USL United Soccer League Championship

Double Dose of T2-S2 Clash Starting in USL's Week 10

May 22, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL) News Release


TAMPA, Fla. - The Cascadia clash between the Portland Timbers 2 and Seattle Sounders FC 2 will be in full swing during the next week in regular-season play and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Friday's USL matchup will be an important one for both sides entering Week 10 as T2 tries to get back in the upper half of the Western Conference standings and S2 aims to retake the conference lead.

Elsewhere, Toronto FC II makes its home debut after opening the season with a lengthy eight-game road trip. TFC II hosts Eastern Conference leaders the Rochester Rhinos on Saturday at BMO Field.

GAMES TO WATCH

Portland Timbers 2 vs. Seattle Sounders FC 2

Friday, 10 p.m. ET, Merlo Field

The Pacific Northwest will enjoy a double dose of this Cascadia rivalry during the next week. Before T2 and S2 clash in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on May 27, they meet for the second time in USL regular-season play on Friday. Portland opened the season with a pair of wins but has hit a bit of a rough patch with a 1-3-2 record since. Early during that stretch was a 2-1 loss to Seattle on April 11 at Starfire Stadium. Portland's Harrison Delbridge gave his side a 1-0 lead heading into the half, but S2 battled back with Pablo Rossi and Giuliano Frano tallies in the second 45. Portland is 2-1-0 in home games and 2-0-0 at Merlo. Seattle's road woes will be brought under the microscope once again as S2 heads into the game with a 0-3-1 record away from Starfire. Seattle (5-3-1, 16 points) is two points behind Western Conference-leading Sacramento Republic FC while T2 is seventh (3-3-2, 11 points) but could make a significant jump pending a win. Both teams will be without a player because of national team duty. Portland's Fatawu Safiu was named to Ghana's U-23 roster for the 2015 CAF U-23 Championship qualifiers and Seattle's Oalex Anderson was called into the St. Vincent and the Grenadines national team for Olympic qualifying. (Preview; Video Preview)

Toronto FC II vs. Rochester Rhinos

Saturday, 8 p.m. BMO Field

Eleven USL teams have already played five or more games on their home pitches this season. Toronto FC II finally gets to enjoy its first home match on Saturday. TFC II has opened its first campaign with a 2-5-1 stretch on the road, with one of the biggest highlights being a 2-1 victory at Saint Louis FC on May 14. However, that was followed up by its largest defeat, a 4-0 loss to Louisville City FC on May 16. Toronto welcomes in the Eastern Conference leaders as the Rhinos try to maintain their unbeaten run. Rochester is 6-0-3 (21 points) and has gone 4-0-3 on the road. TFC II has only mustered nine goals this season in 15 games, so it will be a challenge breaking through a Rhinos defense that has surrendered just four goals all season. (Preview)

Saint Louis FC vs. Louisville City FC

Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET, World Wide Technology Soccer Park

The Eastern Conference's two most successful expansion teams to date will face each other for the second time this season. Saint Louis (3-3-1) looks to rebound from a 2-1 home loss to Toronto FC II last week, and Louisville City (4-1-3) enters in the midst of its best two-game stretch of the year - back-to-back, dominant shutout victories against Wilmington Hammerheads FC (3-0) and Toronto FC II (4-0). City and Saint Louis made their respective USL debuts against each other, with Louisville earning a 2-0 victory at Louisville Slugger Field on goals by Magnus Rasmussen and Charlie Adams.

NEWS AND NOTES

- The Charleston Battery (5-1-3) host the Charlotte Independence (2-3-2) on Saturday at Blackbaud Stadium. Charleston is in the midst of a 14-game home unbeaten streak (10-0-4) at Blackbaud, with the last loss being a 1-0 defeat against Wilmington on May 10, 2014. During this stretch, the Battery have outscored their opponents 29-11.

- Rochester leads the USL with five shutouts, followed by three teams that have four clean sheets - Louisville City FC, the Richmond Kickers and Sacramento Republic FC. Individually, Sacramento's Patrick McLain and Louisville's Scott Goodwin lead the USL with all four of their teams' shutouts.

- The Richmond Kickers (4-1-4) face the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2-3-3) on Saturday. It marks the 34th matchup between the two sides, with the Kickers holding a 17-7-9 record all-time in the series. The contest will also be the 100th game in the USL's 2015 regular season.

- It remains to be seen if Pittsburgh starting goalkeeper Ryan Thompson will be available against Richmond as he is dealing with a recent back injury. The good news for the Riverhounds is that they have some reinforcement with backup Ryan Hulings. Though he has yet to make his USL debut, Hulings manned the net during the Riverhounds' 3-0 victory against the West Virginia Chaos in Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup match.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Every game of the 2015 USL season can be seen live, free and in HD on YouTube (www.Youtube.com/USL), with updates from throughout the league also available via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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