Palace Baltimore Face Tough Test in Portland

Published on May 12, 2010 under U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 (USSF D-2)
Crystal Palace Baltimore News Release


Baltimore, MD - After earning their first point of the season in Vancouver on Saturday night, Crystal Palace Baltimore continue their marathon road trip as they face another MLS-bound club, the Portland Timbers Thursday night at 7:00pm PST (10:00pm EST) at PGE Park.

The Oregon outfit have the best winning percentage of any team in the USSF D-2 Pro League at this early stage of the season, with three victories, one draw and no defeats. The Timbers also boast the league's top scorer in Ryan Pore, who has netted six times in those four games, a feat that earned the former Kansas City Wizard the League's inaugural Player of the Month award for April.

"We know Portland's going to be good," remarked Palace Baltimore head coach Jim Cherneski. "They always get a good sized crowd so it'll be a great atmosphere for us to play in. As long as we maintain our discipline like we did against Vancouver, we have a decent chance of getting a result. We've been working on some things in training and the guys have been really committed to it, so I'm excited about the game."

One factor that could work in Palace's favor is the lack of competitive playing time for Portland - their last league fixture was a 2-1 win over cross-border rival Vancouver back on April 29th.

Baltimore will be looking to convert some of the many chances they've been generating every game. The lack of finishing has resulted in just a single goal in four matches, that coming from Mathew Mbuta via the penalty spot against Puerto Rico on April 24th.

Palace didn't create as many clear goalscoring opportunities in Vancouver as they had in previous outings, perhaps in part due to the absence of Brazilian playmaker and captain Neto. He was thousands of miles away at his wife's side, awaiting the birth of their third child. Gabriela was born yesterday in Pensacola, Florida - mother and child are both happy and healthy. Dad, meanwhile, will rejoin his teammates today in Portland and is expected to see playing time against the Timbers on Thursday.

Two of those Baltimore teammates will feel quite at home at PGE Park - Takuro Nishimura and Chase Harrison played for Portland in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

On the injury front, Shaun Pejic won't be available for tomorrow's match due to a mild concussion sustained in the nasty clash of heads with Vancouver's Greg Janicki on Saturday. The club is hopeful that the Welsh center back will be able to return to the lineup for the following game at Austin. Dan Lader suffered a minor ankle strain against the Whitecaps but he's expected to be fine to face Portland.

Live video of Saturday's match will be streamed on the web beginning shortly before kickoff. Palace Baltimore fans can watch either on the club's video page - live.palacebaltimore.com - or on the Timbers' website - www.portlandtimbers.com.

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U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 Stories from May 12, 2010


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