{"id":34448,"date":"2025-11-02T09:10:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T09:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/34448\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T09:10:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T09:10:11","slug":"portland-timbers-stun-san-diego-in-instant-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/34448\/","title":{"rendered":"Portland Timbers stun San Diego in instant classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

With his team fighting for their Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs lives, Timbers rookie striker Gage Guerra<\/a> scored a last-second equalizer in Game 2<\/a> of their Round One matchup against San Diego FC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Portland went on to win a wild penalty shootout \u2014 forcing a Game 3 and sending the series back to San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole team, the whole staff, we wanted another week,\u201d manager Phil Neville said after the game. \u201cWith this attitude, I think we are a very dangerous team in this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Unlikely hero<\/p>\n

The eighth-seeded Timbers, who fell 2-1<\/a> in Game 1, had the backing of a frenzied Providence Park crowd. They fed off the energy early, with DP winger Kristoffer Velde<\/a> scoring in the 18th minute.<\/p>\n

San Diego responded with the attacking talent that helped them earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Star winger Chucky Lozano<\/a>, who had missed the previous two matches for disciplinary reasons, entered the game as a substitute and promptly scored a go-ahead goal.<\/p>\n

The Timbers needed an equalizer to keep their season alive, and did not lack for chances as they peppered Pablo Sisniega<\/a>\u2019s goal. Guerra, the 69th overall pick of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft out of Louisville, awaited his opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on the bench for 90 minutes of the game and I could feel the energy,\u201d Guerra told Apple TV afterward. \u201cI could feel it from the sideline that it\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Iconic atmosphere<\/p>\n

Guerra entered in the 86th minute. Eight minutes into stoppage time, he got on the end of an Ariel Lassiter<\/a> cross to send the crowd into hysterics and force a penalty-kick shootout.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a night for Gage Guerra,\u201d Velde said. \u201cIt\u2019s so deserved for a young kid to come on and score such an important goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Portland eventually survived a back-and-forth shootout, which saw the two teams combine to miss five of their attempts. It was Antony<\/a> who scored the decisive PK, securing a Game 3 matchup back in San Diego on Nov. 9.<\/p>\n

Neville credited the scene at Providence Park, calling it an \u201ciconic atmosphere,\u201d and staked his claim that the Timbers-San Diego matchup is the best of Round One.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I loved from both teams was the passion,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was on the edge all the time. That\u2019s top-level elite football. That\u2019s the level we need to be at and I\u2019m proud of the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Game 3 awaits<\/p>\n

Still, Portland remain underdogs against a well-rounded and star-studded San Diego side, who head back to Snapdragon Stadium with a rejuvenated Lozano.<\/p>\n

After their big Game 2 win, however, the Timbers seem to think otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight, we went into the game with no fear, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do next week in San Diego,\u201d Neville said.<\/p>\n

Guerra put it more simply: \u201cWe can f—ing do it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With his team fighting for their Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs lives, Timbers rookie striker Gage Guerra scored…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[11413,16416,6533,23709,74,76,75,6532],"class_list":{"0":"post-34448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-match-reaction","9":"tag-mls-cup-playoffs","10":"tag-portland-timbers","11":"tag-porvssd-11-01-2025","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-headlines","14":"tag-san-diego-news","15":"tag-sendtonews"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}