Tacoma Defiance returns home, beats Portland 2-1

TACOMA, WASH. – Tacoma Defiance (3-9-2, 11 points) returned to Cheney Stadium Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 win over Portland Timbers 2 (3-12-0, 9 points). Ethan Dobbelaere opened the scoring in the 28^th minute and Azriel Gonzalez put the game out of reach with a goal in the 85^th minute, 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute. Defiance welcomes Sacramento Republic FC to Cheney Stadium in Tacoma this Wednesday, September 30 (7:30 p.m. PT / ESPN+). It is the second to last game of the 2020 USL Championship regular season for Defiance, who finish the campaign with three consecutive home matches. This afternoon’s fixture marked Tacoma’s first match at home since July 18.

Sunday afternoon’s match was the fifth meeting of the season between the two sides, with Tacoma winning the overall season series 3-2-0. Defiance earned a pair of back-to-back wins over Timbers 2 on July 18 and August 3, before Portland responded with two victories at Providence Park earlier this month, culminating in today’s rubber-match at Cheney Stadium.

MATCH SUMMARY

Tacoma Defiance 2 I 1 Portland Timbers 2
Sunday, September 27, 2020

Venue: Cheney Stadium
Referee: Farhad Dadkho
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 65 degrees

SCORING SUMMARY

TAC – Ethan Dobbelaere (Daniel Robles) 28’
TAC – Azriel Gonzalez (Alec Díaz) 85’
POR – Own Goal (Azriel Gonzalez) 87’

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

POR – Jose Anguiano (caution) 43’
POR – Williams Velasquez (caution) 45+1’
POR – Harold Hanson (caution) 62’
POR – Aedan Stanley (caution) 71’
TAC – Christopher Hegardt (caution) 76’

LINEUPS & STATS

Tacoma Defiance – Eric Klenofsky; Antonee Burke-Gilroy, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Taylor Mueller – captain, Alex Villanueva; Chris Hegardt (Chino Pérez 89’), Sota Kitahara, Ray Serrano (Danny Reynolds 89’), Danny Robles (Marlon Vargas 71’), Ethan Dobbelaere (Azriel Gonzalez 75’), Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Alec Díaz 71’)

Substitutes not used: Conrad Lee

Total shots: 9
Shots on goal: 2
Fouls: 9
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 3
Saves: 4

Portland Timbers 2 – Hunter Sulte; Max Ornstil, Harold Hanson (Danso 83’), Aeden Stanley, Williams Velásquez; Marcus Epps, Aaron Molloy, Jose Anguiano, Jorge Gonzalez Asensi; Tega Ikoba (Ken Krolicki 62’), Dyson Clapier

Substitutes not used: Jake Leeker, Isaac Homer, Cullen Wilkerson, Salvador Villegas, Giovanni Calixtro

Total shots: 11
Shots on goal: 4
Fouls: 11
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 6
Saves: 0