—by Chris Rifer

Well, so much for taking the U.S. Open Cup crown. On Tuesday night the Timbers fell 1-0 in extra time to the San Jose Earthquakes in a match almost as pretty as Carlos Tevez. Portland, fielding a squad of almost entirely reserves, played a pretty even match that was long on sloppy play in the midfield and short on genuine scoring chances.

For the majority of regulation, the Timbers played on level terms with a San Jose side consisting of four starters, arguably including San Jose’s two best players, Bobby Convey and Chris Wondolowski. The match was about as ugly as they come, featuring 45 fouls called and 8 yellow cards issued.

For the most part, the chances that presented themselves were less than golden, and even when an opportunity presented itself, both sides lacked the finishing quality to put something on the scoreboard.

As the match progressed, the Timbers appeared to lose their legs a little bit, as the midfield and backline that had been strong throughout the match started yielding runs in behind them and struggled to clear crosses.

The Quakes appeared to break through in the first extra time period when Steven Lenhart nodded home a corner. As it turned out he didn’t so much nod home the corner as punch it home, with the referee disallowing the goal and awarding a yellow card for a blatant handball in the box.

In the 120^th minute, just as it appeared the resilient Timbers Army would be rewarded for their patience with penalty kicks at the North End, Ike Opara took a cross from Sam Cronin and headed it into the lower right corner past a diving Troy Perkins.

While the loss eliminated Portland from U.S. Open Cup competition, the match provided the Timbers an opportunity to give their starters a bit of rest before Friday’s crucial match against Philadelphia Union and give the reserves valuable experience in a meaningful game.

Match Observations

• The decision to play reserves is certainly one to have rankled much of the Army. Personally, though, I don’t mind the decision to focus on league play this year. Portland’s early success at home has suggested that if the Timbers can get a few results on the road, they may be in a place to contend for a playoff spot. This has to be the top priority. If you want to be able to both get a playoff spot and compete for a U.S. Open Cup crown, you need depth across the field. Your best XI simply can’t play that many matches and have the legs to make a playoff run. While there certainly is an anything-Seattle-can-do-Portland-can-do-better sort of motivation to the Open Cup, I think it is worth mentioning that Seattle, in spite of their Open Cup and regular season success, has only scored one goal in four postseason matches (a meaningless goal last year in a rout in L.A.) and has never advanced beyond the first round. I don’t think that is the kind of fate we would like for our boys. When the Timbers can build up enough depth to be able to get rest for starters on a consistent basis while also competing in the Open Cup, then I think placing a bit more importance on these games makes sense. Until then, I don’t mind using it to get some younger players some run, even if that comes at the cost of truly competing.
• I thought the defense did an admirable job containing Wondo and Convey throughout the match. Those guys, especially Convey, weren’t lacking for time with the ball at their feet, but when they did get it they found little room to operate.
• It was a little bit disappointing to see so many empty seats on the east side. In the future I think the FO needs to consider more heavily discounting U.S. Open Cup games for season ticket holders to encourage more regulars to come out, or further reducing single game prices for the Open Cup.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 5.5 Nothing he could be expected to do about the goal, and provided the senior leadership for a backline that acquitted itself nicely. Is still struggling in distribution, though, as again several of his balls sailed out of bounds.

Steve Purdy, 5.5 His appearance on the left side of the defense foreshadows his role for the time being: defensive super-sub. The guy has played a lot on the right, now some on the left, and last year even a little bit in the middle. Showed reasonably well last night, even if he was a bit nondescript.

David Horst, 6 It looks like Horst is getting close to full health. Because of his extended duty on Tuesday, we probably won’t see much of him Friday, but once fully healthy and recovered from Tuesday’s marathon, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him back in the starting XI.

Kevin Goldthwaite, 5 Did alright wearing the armband, but at this point it’s hard not to think that barring injury he doesn’t have a ton to offer the first team. Had a few adventuresome clearances, but didn’t make any huge mistakes.

Freddie Braun, 6 Had an impressive showing on the right side. Gets a lot of the credit for keeping Convey quiet, was reliable in defense, and did fairly well when he looked to get forward. It may take a year or two more of development, but I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point we see him challenging to get some first team minutes either in the midfield or at right back.

Rodrigo Lopez, 4 He is still young, and at times you can see flashes of the potential, but right now he really is still a free kick specialist.

Adam Moffat, 5.5 There were points in the early going where he looked like the best man on the pitch. He was active in the midfield, cutting out balls and launching the attack. Petered out in the second half a bit though, likely due to lack of fitness, and looked dead on his feet by the end of extra time.

James Marcelin, 5 Classic Marcelin game. Held pretty well, made a couple nice passes, made a few needless giveaways.

Sal Zizzo, 5.5 I like Sal a lot when he makes runs into the interior. Basically, like a little bit more skilled Ryan Pore. Linked up pretty well with Braun for a lot of the evening, and until he ran out of gas looked like the Timbers most dangerous player in the attack.

Ryan Pore, 4.5 It’s been a rough beginning to the season for Ryan. Had some chances early on and failed to make much of it. Just doesn’t look terribly confident on the ball, and disappeared up front for much of the match.

Spencer Thompson, 5 I like what he brings when he is operating in the middle of the field looking to go at goal, but he really struggles to send in crosses when he gets wide. If he wants to be a contributor at this level he is going to have to figure that out, but he certainly looks to be an interesting prospect.

Futty, 5.5 Came in as the Quakes were starting to find themselves in the attack a little bit (largely due to tired Timbers legs). Did well to hold down the back line along with Horst.

Jeremy Hall, 5 Came on in the second extra time period, but didn’t make much of an impact. In fact, considering there were a couple set pieces near goal in that time, the team probably missed RoRo in that spot a little bit, even though Hall provides much more in the run of play.

Darlington Nagbe, 4.5 Didn’t have many opportunities to make an impact, but the few that he had he seemed to be struggling with his touch a bit. Frankly, I don’t think he expected to play and simply wasn’t ready to do so.