Need to know

• Reno hosts Portland Timbers 2, the third time these clubs have met in 2020.
• Reno is 2-0 against Portland this season, winning 4-1 and 5-2 for a +6 goal differential.
• All time, Reno owns an 8-1-1 record against T2.

Preview

Saturday, September 5 – v Portland Timbers 2

7:00 p.m. PT kickoff @ Greater Nevada Field

Broadcast: ESPN+ (national), Nevada Sports Net (local)

Radio: ESPN Radio 94.5

 

            Riding a three-game winning streak, Reno 1868 FC hosts Portland Timbers 2 for the third time this season. The boys in blue have topped T2 twice this season, winning 4-1 in Portland and 5-2 in Reno for a +6 goal differential.

“You shouldn’t look at a team’s record really,” said head coach Ian Russell. “I expect these guys to come out and handle business like we’ve done before. A sign of a good team is to be able to beat teams that’re struggling.”

Reno enters the game on a roll, winning three straight including a win over Phoenix Rising FC last week. Phoenix leads Group B and is viewed by many as one of the best teams in the league.

“I think we’ve all thought we were a really good team,” said forward Corey Hertzog. “And then we knew we were one of the best teams in the west and all throughout the USL … Those two wins against San Diego and Phoenix are proving to other people that we’re on of the top teams in the west.”  

Reno is back in Group A play against Portland, who enters the game still winless at 0-9-0. Last time out, Portland tied Sacramento at one in stoppage time, before giving up the game winning goal to fall 2-1.

In each of 1868’s last two wins against Portland, forward Foster Langsdorf has scored. The former Portland Timbers draft pick has scored in three-straight games, and is currently tied for Reno’s team lead with four goals.

Leading the charge during the winning streak, along with Langsdorf, has been Corey Hertzog. Hertzog has scored three times in the streak, as well as a pair of assists. The pair of forwards have combined for six goals and two assists in the last three games.

Also coming alive as of late has been midfielder Tucker Bone. Over the same last three games, Bone has scored twice and assisted once.

Key to Reno’s success has been the defense, with the unit improving greatly from 2019. Last season, the team allowed an average of 1.5 goals per game. This season, Reno’s averaging one goal allowed per game and has only allowed multiple goals once. Only six teams in the USL have allowed fewer.

On the season, Reno is undefeated when scoring at least once. The club’s only losses have both come in shutouts, and both have been midweek games. Reno is undefeated on Saturdays.

Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. PT from Greater Nevada Field. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, Nevada Sports Net and ESPN Radio 94.5. More information about how to watch the game from home is available here, and information on where to participate in in-person watch parties can be found here.

 

Scouting report – Portland Timbers 2

• Portland sits in last place of Group A with an 0-9-0 record.
• Portland has only scored 8 goals this season, in the bottom-six of the league.
• Jorge Gonzalez Asensi is T2’s leading scorer, with two goals.
• T2 is coming off three straight one-goal losses, including a 2-1 loss to Sacramento after tying to game at one in stoppage time.

Inside 1868 FC

• Reno takes on a Group A opponent for the first time since August 15, after a pair of out-of-group games. Reno currently leads Group A with 21 points, tied with Sacramento. Reno has the first tiebreaker over Sacramento, with a +11 goal differential compared to Republic FC’s +6.
• With a goal against Phoenix, Corey Hertzog moved his career USL goal total to 66. In second with 72 is recently-retired Jorge Herrera, and leading the USL Championship is Charlotte’s Dane Kelly with 80. Hertzog’s 23 goals with Reno are the second-most in club history, trailing only Brian Brown’s 28.
• Langsdorf has scored in each of the last three games, and has scored on Portland in both games against his former club. The Stanford standout spent two years with T2 after being drafted by the Timbers in 2018.
• Reno has won three-straight games, tied for the longest winning streak of the season. Additionally, Reno is undefeated this season when scoring even a single goal, and has yet to lose a game played on a Saturday.