NSC Stars Draw Portland Timbers on the Road in Front of 15,418
NSC Stars 2-2 Portland Timbers
The Minnesota Stars pulled out another road draw against the Portland Timbers on Wednesday evening in front of a packed house of 15,418 at PGE Park. Considering the Stars had to play in front of a crowd that must have MLS officials drooling for next season, the come-from-behind draw was impressive.
The Stars scored first in the 24th minute when Andrei Gotsmanov flipped a ball up and over the defensive offside trap. The ball was perfectly placed and timed for Ely Allen who was rushing in from the right side and into the box. Allen never allowed the ball to touch the ground, hitting an outside of the foot volley shot past Portland keeper Steve Cronin and into the back of the net to put Minnesota into the lead 1-0.
While the Timbers had the better run of play, Minnesota held tight until the dying moments of the second half that saw a brilliant effort by Portland forward Bright Dike, who slammed the ball past Stars keeper Joe Warren.
Portland came out of the second half with the same momentum they left with in the first half, attacking and causing Minnesota’s defense problems. So much so that Dike got behind Stars defender Scott Lorenz in the box, who then fouled the Portland forward from behind. Lorenz seemed to be in danger of being red-carded as the last defender and a goal scoring opportunity for Dike. But referee Yader Reyes only awarded a PK and the Stars sighed a breath of relief keeping 11 men on the field. Ryan Pore, who assisted on the first Timbers goal, converted the spot kick and put Portland up 2-1.
But just a minute later in the 64th minute, Ian Joy of the Timbers came in hard on a tackle causing the ref to this time pull out his red card and issue it to the Portland midfielder. Stars coach Manny Lagos was also thrown out of the game as he threw his jacket down onto the turf after the foul. Lagos seemed to be arguing with the 4th official that his coat had landed in the technical area whilst the 4th official was telling Reyes it had landed on the field. Assistant coach Carl Craig took over the duties and subbed in Simone Bracalello who had been warming up before the incident.
The man advantage seemed to motivate the Stars and when the Italian came in he was seen talking to other Stars players and pointing to his forehead meaning he wanted the ball passed to him in the air. It was foretelling as Bracalello first forced a corner by taking a wicked side winding over the head shot to the upper right corner that Cronin just barely saved. Then on the ensuing corner kick, Bracalello out jumped the Portland defense and nailed a header just under the crossbar from 10 yards out. The corner was taken by Gotsmanov giving him two assists for the night.
The game stayed tied at 2 and Minnesota was able to hold onto the draw. It was a physical contest with 36 fouls in the match, 18 apiece with three yellow cards and one ejection. Portland had the shot advantage 12-8 but shots on goal were even with each keeper making 3 saves.
The Stars tie with Portland was their fifth straight draw and extends its unbeaten streak to six games. Minnesota is now 7-9-7, with 28pts, still tied with the Timbers for the 3rd place spot in the USL Conference.
The Stars return home Saturday night for a 7 p.m. match against the Vancouver Whitecaps at NSC Stadium in Blaine, Minn. The Stars are 0-1-1 against the Whitecaps this season after two games in British Columbia. Portland travels to Missouri to take on AC St. Louis on Saturday.
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15,418! Why do the Timbers draw like that?
Your other options in Portland are…….? No NFL, no MLB (they have a minor league team), no NHL, no major college, etc…. On a smaller scale the same reason that Des Moines and Austin draw well. Portland is a pretty good size city with the corresponding amount of disposable income. That doesn’t explain all of their success as that would be a disservice to their team marketing prowess, on field accomplishments, and overall stability, but IMO it’s a huge factor.
Going to a Timbers game is an ‘experience’ … I’ve done it (vs Milwaukee several years ago). Their supporters section is on par with any other in the US (yes, S8Chicago, included). It is amazing what the rest of the crowd will gain in their match day experience when there is a rabid core of devoted fans … something that we have tried to grow with varying degrees of succes. Success: 2005 season and US Open Cup run. Not so much: fixtures during World Cup years. Peace and futbol.
COME ON YOU STARS (and fans).
They’re also a team who have been around in some form or another for 30-some odd years. They’ve got a real history in a place that has a great reputation for being a soccer city. There are only a few soccer teams left that parents can tell their kids they grew up watching too–you can’t PAY for that kind of marketing.
Portland has always been on the forefront of soccer on the west coast.
Pore should have received a yellow very early on in the match. Good soccer player, but he seems to have quite the attitude.
From what I have seen, the Stars stubs have been doing what they must do–make a difference in the match. Bracalello’s goal was fantastic. I swear he was a foot above everyone else when he struck the ball off of his head. I also enjoyed watching Allen play last night. I would like to see him get more playing time.
In “font” of – what was the font, Comic Sans?
How did I miss that and no one else pointed it out to me. Just for that Si, you get a free Comic Sans font downloadable from any Microsoft platform.
Doesn’t hurt that their stadium is in the middle of downtown Portland, along with tremendous public transportation options which literally drop you off at the stadium’s doorstep…
Neal: I think you’ve been another time, too; or have you forgotten already?
An excerpt from a Portland Timbers article from Oregon Live from June 10, 2004. The man from MN in the article is none other than the Neal who wrote about the experience on the 3rd comment of this post.
“A man who was visiting the section from Minnesota and whose face was now bright red with drink, began to repeat “Di -ving head-er!” “Di-ving head-er!” over and over again, until the man next to me threatened to take a diving header off the dugout if he didn’t stop. Things were looking hopeless.
And then in the second half, in the 65th minute, a young player named Alan Gordon headed the ball into Milwaukee’s net. Diving header man looked smug. I was trying to write this development down in my notebook when all of a sudden I went blind. A thick, lung-searing cloud of smoke had enveloped the section. I looked down and, amid the dancing feet, spotted a smoke bomb fizzing in a tin pail filled with sand. At least they are practicing responsible hooliganism, I thought. Then I heard the fire alarm go off.”
If you want to read the whole article you can do so here: http://is.gd/ef6c1