Two early goals by Portland Timber forward McKinley Tennyson put the
Calgary Storm
into a hole they could not escape on Saturday at Foothills Park. The
Timbers went on to
win the match 3-1.
The Storm faithful was scarcely in their seats when in the second minute
Jake Segare
crossed the ball in from the left side to a waiting and unmarked
Tennyson, who made no
mistake.
The stunned Calgary side allowed the Timbers to run circles around them
for the next few
minutes, resulting in Portland’s second goal. Tennyson’s header past
Zarzycki was from
a very similar location in front of the net. The cross also came from a
similar position,
but this time was put in by Bryn Ritchie.
Three minutes later, Tennyson almost completed the hat trick, but his
header went wide
right.
The Storm finally woke up and started to gain some possession. Damir
Jesic put a nice
through ball in to Kurt Bosch in the 14th minute, but the shot went wide
left. A minute
later the speedy Chris Lemire received a pass and drove hard towards the
net.
Unfortunately, his shot was flicked just wide right. Bosch had another
chance in the 24th
minute, but his hard shot was deflected away by Timbers goalkeeper Matt
Napoleon.
In the 26th minute, the Timbers nearly had their third marker of the
night. Brian Winters
launched an explosive half-volley that hit the post. But the Timbers
were not to be
denied much longer. In the 31st minute, Fadi Afash turned and fired a
solid shot from
about 15 yards out that found the back of the net.
The Storm finished up the half with something to take into the locker
room. Bosch
received a quality pass from Nik Ledgerwood, and he launched a shot that
eluded
Napoleon.
In the final minutes of the half, Storm defender Salvatore Borgh saved a
fourth goal by
clearing the ball off the line just as Afash was driving towards the
loose ball.
The Timbers were satisfied with letting the second half slip by without
incident. They
did have an early opportunity in the 50th minute, but this time Liam
DeSilva removed the
ball from the Storm goal line.
Calgary had a few chances in the second frame. Bosch got a decent shot
off in the 53rd
minute, but to no avail. In the 67th minute, Lemire’s blast went curled
over the bar by a
few inches. Borgh tried his luck in the 85th minute, but was also
denied. In the final
moments, substitute Orlin Chalmers’ low, hard shot went straight to
Napoleon. Waldo
Dutra’s last gasp header went over the net. The match ended 3-1 for the
Timbers, much
to the delight of five Portland supporters who made the road trip.
The Storm’s next match is at Foothills Park on Sunday against the
Indiana Blast at
1:00pm.
Lineups:
Calgary: Zarzycki, Ledgerwood, Borgh (Zuniga 83), Sestito, DeSilva,
Gillespie
(Chalmers 63), Chala, Auvigne (Dutra 74), Bosch, Jesic, Lemire
Portland: Napoleon, Sancho, Wilkinson, Ritchie, Costigan, Winters,
Alcarz-Cuellar,
Ochoa, Segare (Howes 76), Tennyson, Afash (Adair 81)
Goals:
Portland: Tennyson (2nd and 9th), Afash (31st)
Calgary: Bosch (41st)
Cautions:
Calgary: Bosch (44th), Sestito (84th)
Portland: Howes (84th)
Ejections:
Calgary: Lemire (84th)
Portland: Howes (84th)
Attendance: 1412
Weather: sunny with few raindrops in the second half, about 24 C (75 F)
STORM WARNINGS: This was the first home game for the club since head
coach/technical director Thomas Niendorf was fired on July 2. Niendorf,
who is highly
respected for his eye for talent, was involved with the club since its
inception. His
replacement is Tommy Wheeldon, who was the head coach of the club’s PDL
side.
Wheeldon has extensive experience in Britain as a player and a
coach...
Since the last
home game and the firing of Niendorf, there has been many personnel
changes for the
Storm. Leading scorer Peter Heidler was released and has returned to
his native
Germany. Hugo Martins was also released and joined the Central Florida
Kraze of the
PDL. Lars Hirschfeld has returned to Tottenham Hotspur in the English
Premier League.
Felix Napuri is not listed on the roster any longer.
The four players
on loan from the
Hamilton Thunder (Salvatore Borgh, Orlin Chalmers, Matt O’Connor, and
Wotjek
Zarzycki) are returning to their old club. Zarzycki will play in the
Storm’s next game
against Indiana before leaving. Their roster spots will likely be
occupied by youngsters
called up from the PDL Calgary Storm Prospects, who just finished their
season...Adding
to the manpower shortage is the loss of Chris Lemire and Waldo Dutra to
the Canada U20
team, which is playing matches in the U.S. and Mexico. They will both
miss the next
three Storm games...Several Storm players have agreed to play the rest
of the season
without payment, to help the club with their financial difficulties.
