Timbers 2 Face First Away Challenge Against Real Monarchs

Timbers 2 defeated Real Monarchs 3-1 in their home opener on March 29th. And now the teams face each other again in a mirror match. Real Monarchs host Timbers 2 in their home opener tonight. First home match for the Monarchs, first road match for Timbers 2. Having won both of their first games, the question will be whether or not Timbers 2 can keep their momentum and secure a result in hostile territory.

Portland Timbers 2

Timbers 2 (2-0-0, 6pts) take to the road for the first time. Tonight's match will be the first of four road games before they get to return to playing in front of a home crowd in May. The first road opponent will be familiar as it is the Real Monarchs SLC. The same team who they played during their home opener, T2 now gets to return the favor and travel to Rio Tinto to play them for their home opener. T2 will hope to continue their run of form and secure a favorable result tonight as they will then jet to Seattle and face their first Cascadia 2 opponent this Saturday night.

However, one of the key players in both wins, Rundell WInchester might not be playing tonight. Will's training report from yesterday states that Winchester was training with Santiago Biglieri and Brent Richards. Richards we know is injured and Biglieri we know still hasn't worked his way towards game fitness yet. So that could cause some wrinkles in potential plans for Jay.

One man who could see a start or more time on the field is Steven Evans. The 2nd T2 player in as many weeks to be named to the USL Team of the Week. Evans late game winning cracker of a goal in the last match secured all 3 points for T2. Will there be more late game magic from him or another T2 sub?

Real Monarchs SLC

Real Monarchs SLC (0-1-1, 1pt) started their season off with two road games. First a scoreless draw vs LA Galaxy II and then a 3-1 loss to Timbers 2 at Merlo Field. They haven't played a match since so their match here in Portland will probably be more fresh in their minds. They are going to be searching for their first win of the season when they play their home opener tonight at Rio Tinto Stadium, home of their parent club Real Salt Lake.

They were missing a few first team loanees the last time the Monarchs faced Timbers 2, so it is expected that tonight will see a more full strength team as all first team loans should be with the team and available for selection. Matt Montgomery of RSL Soapbox gave us a little insight into what we could see from the Monarchs this time around so check out our exchange of questions here on Stumptown and over on RSL Soapbox.

Match Information

Watch it: Streamed live on Timbers.com/T2 and embedded in our T2 match thread

Kickoff: Wednesday, April 8th, 6:00 pm Pacific at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, UT

Portland Timbers 2: 2-0-0, 6pts, 2nd place in the Western Conference

Real Monarchs SLC: 0-1-1, 1pt, 8th place in the Western Conference