PORTLAND, Ore. – Not only did Caleb Porter feel like the Portland Timbers' game on Sunday afternoon against the San Jose Earthquakes should have been over after the first 20 minutes, he also said his team could have scored 10 goals.
"I’m not joking, 10 goals,” Porter said, underscoring his point.
What actually happened was something entirely different.
After 20 minutes, Portland was left with nothing despite an offensive onslaught. And on San Jose’s first chance of the game, Chris Wondolowski drove home a rebound from a Shea Salinas shot to give the Quakes a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute. San Jose scored again, on a Cordell Cato goal in the 48th minute, before Portland eventually found their scoring touch in a furious rally that ended in a 3-3 draw at Providence Park.
Before it was all said and done, the Timbers set a club record with 32 shots – 13 on target.
“The first 20 minutes, we’ve got to find a goal there,” Porter said in his postgame comments. “That was our best first 20 minutes of the year, completely dominant. We had seven or eight clear chances, we were absolutely on top of them and had a complete grip on the game. And the first time they get a chance, it’s a goal.”
Porter said the dominant start coupled with conceding against the run of play briefly took the wind out of their sails, and he said he was disappointed they allowed another goal right after halftime.
“As well as we played, you shouldn’t let giving up a goal against the run like that rattle you,” Porter said. “I thought it did a little bit, probably because it’s happened before and that starts to weigh on you a little bit because you have it in your heads.”
It’s the 13th time this season that the Timbers have conceded the first goal and rallied to earn at least a point. Against FC Dallas on June 11, Portland fell behind 2-0 before coming back for a 2-2 draw.
Making it even harder for Portland to take was the fact that they were coming off their third shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory last weekend over the Vancouver Whitecaps.
“It’s the same old story, that’s what’s disappointing to us,” Timbers captain and midfielder Will Johnson said. “Every time we take a step forward, we take a step backwards the next week with our defensive ways. And it’s something we realize and understand we have to keep fighting and get better.”
Johnson is right; the game was a microcosm of the Timbers entire 2014 season. While their attack is third best in the league with 47 goals scored, they’ve conceded 46.
“I thought overall we defended OK, but with their 12 chances they scored three goals and we didn’t manage the situations on their goals well enough,” Porter said.
The comeback was thanks to goals from Alvas Powell – his second in a Timbers shirt and second in as many weeks – Liam Ridgewell and Kalif Alhassan. It was a rally that Porter said could only be accomplished by a “damn good team” and a highlight of an otherwise missed opportunity to create more leeway in the tight Western Conference playoff race.
“Those things can’t get lost in the shuffle of the craziness of the way this game played out and ultimately in the disappointment that we got a draw instead of a win,” Porter said. “Those are positive things that we have to keep sight of.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
