The 2009 Portland Timbers season was the ninth season for the club in the United Soccer Leagues First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the United States soccer pyramid. The first competitive game of the 2009 season was played on April 25 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, BC versus Vancouver Whitecaps FC which the Timbers lost 1–0. Following that loss the Timbers went on a 24-game unbeaten streak in the league on their way to securing the Commissioner's Cup for finishing the regular season atop the table. In a hard-fought, two-legged series, Vancouver Whitecaps FC knocked Portland out of the playoffs in the semifinals by an aggregate score of 5–4. In the U.S. Open Cup the Timbers hosted Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer in the third round but were eliminated by their bitter rivals 2–1 in front of 16,382 spectators at PGE Park in Portland, Oregon.
Preseason
Regular season
April
May
June
July
August
September
Postseason
Competitions
USL First Division
League standings
Pos Club Pts Pld W L T GF GA GD H2H Pts1Portland Timbers5830164104519+262Carolina RailHawks553016774319+243Puerto Rico Islanders533015784431+13PRI: 6 ptsCHA: 3 pts4Charleston Battery5330146103321+125Montreal Impact4430121083231+16Rochester Rhinos4330119103432+27Vancouver Whitecaps4230111094236+68Minnesota Thunder3130713103944−59Miami FC293081752652−2610Austin Aztex21†3051782851−2311Cleveland City Stars193041972252−30 † Austin deducted two points for fielding an ineligible player on July 25, 2009
Results summary
Results by round
USL-1 Playoffs
Playoff bracket Teams were re-seeded for semifinal matchups
Semifinals
U.S. Open Cup
Cup bracket Second Round winners advance to play one of 8 MLS clubs in 16-team knockout tournament Home teams listed on top of bracket
First round
Second round
Third round
Cascadia Cup
+2009TeamPtsPldWLTGFGAGDPortland Timbers6321031+2Vancouver Whitecaps3312013-2
Club
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Coaching staff PositionStaffHead coach Gavin WilkinsonAssistant coach Amos MageeAssistant coach Jim RilattGoalkeeper coach Jim Brazeau</div> Management
Staff recognition USL-1 Coach of the Year CoachWLTLeaguePlayoffs Gavin Wilkinson164101stSemifinals
USL-1 Executive of the Year ExecutiveAvg. Att.Club honors Merritt Paulson9,734Commissioner's Cup
Squad
Kits
Final roster
Player recognition USL-1 Scoring Champion PlayerGAPts Mandjou Keita11729
USL-1 All-League First Team PosPlayerGPGK Steve Cronin28DF David Hayes30MF Ryan Pore23FW Mandjou Keita29
USL-1 All-League Second Team PosPlayerGPDF Cameron Knowles20
USL-1 Player of the Week WeekPlayerOpponent(s)Ref7 Mandjou KeitaPuerto Rico Islanders (x2)12 Mandjou KeitaMontreal Impact15 David HayesMiami FC (x2)18 Mandjou KeitaVancouver Whitecaps, Charleston Battery24 George JostenCleveland City Stars (x2)
USL-1 Team of the Week WeekPlayerOpponent(s)Ref4 Brian FarberCarolina RailHawks (x2) Ryan Pore Chris Seitz5 Cameron KnowlesCleveland City Stars6 Brian FarberRochester Rhinos7 Mandjou KeitaPuerto Rico Islanders (x2)8 Steve CroninVancouver Whitecaps George Josten Scot Thompson9 Cameron KnowlesMontreal Impact10 David HayesCarolina RailHawks, Charleston Battery11 David HayesMinnesota Thunder George Josten12 George JostenMontreal Impact Mandjou Keita13 Tony McManusMinnesota Thunder14 Johan ClaessonAustin Aztex15 David HayesMiami FC (x2) Tony McManus Keith Savage16 Stephen KeelPuerto Rico Islanders17 Ryan PoreMinnesota Thunder18 Mandjou KeitaVancouver Whitecaps, Charleston Battery Cameron Knowles Alex Nimo19 David HayesMontreal Impact, Rochester Rhinos Mandjou Keita Ryan Pore20 Mandjou KeitaMiami FC21 Steve CroninCharleston Battery Stephen Keel22 Stephen KeelRochester Rhinos, Austin Aztex24 George JostenCleveland City Stars (x2)
Statistics
Appearances and goals All players contracted to the club during the season included.
Top scorers Players with 1 goal or more included only. Rk.Nat.PositionPlayerTotalUSL-1PlayoffsU.S. Open Cup1FWMandjou Keita1411032MFRyan Pore1110103FWGeorge Josten6501MFBrian Farber63215MFKeith Savage3300DFDavid Hayes32017FWTakayuki Suzuki2200MFAlex Nimo21109MFJohan Claesson1100DFMamadou Danso1100FWAntouman Jallow1100DFStephen Keel1100MFTony McManus1100DFScot Thompson1100FWJason McLaughlin1001TOTALS544347
Disciplinary record Players with 1 card or more included only. No.Nat.PositionPlayerTotalUSL-1PlayoffsU.S. Open Cup 0GKSteve Cronin10100000(1)GKChris Seitz101000004MFBrian Farber201000105DFDavid Hayes302000106DFCameron Knowles2020000010FWMandjou Keita1010000011MFJohan Claesson2020000012MFTony McManus9070101014FWJason McLaughlin3131000015FWKevin Forrest1010000016DFStephen Keel3030000017DFScot Thompson1010000018MFAlex Nimo3030000019FWGeorge Josten1010000022MFKeith Savage2010001023MFRyan Pore7060100028MFRodrigo López1000100030FWTakayuki Suzuki2020000098DFMamadou Danso40400000 TOTALS4914213040
Goalkeeper stats All goalkeepers included. No.Nat.PlayerTotalUSL-1PlayoffsU.S. Open CupMINGAGAASVMINGAGAASVMINGAGAASVMINGAGAASV0Steve Cronin2958260.791102508190.689718052.50527020.678(1)Chris Seitz18000.001518000.001500–000–024Brian Visser1200.0011200.00100–000–0 TOTALS3150260.741262700190.6311318052.50527020.678
Player movement
Transfers in Permanent DatePos.NamePrevious clubFee/notes January 16, 2009 FW Mandjou Keita Brunei DPMM Free January 16, 2009 MF Johan Claesson Sirius Free January 16, 2009 FW Antouman Jallow Sirius Free January 16, 2009 MF Tony McManus Atlanta Silverbacks Free January 16, 2009 FW Jason McLaughlin Atlanta Silverbacks Free January 16, 2009 MF Brian Farber Stockton Cougars Free February 12, 2009 DF Dieumerci Vua Catania Free February 12, 2009 MF Keith Savage Chivas USA Free February 20, 2009 FW George Josten Columbus Crew Free February 20, 2009 MF Josh Cameron (R) Oregon State Beavers Free February 26, 2009 DF David Hayes Atlanta Silverbacks Free March 2, 2009 GK Steve Cronin Los Angeles Galaxy Free March 12, 2009 MF Ryan Pore Kansas City Wizards Free March 14, 2009 DF Stephen Keel Colorado Rapids Free March 27, 2009 GK Brian Visser (R) DePaul Blue Demons Free April 3, 2009 DF Takuro Nishimura Omiya Ardija Free April 21, 2009 DF Mamadou Danso (R) Southern Poly Hornets Cary RailHawks U23's Free July 22, 2009 FW Kevin Forrest Seattle Sounders FC Free August 19, 2009 MF Rodrigo López Ventura County Fusion Free August 28, 2009 DF Ivan Becerra Ventura County Fusion Free
Loan DatePos.NameFromReturn Date March 10, 2009 MF Alex Nimo Real Salt Lake End of Season April 30, 2009 GK Chris Seitz Real Salt Lake May 2, 2009
Transfers Out Permanent DatePos.NameToFee End of 2008 season FW Byron Alvarez N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season FW Chris Bagley N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season MF Neil Dombrowski N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season GK Chase Harrison N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season GK Jordan James N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season DF Tim Karalexis N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season MF Arsène Oka N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season MF Troy Ready N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season GK Steve Reese N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season DF Justin Thompson N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season FW Benjamin Totori N/A Contract expired End of 2008 season FW Jamil Walker N/A Contract expired January 2, 2009 FW Chris Brown N/A Retired February 20, 2009 MF Bryan Little Unattached Released March 4, 2009 MF Lawrence Olum Minnesota Thunder Undisclosed March 2009 MF Kiki Lara Unattached Undisclosed release March 27, 2009 MF Miguel Guante Unattached Released April 21, 2009 DF Dieumerci Vua Unattached Released
Loan DatePos.NameToReturn Date July 28, 2009 FW Antouman Jallow Sandviken End of season
Notes