Sports stats



MLS Portland Timbers

Timbers Advance to U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 with 3-1 Win Over Orange County SC

April 27, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Portland Timbers News Release


PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland Timbers advanced to the Round of 32 in the 2023 Lamar U.S. Open Cup with a 3-1 victory over USL-side Orange County SC on Wednesday night at Providence Park. Marvin Loría, Tyler Clegg and Jaroslaw Niezgoda registered goals to help Portland to its third round match victory. The Timbers date and opponent for their Round of 32 match will be decided tomorrow, April 27, with the next round slated to take place on May 9 and May 10.

U.S. Open Cup History

Tonight's match marked Portland's 36th match in the U.S. Open Cup, dating back to 2004, and was the club's first match against Orange County SC in the competition. The Timbers have a record of 20-16-0 in the competition and are 10-7-0 when playing at home. Portland's match against OCSC ended a streak of 15 consecutive Open Cup matches against MLS opponents - the longest such streak by an MLS team in the competition.

Tonight's Notables

Marvin Loría scored his first goal of 2023. Niezgoda tallied his second goal and first assist of the year. On short-term loans from T2, Noel Caliskan and Clegg made their Timbers debuts. Clegg, the club's 2023 MLS SuperDraft third-round pick, scored his first goal for the club in his 90-minute performance. Pablo Bonilla tallied his first assist of the year. Hunter Sulte recorded his first appearance of 2023 and the third of his Timbers career, making five saves in the match.

The Return of Blanco

Sebastián Blanco made his first appearance in eight months after battling a knee injury toward the end of the 2022 regular season, logging 34 minutes in his 2023 debut. The last time Blanco played in a match for the Timbers was against Real Salt Lake on Sept. 10, 2022, playing 16 minutes as a second-half substitute. Blanco has made eight U.S. Open Cup appearances (7 starts) for Portland all time.

Goal-Scoring Plays

POR - Marvin Loría (Jaroslaw Niezgoda), 37th minute: Niezgoda dribbled through a group of OCSC defenders at the top of the 18-yard box and slipped the ball to Loría, who set himself up and hit a left-footed shot into the lower right side of the goal.

POR - Tyler Clegg (Pablo Bonilla), 48th minute: From outside of the box on the right side, Bonilla curled a diagonal ball to the far post. Clegg jumped and finished the play with a header

OCSC - Milan Iloski (Thomas Amang), 54th minute: At the top-left corner of the 18-yard box, Thomas Amang slipped a ball near the top of the six-yard box for Iloski, who dribbled and hit a right-footed shot into the right side of the goal.

POR - Jaroslaw Niezgoda, 90+2 minute: Justin Rasmussen challenged OCSC goalkeeper Cody Cropper for an aerial ball that bounced between his legs. Niezgoda pounced on the loose ball and passed it into the back of the net.

Notes:

Tonight's match marked Portland's 36th match in the U.S. Open Cup, dating back to 2004.

The Timbers have a record of 20-16-0 in the competition and 13-9-0 in the club's MLS era.

Portland is 10-7-0 when playing U.S. Open Cup matches at home.

The match marked the first between the Timbers and USL-side Orange County SC.

The match ended a streak of 15 consecutive Open Cup matches against MLS opponents for the club, which was the longest by an MLS team in the competition.

Portland will play in the Round of 32 on either May 9 or May 10. The date and opponent of Portland's next U.S. Open Cup match will be decided tomorrow, April 27.

Loría scored his first goal of 2023.

Niezgoda recorded his second goal and first assist of 2023.

Clegg, signed on a short-term loan from T2, scored his first goal with the club in his debut, registering his first start and logging 90 minutes.

Clegg was drafted by the Timbers in the third round (85th overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.

Bonilla registered his first assist of the year, making his third appearance in 2023.

Blanco made his first appearance in eight months after battling a knee injury toward the end of the 2022 regular season, logging 34 minutes.

The last time Blanco played a match for the Timbers was against Real Salt Lake on Sept. 10, 2022, playing 16 minutes as a second-half substitute.

Caliskan, on loan from T2, made his debut for the Timbers.

Sulte recorded his first appearance of the year with the first team and third of his career.

Griffith tallied his second appearance for the Timbers. He debuted during the 2022 Open Cup, recording 66 minutes in Portland's loss to LAFC on the road on May 10.

Loría led the Timbers in shots with four.

Next game

The Timbers will return to league play on Saturday, April 29, facing St. Louis CITY at CITYPARK. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. (Pacific) at CITYPARK and will be streamed live on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app in English and Spanish as well as local radio broadcasts, 750 The Game (English) and La GranD 1150AM/93.5 FM (Spanish).

Check out the Portland Timbers Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from April 27, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central