08/02/26 12:57:00
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08/02 00:55 CDT Bye scores late goal in Timbers' 2-1 victory over the Sounders
Bye scores late goal in Timbers' 2-1 victory over the Sounders
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Soccer Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) --- Brandon Bye scored the go-ahead goal in the 82nd minute
and the Portland Timbers handed the rival Seattle Sounders their sixth straight
loss with a 2-1 victory Saturday night.
Kevin Kelsey also scored for the Timbers (7-8-3 ), who are undefeated in four
straight games.
"it was unbelievable," interim Timbers coach Jack Cassidy said about the
atmosphere. "The noise of Brandon's goal hit the back of the net. I had a
perfect view. I was just in my seat at the time, and I just see it whisked in
the bottom corner. So yeah, amazing moment, amazing noise. It's a European
atmosphere, you know. It is."
Kalani Kossa-Rienzi scored the lone goal for the injury-depleted Sounders
(7-7-3).
The Pacific Northwest rivals went into the match with the series even at
16-16-11 in Major League Soccer play. With the win, the Timbers are now 11-8-4
over the Sounders at Providence Park.
Seattle's Paul Arriola was subbed out in the opening minutes after what
appeared to be a right leg injury, replaced by Kossa-Rienzi.
Kossa-Rienzi scored in the 27th minute to give the Sounders the early lead.
Timbers goalkeeper James Pantemis got a hand on it but couldn't keep the ball
out of the net.
Before the end of the first half, Kevin Kelsey scored off a well-placed cross
from Kristoffer Velde. Kelsey and teammate Jimer Fory did a coordinated dance
to celebrate the equalizer. It was Kelsey's team-leading ninth goal of the
season and Velde's fifth assist.
The Timbers went ahead on Bye's blast off a feed from David Da Costa that
sailed past Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas.
"He does a great job with attracting players and everybody's watching him,
because he's such a talented player, so he dragged some players over and I was
in a good spot," Bye said about Da Costa. "I hit one like that in warmups and
we were joking about it. So I was ready for it."
At the final whistle, defender Finn Surman ran to celebrate with Pantemis while
supporters in the crowd held a sign that read "Fish Gutted."
"Today was much better from us, but it's still a loss. Until we get a win,
there's no words that will put this right or make it feel any nicer," said
Seattle's Albert Rusnk. "It's unacceptable. Every little thing is going
against us right now."
The Cascadia Cup was created by supporters of the Timbers, Sounders and
Vancouver Whitecaps before the teams joined MLS. The trophy goes to the team
with the most points in head-to-head matchups at the end of the regular season.
The Timbers and the Sounders have played 126 times since the overall series
started in 1975 when the teams were part of the NASL.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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