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We play again at 4pm today vs the Vancouver Whitecaps (Steve Nash is part owner) our 2nd biggest rivals and the team that knocked us out of the playoffs the last 2 seasons by 1 point each year.

RoseCity RED OUT!

 

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Perlaza, Cooper score as Timbers defeat Sounders 2-0

Published: Friday, March 04, 2011, 10:08 PM     Updated: Friday, March 04, 2011, 11:06 PM      

THANKS to ⋆⋆⋆ ERIC ⋆⋆⋆'s flickr photostream  Video Below

 

 By Geoffrey C. Arnold, The Oregonian 

TUKWILA, Wash. _ Round one of the rivalry goes to the Portland Timbers.

Jorge Perlaza scored in the first half and Kenny Cooper added an insurance goal late in the game to give the Timbers a 2-0 win against Seattle in a Major League Soccer preseason game. 

The win kept the Timbers unbeaten (2-0-4) in preseason play and marked the Timbers' fourth consecutive shutout. The defense played well in stretches, and survived a ferocious attack by the Sounders in the second half. 
With the Timbers and Sounders' supporter groups chanting at each other back and forth across the field, flags being waved and smoke wafting in the air after smoke bombs were ignited, the game at the Starfire Sports Stadium provided a glimpse of what this decades-old rivalry is all about. 

Even though it was a preseason game, the contest was an important one for the Timbers. As an expansion team, they were the new kids on the block and they dearly wanted to quickly establish themselves as a legitimate player on the MLS stage. 

"That was a great win for us. Whenever you beat your rival, it's always a great win. I think our morale is up and our confidence is up," defender Steve Purdy said. "There was definitely more of a MLS environment, like a regular season (game) with energy. It was actually a really good test for us." 

The Timbers overcame some early jitters before settling down. The Sounders came out with an aggressive attitude that may have caught the Timbers by surprise. 

"The first five minutes of the game, I thought we looked a little bit nervous at times," Portland coach John Spencer said.  "We then realized there wasn't that much of a gulf in talent on the field. We got a little bit confident and started to attack in the right areas and eventually created a couple of chances."

Once the Timbers settled down, their athletic ability and desire began to change the momentum. 

Purdy, who played a very good game with numerous runs up the right side and solid defense on Seattle midfielder Steve Zakuani, was the initial catalyst for the Timbers' first goal.

Purdy gained possession of a loose ball and advanced up the field before making a pass to midfielder Sal Zizzo. 

"Whenever we have a chance to counter-attack, I feel like that's a really big strength of mine," Purdy said. "I think there was a loose ball, and I was able to play it off to Sal. Sal with his speed, whenever you play it into space, you're always going to have a chance."  

Zizzo, who also made some nifty runs during the game, was able to drop the ball off the Kenny Cooper, who fired a shot that Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller couldn't handle cleanly and the ball deflected to his right side. A wide open Jorge Perlaza easily tapped in the deflection for the score in the 21st minute.

The Purdy-Zizzo combination on the right side was clicking all night long. 

"Today was the best its been," Zizzo said. "The style we like to play, sometimes, it's not pretty, but it gets the job done." 

 Down a goal going into the second half, the Sounders came out firing. They applied constant pressure and outshot the Timbers 11-4 and had five corner kicks to none for the Timbers in the second half. 

  The Timbers were barely hanging on in the half, simply trying to escape the barrage without allowing a goal. And they barely escaped when Seattle midfielder Alvaro Fernandez ballooned a shot over the net from point-blank range in the 60th minute. 

Purdy and his teammates were able to stay with the speedy Zakuani. It seemed as the Sounders occasionally forgot about dangerous Zakuani, who scored 10 goals last season, who didn't touch the ball for long stretches of the first half and appeared frustrated. But Zakuani made his presence felt by causing problems for the Timbers defense in the second half. 

"When you're playing against a powerful unit like the Sounders...we expected them to come out in the first 15 minutes and throw everything they had at us," Spencer said. "I felt like we weathered the storm and again looked a little bit nervous. I felt by the 65th minute, they had gave us everything they had." 

The Sounders' energy level fell off as the minutes elapsed. That allowed Cooper, who was wide open on the right side to receive a ball from Zizzo. He took a couple of touches and fired a shot into the net, far post in the 93rd minute and the Timbers and their fans erupted in joy. 

 Notes: Timbers starting lineup was Troy Perkins at goalkeeper. Steve Purdy (right back) and Rodney Wallace (left back) at the wings defensively, with Kevin Goldthwaite and Eric Brunner central defenders. Jeremy Hall (left) and Sal Zizzo (right) as outside midfielders, with Peter Lowry and Jack Jewsbury inside. Kenny Cooper and Jorge Perlaza at forward. ...Timbers wore white training jerseys

-- Geoffrey C. Arnold 

 

Related topics: major league soccer, portland timbers, seattle sounders

 

 

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Cascadia Summit Live Stream

POR vs. SEA 3/4, 7:30 pm; POR vs. VAN 3/5, 4 pm

FRI, 03/04/2011

Portland Timbers.com

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• The stream will not go live until approximately 20 minutes prior to each match.
• Friday, March 4 – Preseason match vs. Seattle Sounders FC at Starfire Sports Stadium; 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, March 5 – Preseason match vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Starfire Sports Stadium; 4 p.m.
• This is the same player for both matches this weekend.
• This player accommodates auto-adjusting bit rates depending on a user's connection. This helps streaming a lower quality feed to those on slower connections and higher quality to those on faster connections. Occasionally, some users may fall in the middle and notice a switch between the two qualities of feeds. The player has a manual setting for the user to choose the best speed. This can be found to the right of the player bar.

Related: 

95.5 The Game coverage @ 6 p.m.

Cascadia Gameday Details

http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2011/03/cascadia-summit-live-stream

Cascadia Summit to be streamed on PortlandTimbers.com

Team departs for Seattle, exhib. added vs. SJ

THU, 03/03/2011

Portland Timbers

Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer

PORTLAND, Ore.— The Portland Timbers continued their sixth week of preseason training this week as they look ahead to the upcoming Cascadia Summit this weekend, where they will face Northwest opponents Seattle Sounders FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC in preseason play.

The Cascadia Summit will be held in Tukwila, Wash., at Starfire Sports Stadium. On back-to-back days, Portland faces Seattle on Friday at 7:30 p.m., before taking on Vancouver on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Timbers’ Cascadia Summit matches will be streamed live online at www.portlandtimbers.com, with streaming beginning approximately 20 minutes prior to kickoff. Each team will provide one host for their match broadcasts. A live radio broadcast of Friday’s contest against Sounders FC will air on 95.5 The Game.

Since returning from a 10-day camp in Casa Grande, Ariz., the team resumed their training regimen at the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation complex in Beaverton. The opening of the 2011 Major League Soccer season is just under three weeks away, with the Timbers’ First Kick on March 19 in Colorado.

In Week 6 of preseason, the Timbers training group has undergone some changes. Traveling back to Portland with the team were non-roster forwards Jorge Perlaza and Brian Umony. No longer training with the team are midfielders Roberto Merino and Tony McManus and forward Doug DeMartin. The lone new face in camp is midfielder Bim Ogunyemi, who played for the club’s development team in 2010.

Upcoming Schedule: Feb. 28-March 5
Friday, March 4 – Preseason match vs. Seattle Sounders FC at Starfire Sports Stadium; 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 5 – Preseason match vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Starfire Sports Stadium; 4 p.m.

UPDATE: Timbers add San Jose Earthquakes to preseason schedule
The Timbers have added a scrimmage against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, March 12, at Buck Shaw Stadium to their preseason schedule. The scrimmage between the two clubs will not be open to the public.

Related: 

Notebook: Cascadia

Johnson talks rivalry

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By Jeff Carlisle 
ESPN.com
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Jonathan Ferrey/Getty ImagesThe Portland Timbers are hoping that scoring goals will be the team's best form of defense.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- With less than three weeks to go until the start of the MLS regular season, the heat is on Portland Timbers general manager Gavin Wilkinson, although you'd never know it by looking at him.

In the bowels of PGE Park, which is currently being renovated, the temperature in Wilkinson's office isn't much warmer than the damp, cold air outside. As a consequence, the winter jacket he's wearing is zipped all the way up to his neck. Adding to the chill is the knowledge that top draft pick Darlington Nagbe is set to undergo hernia surgery and will miss most of the last of preseason.

Yet Wilkinson's mood is surprisingly upbeat. In his quest to build the Timbers' roster, he's just acquired versatile midfielder Jack Jewsbury from Kansas City, bolstering Portland's thin corps of central midfielders.

"The squad looks a little bit better having [Jewsbury] penciled in," he said. There's more. Owner Merritt Paulson has let it slip that the Timbers have an offer on the table for what could be the team's first designated player. While it wouldn't be the first time in MLS history that a team has made noises about a DP only to have such hopes evaporate later, Wilkinson insists -- without naming the player -- that the offer is very real.

"We are excited about it, but also apprehensive and nervous," said Wilkinson of the potential signing. "It's not a typical DP in many ways; it's not somebody that's a big name. It's somebody we've gone after because we've watched him live three times, on video six or seven times, and we've fallen in love with this player. Now it's a matter of how do we go about getting him, and ultimately is it worth it? Merritt has given us his backing and put a lot of faith in our judgment, and that's both on [manager] John Spencer and I. Now it's a matter of will it come off? If it does we will have added a phenomenal piece to the puzzle."

Adding pieces, regardless of their position on the field, has been the approach of Wilkinson and Spencer from the beginning. It's never been about focusing on attack or defense.

[+] Enlarge

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty ImagesTop draft pick Darlington Nagbe is set to undergo hernia surgery, but once he recovers he should provide a dynamic attacking presence on the left wing.

"Our philosophy is that whatever quality becomes available, we couldn't turn our nose up at it," Spencer said. "I think people get the wrong idea of it, the wrong mentality. They're thinking that we're looking to build from the front just because on the first day of announcements we announced Ryan Pore, Bright Dikeand Eddie Johnson, and everybody's like 'Oh, Spencer's going to build from the [front].' I think we're pretty solid. If we can find more additions in any part of the field, we wouldn't turn our nose up at it."

The job of building the Timbers has been complicated by the fact that the perceived hard part -- acquiring enough attacking players to threaten teams at the start of the season -- has gone better than expected. Nagbe, assuming he recovers, should provide a dynamic attacking presence on the left wing, and inKenny Cooper, the Timbers have a striker capable of winning matches on his own. Sal Zizzo, acquired from Chivas USA just last week, has shown signs that he could give the team some balance on the right flank.

But the holes in the team's roster become more apparent as one moves closer to the Portland goal. The center of midfield, despite the addition of Jewsbury, could still use some shoring up. The center of defense is surrounded with questions as well. There aren't many experienced options beyond presumed starters Eric Brunner and Kevin Goldthwaite, neither of whom is the fleetest of foot. Granted, the team has conceded only once in four exhibition games against MLS opposition, but there is an inherent danger in reading too much into preseason results.

Wilkinson knows this well, and said he's still looking to reinforce these two areas. But he also insisted that the team won't need to rely solely on its defense during the opening weeks as the attack tries to establish some chemistry.

"We are an attack-minded team," he said. "You can see that from the pieces we've put together. We want to and expect to score goals, and I think scoring goals gives breathing room. We've tried to create a balance. I don't think the back line will have to carry us. I think maybe one or two players will have to have big games."

Otherwise, Wilkinson really will feel the heat.

News and notes

Onstad finding his comfort zone: Two weeks into his "comeback," D.C. United goalkeeper Pat Onstad is beginning to feel like himself again. After starter Steve Cronin suffered a broken left wrist, and with backup Bill Hamid still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, United was left with just one healthy goalkeeper in rookie Joe Willis. That forced them to turn to Onstad, who thought he had put his playing days behind him when he retired during the offseason.

"I'm getting there physically," he said via telephone. "Fortunately, I've always been pretty active, so for those two months I was pretty much doing something in the gym or playing basketball in the gym or running. But my sharpness and my strength in my legs isn't there. It's coming, though. I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to feel comfortable with where I am."

Yet for Onstad, an even bigger challenge has been the transition from coach back to player.

He added: "The toughest part for me was being told, 'We want you to play,' when I had already really enjoyed the coaching part. I just wanted to make sure that was still there for me regardless of how I perform or how things go in the playing position. That was the toughest thing to wrap my head around."

Onstad indicated that he's on a month-to-month contract, and is expected to start United's opener against the Columbus Crew on March 19. Any involvement beyond that will depend on how soon the likes of Hamid and Cronin will return to health. Willis has impressed as well, and may assume the backup spot behind either Cronin or Hamid, hastening Onstad's return to the coaching ranks.

"There are a lot of different scenarios that could or could not take place, so we'll just have to play it game by game," he said.

Quakes earn their Spur: For once, it appears as though a partnership between an MLS club and a foreign side might generate something beyond a news release. According to a published report, the San Jose Earthquakes are hoping to sign 23-year-old Tottenham Hotspur reserve Simon Dawkins on loan.

San Jose manager Frank Yallop told The San Jose Mercury News, "Simon wants to do it; Tottenham wants to do it. Hopefully we'll have some good news soon."

It was in October 2008 that the two teams first announced their partnership, and not much was expected, especially after Damien Comolli -- a close friend of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane -- was axed as Tottenham's sporting director just weeks after the deal was signed. But to be fair, the partnership has endured, despite the Los Angeles Galaxy recently forming what they called "a strategic alliance" with Tottenham. The Quakes have twice made the trek to London, while Spurs played a friendly against San Jose this past summer. Now San Jose will be hoping that Dawkins can be a creative force and enhance the play of Bobby Convey and Chris Wondolowski.

"[Dawkins] drifts around and gets on the ball a lot," Yallop said. "He's clean, he doesn't lose the ball. He's difficult to pick up."

Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN.com. He is also the author of "Soccer's Most Wanted II: The Top 10 Book of More Glorious Goals, Superb Saves and Fantastic Free-Kicks." He can be reached at eljefe1@yahoo.com.

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/columnist/carlisle_jeff/id/6175005/portland-timbers-fielding-team-built-attack-first-mls-season

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