New Portland defender Ryan Kawulok celebrated his signing by scoring a goal to rescue a 1-1 draw against Chivas USA in Thursday's nightcap of the Portland Timbers Tournament.
Kawulok, who put pen to paper earlier that day, came through for the Timbers with 12 minutes remaining in the second half to cancel out Cesar Romero's go-ahead goal for Chivas in the 21st minute.
Both sides had a few nervous moments in the first stanza. It seemed as though the Timbers took the lead first as they forced the Chivas defense to repeatedly scramble to get the ball out of the danger zone.
Just when it looked as though the visitors were in for a long night, Romero, who's been a menace for the Goats up top in preseason, latched onto crossed ball from Alan Souza in the 21st minute that Timbers center back Andrew Jean-Baptiste failed to clear and drove it past 'keeper Jake Gleeson for the 1-0.
The second half was much like the first, as the Timbers, down in the scoreline, put pressure on Chivas.
The Rojiblancos refused to wilt, however, and it took Portland 78 minutes to finally get on the board. Kawulok, who came on in the second half, found a crack in Chivas' armor and exploited it, hammering home a loose ball from close range to equalize the proceedings.
Chivas will close their participation in the Portland Tournament with a game against the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday at 5:30 pm ET.
Portland, meanwhile, will close out their tournament with a match against Sweden's AIK at 8 pm ET that same night.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHV -- Cesar Romero, 21'
POR -- Ryan Kawulok, 78'
