THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo at Portland Timbers
Saturday, June 20, 9:30 p.m. CT
Providence Park, Portland, Oregon
BROADCAST INFORMATION
ROOT SPORTS - 9:30 p.m. (9 p.m. pregame) CHANNEL LISTINGS
Yahoo Sports Radio 1560 AM - 9:30 p.m. (9 p.m. pregame)
La Ranchera 850 AM / 101.7 FM - 9:30 p.m. (9 p.m. pregame)
PREVIEW
A critical match in the thick of the Western Conference standings chase is ahead when the Portland Timbers play host to the Houston Dynamo on Saturday evening at Providence Park. The teams are separated by just two points in the heart of the West table. The Timbers have put together three consecutive wins for the first time in their MLS history, coming off a 2-0 home win vs. the New England Revolution. The Dynamo snapped a two-game winless run last time out in league play, rolling to a 4-2 win against the New York Red Bulls at BBVA Compass Stadium.
REFEREE: Baldomero Toledo. AR1 (bench): Ian Anderson; AR2 (opposite): Mike Kampmeinert; 4th: Alejandro Mariscal
MLS Career: 194 games; FC/gm: 25.1; Y/gm: 3.5; R: 72; pens: 70
INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of Thursday, June 18)
HOUSTON DYNAMO – DOUBTFUL: Brad Davis – Right knee bone bruise; Boniek García – Left ankle sprain
PORTLAND TIMBERS – OUT: Ben Zemanski – Right ACL surgery; QUESTIONABLE: Dairon Asprilla – ankle sprain; Alvas Powell – hamstring strain; Diego Valeri – ankle sprain
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: HOU: Giles Barnes, Jermaine Taylor (Jamaica; Copa America)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME (6 meetings): Timbers 1 win, 5 goals … Dynamo 3 wins, 8 goals … Ties 2
- AT PORTLAND (2 meetings): Timbers 1 win, 2 goals … Dynamo 1 win, 2 goals … Ties 0
- FUTURE MATCH: 8/21: Portland Timbers vs. Houston Dynamo, 8 p.m. PT (UniMas)
- The teams are meeting for the second time this season. Will Bruin scored a pair of goals and Giles Barnes added a third as the Dynamo eased to a 3-1 victory May 16 at BBVA Compass Stadium.
- The Timbers have won once in six meetings all-time in the series, a 2-0 victory April 6, 2013, the last encounter at Providence Park. The Dynamo won 2-0 in their only other visit to Portland, in 2011. The Dynamo have won two of the four meetings all-time in Houston, with two draws.
- Coaches record: Caleb Porter vs. HOU: P3 W1 L1 D1 … Owen Coyle vs. POR: P1 W1 L0 D0
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo won their second consecutive game on their home ground last time out, gaining a 4-2 victory against the New York Red Bulls on June 5 at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo are in seventh place in the Western Conference with 20 points from 15 matches.
LAST MATCH
- The Red Bulls took the lead after 42 minutes. Mike Grella took a pass from Bradley Wright-Phillips, surged past a Dynamo defender and forced a low, angled shot past Tyler Deric from the edge of the six-yard box.
- The Dynamo pulled level in the 59th minute. Sharp work from Will Bruin two minutes before the hour mark led to an opening for substitute Boniek Garcia on the right side of the box, and his effort took a big deflection off a defender, looping over Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles and into the net.
- The Dynamo surged into the lead in the 72nd minute when Garcia delivered a corner and Ricardo Clark was all alone to side-foot home from the far side of the goal area. Eight minutes later the lead was doubled when Bruin collected a pass from Garcia and smashed a shot from the top of the penalty area that took a slight deflection on its way to goal.
- The Red Bulls pulled a goal back when substitute Anatole Abang scored on a close-range header following a goalmouth scramble, but the Dynamo restored the margin in stoppage time when Clark picked off the ball in midfield and slid a short pass to Bruin, who drove into the box for a left-foot finish from 12 yards.
- Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle made one change to the team that gained a 1-1 draw with New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. Brad Davis came back into the team in place of Boniek Garcia.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-4-1-1): Tyler Deric - Raul Rodriguez, David Horst, Jermaine Taylor, DaMarcus Beasley - Alexander Lopez (Boniek Garcia 46), Luis Garrido, Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis (Rob Lovejoy 66) - Giles Barnes - Will Bruin.
TEAM NEWS
- The Dynamo put an end to a brief two-game winless run with the win against the Red Bulls, their second consecutive at BBVA Compass Stadium after back-to-back home losses.
- Will Bruin scored two goals in a game for the second time in four games and hit for multiple goals in a game for the seventh time in his MLS career. Bruin now has seven goals for the season, tied for third in the MLS Golden Boot standings.
- “I’m not going to pat myself on the back. It’s my job to score goals,” Bruin said. “It’s a game of inches, but one thing I’ve learned throughout my career so far is you’ve got to stay on an even keel. You can’t get too happy when things are going good because then on the other side you’ll be too down on yourself when things are going bad.”
- Said Giles Barnes: “You can tell in his play he’s playing with a lot of confidence. He’s playing to every strength that he’s got right now and everyone knows what he’s capable of. I think coming out of the team gave him a chance to reassess himself and work a little bit harder on stuff and he’s reaping the rewards. He’s a fantastic person, I love playing right behind him. You can ask anyone on the team, he works so hard for us and for me he’s just getting his rewards and we’ve always known that he’s one of the best strikers in the league. His goalscoring record speaks for itself.”
- Ricardo Clark also added a goal, his third of the season, and recorded his first assist of the year. It was the third time in his 10-year MLS career he’s scored a goal and added an assist in the same game, the first since June 3, 2007, when he did it vs. FC Dallas.
- Boniek Garcia scored his second goal of the season and added a pair of assists. It was his second career multiple-assist game, his first since Aug. 3, 2013, when he did it vs. Seattle Sounders FC; they were his first assists this season since March 21.
- It was the second time in his four MLS seasons García has scored at least one goal and recorded at least one assist in the same game. The first came July 15, 2012 vs. D.C. United – his fourth game with the Dynamo.
- “I had a slow start but the last couple of games I’ve felt a little better and I’m satisfied with the way I’ve been playing,” García said. “I felt like I lost rhythm and specifically because of a [right knee] injury and I kind of lost the rhythm and now I feel like I’ve gotten back on that rhythm.”
- The Dynamo scored another goal from a corner kick in the Red Bulls match, their fourth from a corner this season, tied for most in MLS. They have officially scored eight goals from set pieces, leading MLS.
- “We’ve changed it a little bit on set pieces with the way we attack them, and have done some new set pieces,” Davis said. “When you bring some new stuff into the fold, it kind of opens guys' eyes. The biggest thing is, set pieces are all about belief – for and against.” Added David Horst: “I think we’ve been a little more aggressive this year. We know what we want to do in there and we have a lot of confidence right now in the box. That’s the biggest thing, having confidence and knowing that wherever they put the ball there will be someone on the end of it.
- On Wednesday, the Dynamo reached the fifth round of the U.S. Open Cup following a 2-0 win against USL side Austin Aztex at BBVA Compass Stadium. Leonel Miranda scored in the first half and Ricardo Clark hitting for a stoppage-time clincher to send the Dynamo through.
- Here’s the Dynamo team: Joe Willis, Kofi Sarkodie, Raul Rodriguez, AJ Cochran, Corey Ashe; Leonel Miranda, Zach Steinberger (Alexander Lopez 69), Nathan Sturgis, Alex Monteiro (Ricardo Clark 84), Rob Lovejoy; Chandler Hoffman (Mauro Manotas 69)
