Timbers beat Montreal 2-1, compute what they'll need to make playoffs

Portland figures three wins in final six games would earn postseason berth

By Tony Schick

The Portland Tribune, Aug 16, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

The Portland Timbers got a “huge” win at PGE Park on Saturday night, a triumph born out of what their coach says was desperation.

Behind goals by Bryan Jordan and Chris Brown, the Timbers got their first league win at home since June 28, beating Montreal 2-1.

Portland (6-8-10) moved up to seventh place in the standings at 28 points. Montreal (7-10-4) is ninth with 25 points but has nine games remaining to six for the Timbers. The top seven finishers make the playoffs.

“It’s a three points that we were desperate for. Hopefully now that’s motivation on to bigger and better things,” Portland coach Gavin Wilkinson says.

“This win is huge, man, huge,” midfielder Leonard Griffin says.

The Impact controlled the ball for much of the first 45 minutes and edged the Timbers in shots 6-3 and corner kicks 4-2 in the first half. But Portland had a few close chances, including a shot by midfielder Lawrence Olum and a breakaway by Jordan on a through ball from Byron Alvarez. On the play, Jordan had a one-on-one with Impact goalie Andrew Weber but lost the ball, and Weber won the diving scramble that ensued.

The Timbers took the lead in the 50th minute. After the ball bounced out of a crowd at the goal area to Scot Thompson, the Portland defender sent a line drive toward a leaping Jordan in front of the goal. Jordan’s well-placed header got past Weber’s outstretched hand into the upper left corner of the net.

“I was just waiting for this game,” Jordan says. “I knew we were going to come out and get one of these. I think that’s going to change the way we carry ourselves throughout the season.”

The goal was Jordan’s third in four games since re-joining the Timbers on July 30 on loan from the L.A. Galaxy to help a struggling offense.

“Jordan had a great goal,” Wilkinson says. “He’s been a great addition. He gives us something up top that we didn’t have before. He’s very speedy, he turns bad balls into good balls, he can get behind the defense. There’s a lot of different things he can do, and he causes a lot of problems for the defense.”

Brown gave the Timbers more cushion in the 69th minute. Just after missing a shot, he drilled one past Weber from 30 yards for a 2-0 lead.

“I think Bryan’s goal changed the momentum,” Brown says, “and that’s when we really started to take it to them. So when I got an open look, I thought I’d have a go at it.”

Alvarez says it was “about time” the Timbers offense was rewarded.

“We got those chances, and we finally put them away,” he says.

“I think it’s all about the second half; it’s a huge positive,” Wilkinson says. “We raised the intensity of the game, and we’ve been dying to play like that for a while. I think the guys quickly jogged their memory of what it’s like to work that hard.”

Brown says he talked to his teammates and made sure they knew this was “a playoff game. It needs to have that intensity.”

Adds Brown: “I think it really showed that we were playing for our lives.”

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