Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are back on the right side of the Western Conference standings after a win equal parts improbable and impressive against Sporting Kansas City last Sunday at Providence Park. This Saturday, the Timbers welcome back captain Liam Ridgewell to the lineup as they make their first trip of the year […]
Abe Asher
Abe Asher covers city news, politics, and soccer for the Portland Mercury. His reporting has appeared in The Nation, VICE News, Sahan Journal, and other outlets.
Posted inSports
The Most Incredible Fifteen Minutes in Portland Timbers History
Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers On Sunday, the Portland Timbers scored what might be their most improbable and most important win of the 2016 season to date — overcoming an early Diego Chara red card to beat Sporting Kansas City by a resounding 3-0 scoreline. It was a big day. That being said, nothing we saw on […]
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Timbers Surge Past Kansas City For Biggest Win of 2016
Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers When Diego Chara flattened Benny Feilhaber not two feet away from referee Baldomero Toldeo just twelve minutes into the Portland Timbers’ crucial Sunday afternoon matchup against Sporting Kansas City at Providence Park, the odds facing the Timbers verged on insurmountable. Portland was staring at an eighty-minute slog down a man against a […]
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Timbers v. Sporting Kansas City Match Preview
USA Today Last weekend, the Portland Timbers dropped a hard-fought game at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas. Now, Sporting Kansas City returns to Providence Park for the first time since last year’s Wild Card game for another critical six-pointer in the Western Conference playoff race (1:00 PM, TV on ESPN). This isn’t a must-win game […]
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Timbers Drop Close Decision in Kansas City
USA Today The last time Sporting Kansas City played the Portland Timbers, Matt Besler chipped a spot-kick into the Timbers Army, Kevin Ellis sent his potential game-winning penalty off the left post, and Saad Abdul-Salaam sent his off the left post, off the right post, and into Timbers lore. That shootout ended when Sporting’s goalkeeper […]
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Timbers v. Sporting Kansas City Match Preview
Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports For the very first time since the beginning of the 2015 season, the Portland Timbers will start an MLS match with neither Nat Borchers nor Liam Ridgewell on the field. Borchers ruptured his Achilles tendon against the LA Galaxy last Sunday. He underwent successful surgery on Thursday, but is out […]
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Borchers’ Season Ends With Achilles Injury
From the moment Nat Borchers collapsed to the turf at Providence Park on Saturday, it seemed more likely than not that his 2016 season was over. On Monday morning, those fears were confirmed: The beloved center back, the heart and soul of the club’s 2015 MLS Cup championship, has a ruptured left Achilles tendon. He’ll […]
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Borchers Injured, Timbers Lose 2-1 to LA
Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers Upon arrival at Providence Park before the Timbers’ marquee meeting with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday afternoon, Nat Borchers delivered a six-pack of Widmer to a Timbers fan celebrating her 21st birthday at the stadium. It was a gesture typical of one of the most gracious, big-hearted athletes this city has […]
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Timbers v. LA Galaxy Match Preview
Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers Just six days removed from their biggest win of the season against the Seattle Sounders, the Portland Timbers are back in action with another marquee match at Providence Park — as the Los Angeles Galaxy make their first and only visit of 2016 to the Rose City (12:30 PM, TV on ESPN). […]
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Timbers Sell Adam Kwarasey Back to Norway
Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers Professional sports is a tough racket. You have to perform week in and week out in order to stay employed, but even if you do that, you can’t get hurt. You can never risk getting hurt. Adam Kwarasey got hurt. He tore a ligament in his hand on a fluke play just […]
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Timbers Roll Over Seattle in Sumptuous Style
Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers Some days, you get the park and wonder if your team is going to have enough. On Wednesday night against Montreal, for instance, the Portland Timbers weren’t packing enough power to kick over a fruit stand. But on Sunday morning at Providence Park, with Seattle in town ahead of this year’s first […]
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Timbers v. Seattle Match Preview
Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers The biggest game in American soccer is here. The Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders are set to clash for the first time in 2016 on Sunday at Providence Park (12:00 PM, TV on FOX). The buildup to the first installment of this year’s derby has been spirited. Clint Dempsey has pitched in, […]