Braudilio Rodrigues and Sebastian Gomez each scored braces as the Tacoma Defiance scored five second-half goals – all after the 67th minute – to beat the Portland Timbers2 5-2 on Sunday. Despite going down a man toward the end of the first half, T2 were able to take an initial lead on a long-range shot by Tyler Clegg in the 49th minute, but Antino Lopez headed in a Chris Aquino free kick in the 67th minute and Braudilio gave Defiance their first lead in the 79th minute before poring it on over the final 15ish minutes.
The win lifted the Defiance into first place of the Western Conference’s Pacific Division.
Highlights
Key performers
Braudilio Rodrigues: It’s been a tough year for the man who set Defiance’s single-season scoring record last year as he’s battled one injury after another. Finally fit, he picked up right where he left off. Braudilio entered the game in the 70th minute and wasted no time making an impact. He scored his first goal in the 79th minute; set up Sebastian Gomez for another goal with some nifty moves in the 84th minute; and slammed home Blake Bowen’s feed in the 90’+2. He nearly finished off a hat trick about a minute later but T2’s goalkeeper just barely managed to keep the shot out. There are only seven games left in the MLS season but it’s impossible to see a performance like this and not imagine how it might translate to the first team. Braudilio plays the game with such a smoothness and confidence, honestly reminding me a lot of Clint Dempsey.
Mohammed Shour: The 16-year-old goalkeeper has been one of the top prospects in the Sounders Academy since at least last year and showed why in his professional debut. Shour was credited with four saves, and made at least three goal-saving plays. His athleticism and quickness are easy to see. Unfortunately, he also gave up two goals on long-range shots. They were both well struck and one may have taken a bit of a deflection, but better footwork probably allows him to stop those. He’s got time to improve.
Stuart Hawkins: It’s easy to overlook the contributions of centerbacks, especially ones who don’t score a bunch of goals. But Hawkins quietly keeps stacking up solid performances. The 17-year-old barely put a foot wrong, which included completing 70 of 73 passes and going 5 of 6 on long balls. You could possibly argue that he could have been a bit better positioned on the second goal, as the shot may have deflected off him slightly, but that’s quibbling. The Defiance are clearly much better with him on the field than off, which is probably the best sign of a centerback’s value.
Standings
Stats
MATCH SUMMARY
Tacoma Defiance 5 – Timbers2 2
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Venue: Starfire Stadium
Referee: Matthew Corrigan
Assistants: Baboucarr Jallow, Charles Rupert
Fourth official: Aidan Velasco
Weather: 72 degrees and sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
POR – Tyler Clegg (Blake Pope) 49’
TAC – Antino Lopez (Chris Aquino) 67’
TAC – Braudilio Rodrigues (Burke Fahling) 79’
TAC – Sebastian Gomez (Braudilio Rodrigues) 84’
POR – Tyler Clegg (Kyle Linhares) 86’
TAC – Braudilio Rodrigues (Blake Bowen) 90+2’
TAC – Sebastian Gomez (Burke Fahling) 90+5’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
POR – Joshua Penn (caution) 21’
POR – Joshua Penn (ejection) 40’
TAC – Etienne Veillard (caution) 70’
TAC – Burke Fahling (caution) 80’
LINEUPS & STATS
Tacoma Defiance – Mohammed Shour; Cody Baker (Etienne Veillard 46’), Antino Lopez, Stuart Hawkins – captain, Travian Sousa; Snyder Brunell, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi; Blake Bowen, Chris Aquino (Burke Fahling 78’), Yu Tsukanome (Braudilio Rodrigues 70’); Gio Miglietti (Sebastian Gomez 61’)
Substitutes not used: Lars Helleren, Owen O’Malley, Shaun Brun, Omar Hassan, Kelvin Luis-Brito
Total shots: 11
Shots on goal: 7
Fouls: 11
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 7
Saves: 4
Timbers2 – Ryan Bilichuk; Keesean Ferdinand, Tyler Clegg, Kaveh Rad; Jaden Jones-Riley (Sawyer Jura 61’), Victor Enriquez Velazquez (Noah Santos 80’), Alexis Moreno (Christian Mendoza 70’), Blake Pope; Joshua Penn, Tega Ikoba (Kyle Linhares 46’), Max Eisenberg (Mataeo Bunbury 46’)
Substitutes not used: Braxton Taghavi-Najib, Carver Miller
Total shots: 13
Shots on goal: 6
Fouls: 7
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 4
Saves: 2
