Fouls galore, two red cards and a 0-0 tie in Timbers' match with Carolina

Knighton gets first shutout; Alvarez sits out while awaiting clearance from Mexico

By Tony Schick

The Portland Tribune, Jul 28, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

The Portland Timbers were without their modern-franchise scoring leader, recently signed forward Byron Alvarez, against the Carolina RailHawks Thursday night.

Alvarez is awaiting his international clearance before he can join the Timbers for their playoff run. Because the last team Alvarez played with was LaRaZa, based in Monterrey, Mexico, the Mexican Soccer Federation owns his rights. The clearance is expected to occur within the next week.

The Timbers could have used Alvarez’s scoring abilities Thursday, as they finished in a 0-0 tie against the RailHawks. It was the Timbers’ fourth nil-nil tie of the season.

An announced crowd of 8,257 was on hand at PGE Park to watch the Timbers earn their 23rd point of the season and move into a tie with the Seattle Sounders for fifth place, with an overall record of 5-7-8.

Neither team scored in the first half, though the Timbers maintained much control of the ball and mustered seven first-half shots, three on target, against four shots from Carolina. Forward Chris Brown was responsible for the first Timbers chance, sending a direct free kick whizzing just over the crossbar near the 25th minute.

Lawrence Olum and Arsene Oka added excitement with close shots of their own, Oka’s coming on a solo drive through the penalty box in stoppage time that ended in a difficult save by Carolina keeper Chris McClellan.

Partly because of Alvarez’ absence, Oka started his first game of the year, but he was replaced by recently acquired Jamil Walker in the 59th minute.

The RailHawks came out more aggressive in the second half, outshooting the Timbers 8-7, but Brad Knighton provided five crowd-inciting saves en route to his first shutout with Portland.

The Timbers finished with 14 shots, and they had three more on goal in the second half. Their best chances to score came on a cross from Olum on the right side of the field in the 79th minute that defender Cameron Knowles headed toward the goal but was deflected in a crowd of RailHawks defenders.

Two minutes later, midfielder Shaun Higgins turned another right-side cross from Olum into a low shot toward the right post, but McClellan made a diving save.

Though the Timbers controlled the ball and the field for much of the game, they struggled to put shots together, and as a result came up empty.

“Everybody was winning their battles, but we just couldn’t put those finishing passes together,” Olum says.

He attributes some of that to missing Alvarez and Chris Brown for the second half; Brown was issued a red card in the 42nd minute.

“The way we have been playing, those are two guys we rely on heavily to score,” Olum says.

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