Timbers battle to a draw with New England

The Portland Timbers took to the pitch with plenty of confidence last Thursday for their meeting with the New England Revolution, especially considering the team was coming into the game fresh off a loss. Though the Timbers extended their unbeaten streak in the MLS last weekend on the road against Sporting Kansas City, they were taken down on Wednesday by an unlikely opponent—a youth soccer league team called The Green Machine.

The Green Machine was led by a young boy named Atticus Lane-Dupre, who is suffering from cancer and whose wish was to play a game against his favorite professional soccer club. After the scrimmage, which The Green Machine won 10-9, Atticus and the rest of the team were invited to attend Thursday’s game in a suite at Jeld-Wen Field. Even as the stadium filled with noise in anticipation for the showdown against New England, The Green Machine players could be heard singing the name of their teammate above it all.

Portland came out strong in front of the 20,674 fans in attendance, marking their 39th consecutive home sellout. The Timbers forced the action in the opening minutes, advancing into the Revolution’s box on a number of occasions, but New England refused to be intimidated, pushing right back and going on the attack whenever they found an opening.

The tug-of-war continued all the way into halftime. Portland held possession for 68 percent of the first half and had nearly twice as many attempts as their opponents, but the Revolution were more efficient, matching the Timbers with two shots on goal.

Portland’s Ryan Johnson got a good look at a goal in the 52nd minute but was repelled by Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. The ball then rolled slowly to the edge of the goal line, and Shuttleworth dove on top of it as Johnson lunged in for another attempt. In the 81st minute, Portland midfielder Diego Valeri missed a goal by inches after losing four defenders to get the opportunity.

Ricketts pulled off a fingertip save three minutes later, waking up the frustrated Timbers Army. Both defenses held their ground in the final minutes, and the Timbers kept their unbeaten streak alive with a 0-0 draw. Following the game, head coach Caleb Porter was disappointed but tried to maintain some perspective about the result.

“Well, it’s not what we wanted,” Porter said. “We expected to win, like we expect to win every game…[But] this is soccer—there are games when you just can’t find
the goal.”

Next up for the Timbers is a road matchup against FC Dallas, the No. 1 ranked team in the MLS Western Conference, scheduled for May 8 at 6 p.m.