goal. The MAC Hermann trophy winner headed it home to level the score. 

Second half showed a bit more jitters from the expansion side as some of the training camps invitees tried to do too much in their limited minutes especially in the midfield. The PDL side capitalized on these errors and forced the Timbers midfield to chase them for large portions of the second half. 

Neither side was productive in front of the net over the final minutes as the score ended on level terms. 

Timbers will spend a couple more days in Southern California before returning to Portland. Ventura County Fusion have a game scheduled against D.C. United for February 19. 

Timbers starting lineup: Perkins, Cameron, Barengrub, Brunner, Purdy, Pore, Alhassan, Marcelin, Hall, Umony, Dike
Timbers 2nd Half Lineup: Gleeson, Taylor, Danso, Horst, Kirk, Lopez, Braun, Lowry, DeMartin, Nagbe, Perlaza