June 30, 2010
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – A defensive miscue just before the half and a late second-half header from the doorstep that found the back of the Tacoma net were the nails that closed the coffin on the Tide FC Wednesday, blowing an early 1:0 lead, to lose to the visiting Portland Timbers U23 2:1.
“We got caught,” said Tide FC head coach Gerry Gray.
After a Daniel Gray scoring strike off a penalty kick in the 36th minute to give Tacoma a 1:0 lead, Portland (10-0-0) responded in the 44th. Picking up a loose ball and taking it down the left side of the field into Tacoma’s box, midfielder Paul Ogenyumi found enough separation in the Tide FC defense to send a low dribbling shot to the far back corner of the net past a diving Spencer Richey in goal for Tacoma (7-3-2).
“It was a two-on-one out there on Mark (Conrad), our right back, and he went with the runner and [Ogenyumi] took a few touches inside and he didn’t have any cover him,” said Richey, who finished the night with three saves.
“We didn’t have many wide guys that could come back and help. So when they got those two-on-one numbers outside, we, we were late to help a lotta times and they were able to expose us.”
For the next 36 minutes, all indications were that the match was going to play out to a stalemate until forward Ricky Abrego placed a header off a free kick just outside the box into the back of the net from point-blank range to give the Timbers U23 their game-changing score.
NOTES:
Tacoma’s starting lineup: 18 (GK) Spencer Richey, 23 (D) Mark Conrad, 25 (D) Elliot Morton, 8 (D) Steve Pirotte, 15 (D) Brayton Knapp, 16 (D) Ruben Orozco, 11 (M) Daniel Gray, 6 (M) Chase Tangney, 24 (M) Chris Sanders, 10 (M) Rory Agu, 20 (F) Spencer Schomaker
Portland’s starting lineup: 1 (GK) Jake Gleeson, 12 (D) Matt Drake, 16 (D) Graham Dugoni, 19 (D) Ryan Kawoluk, 6 (D) Brock Granger, 2 (M) Tracy Hasson, 4 (M) Roberto Farfan, 8 (M) Paul Ogenyumi, 17 (M) Freddie Braun, 10 (F) Brent Richards, 20 (F) Brian Ramsey
The Tide FC’s Brayton Knapp picked up a yellow card in the ninth minute…Portland’s Roberto Farfan earned a yellow card in the 32nd minute…Three minutes later, Portland’s Graham Dugoni received a yellow card…The 70th minute saw Tide FC defender Elliot Morton pick up a yellow card…Tacoma’s next home match at Curtis High School Stadium is July 9 against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The game starts at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available at www.tacomatidesports.com and at the stadium on the night of the game.
.JPG)
