—by Chris Rifer
The 2013 U.S. Open Cup opener for the Portland Timbers couldn’t have been more different from 2012’s humiliating loss to Cal FC.
The Timbers scored early and often on Wednesday night, as Portland cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL Pro.
The party started in earnest in the second minute, when Will Johnson’s corner found Frederic Piquionne all alone at the far post for an easy finish. What the Timbers couldn’t do in 120 minutes in 2012, they did in two in 2013.
Fifteen minutes later, the Frenchman was at it again. This time it was Michael Harrington who picked Piquionne out at the mouth of goal, where the veteran nodded clinically past Tony Hernandez, Wilmington’s helpless keeper.
The Hammerheads weren’t without chances, though. In the 27th minute Daniel Steres gathered a ball 25 yards out in the center of the field and unleashed a wicked volley that flew just wide of the far post.
Piquionne would ensure this one never got close, however, as in the 34th minute he capped his hat trick when Kalif Alhassan put him though on goal with a chipped return pass, and Frederic hit a bouncing ball first time that beat Hernandez and nestled into the side netting.
Three minutes later, however, Wilmington twice came close to pulling one back. In the 38th minute, Kyle Greig—who tormented the Timbers’ backline all night—got head to a corner at the mouth of goal. The ball slipped under Milos Kocic’s feet, but the stand-in keeper sat on the ball to keep it from crossing the line.
Greig nearly found the net again seconds later, when the Benedictine College alumnus got a diving head to a cross coming from deep on the right wing, but Kocic was there once again to push wide.
There was once again nothing Hernandez could do to keep Piquionne out in first half stoppage, however. After Will Johnson whipped yet another set piece into the box, Piquionne got a driving head to the ball and buried his fourth in the far corner. Forty-five minutes, five shots, four goals.[1]
From there, the match played out as casually as the 2012 version was desperate.
Wilmington got their goal in the 61st minute when Paul Nicholson juggled an uncleared corner and hit a magnificent overhead volley past Kocic and into the net. But the match was long gone for the game Hammerheads, and nothing they could do at that point could dampen spirits at Jeld-Wen Field.
On a night that symbolized a reversal of fortunes for the Timbers, it is only appropriate that the longest-serving Portland man would get himself on the scoresheet. And perhaps even more appropriate that it was assisted by the most influential of the new generation of Timbers.
In the 73rd minute, Will Johnson sent another perfect delivery to the far post where Futty nodded it down, past two confused Hammerheads defenders, and into the North End goal.
Oh, what a difference a year makes.
Onward, Rose City!
[1] Piquionne’s four goals on five shots was not the most efficient multiple goal performance by a Timber in 2012. That distinction still belongs to Ryan Johnson, who was a perfect three-for-three against San Jose in preseason. Accordingly, although I’m not doing a full set of grades due to the late night, Piquionne falls just short of Johnson’s perfect 10 with a 9.5.
