Portland Timbers Off-Season Report | Pre-Season Results, Concussion, Game Schedule
February 14, 2012 — PDXPIPELINE
By Will Conwell
Timbers Draw Newcomers Montreal; Beat Houston
On Friday the Portland Timbers faced off against the Montreal Impact in the Timbers second preseason game of the season. Neither team was able to find the net as the match finished at a 0-0 draw. Of note for the Timbers was keeper Joe Bendick who made several strong saves while playing the full 90 minutes of the game.
Trialists Lance Davids, Sebastian Rincon, and Franck Songo'o all saw time on the field, as did draft pick Miguel Ibarra. Songo'o had perhaps the greatest impact on the game as a field player, providing good service from the corners, which the Timbers were unable to convert.
Two days later the Timbers once again took to the field, this time facing John Spencer's former club, the Houston Dynamo. The Timbers managed a 2-0 victory over last year's MLS Cup Runners Up with goals coming from Jack Jewsbury and James Marcelin. Jewsbury's game winner was typical of the Timbers captain who received the ball inside the box and calmly slotted it into the net. Marcelin's goal, his second of the preseason, was a rocket fired from 25 yards out that struck the crossbar before ending up across the line.
Darlington Nagbe made his preseason debut against the Dynamo after being held out of previous preseason games to an ankle injury. Notably, this match saw the Timbers try playing in a 4-5-1 for the first time this season with Bright Dike as the lone man up top. The likely line-up for the Timbers coming into the season is a 4-4-2 to best compliment the skill set of incoming striker Kris Boyd, but it is good to see that the Timbers have some measure of tactical diversity this year.
The Timbers will play one more preseason game in Los Angles against the Chicago Fire on Wednesday before returning to Portland on the 17th.
Eddie Johnson Suffers Concussion
During training last week Timbers forward Eddie Johnson suffered a concussion and has been sent back to Portland for treatment. Johnson, who suffered two concussions last August that caused him to miss the remainder of the season, is out indefinitely. Taylor Twellman, ESPN soccer analyst and former forward for the New England Revolution, is working with Eddie to manage his condition and his future. Twellman, whose playing career was cut short thanks to concussions, recently founded ThinkTaylor.org, a non-for-profit that will work with players who have suffered sports-related concussions.
Preseason Results
2/7 – Portland Timbers vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
2/10 – Portland Timbers vs. Montreal Impact
2/12 – Portland Timbers vs. Houston Dynamo
Upcoming Events
2/15 Preseason – Timbers vs. Chicago Fire in LA
2/17 Timbers Return to Portland to Finish Preseason
2/27 Preseason – Timbers vs. San Jose Earthquakes
3/1 Preseason – Timbers vs. Chivas USA
3/4 Preseason – Timbers vs. AIK
3/12 Season Opener vs. Philadelphia Union on ESPN2
