PORTLAND — This was not the way the Portland Timbers wanted to kick off their 2015 home schedule.
The result, a 1-0 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Simple Invitational preseason tournament, doesn’t matter. What does matter is a knee injury to midfielder Ben Zemanski that will cost him most, if not all, of this season.
Coach Caleb Porter said after the match that Zemanski suffered a torn ACL in the 25th minute. It appeared to happen without contact with another player.
Zemanski was to be the starter in the midfield position he shares with injured team captain Will Johnson. Johnson likely needs another month or more of rehabilitation before he returns from the broken leg he suffered in September.
Jack Jewsbury, who replaced Zemanski on Sunday, played primarily as a midfielder in his first three seasons with the Timbers before playing more fullback last season. For depth alongside Diego Chara in defensive midfield, the Timbers now have only rookie Matt Besler and second-year player George Fochive.
“We do have options,” Porter said. “We still have a couple of weeks to circle the wagons and figure out how to manage it” before the regular-season opener.
Pa Modou Kah, a Timbers defender the past two seasons, scored with a header in the 31st minute for the Whitecaps, punctuating a busy return to Portland that included a yellow card for a two-leg tackle of Gaston Fernandez.
In a contentious contest, the Timbers played the final half hour with 10 men after Rodney Wallace picked up a second yellow card. Portland struggled to generate scoring chances after that, though Dairon Asprilla forced goalkeeper David Ousted to parry away a rocket from 21 yards in the 86th minute.
Sunday’s doubleheader began with the Chicago Fire and Staebek of Norway playing to a scoreless tie. The Simple Invitational continues on Wednesday when Vancouver takes on Staebek at 5 p.m. and the Timbers play Chicago at 7 p.m. The tournament concludes on Saturday. The Timbers scheduled regular-season opener is March 7 against visiting Real Salt Lake.
On the pitch
The result: Vancouver 1, Timbers 0.
The significance: Not much. This is the first of three home preseason games as the Timbers host their Simple Invitational preseason tournament.
The goals: 31st minute Pah Modou Kah (Mauro Rosales), Whitecaps 1-0.
Moment of the match: In the 24th minute, Ben Zemanski suffered a torn ACL. Zemanski was to start in place of Will Johnson, who is still rehabilitating from his broken leg. Jack Jewsbury took Zemanski’s place.
Noteworthy: New Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey showed his mobility by coming out of the 18-yard box several times to play the ball. He sent one pass to a teammate at midfield and another time used his head to knock the ball to near the midfield circle. … Right back Alvas Powell was active in the attack, but saw three difficult volley tries miss the target. … The Timbers played the final half hour with 10 men after Rodney Wallace picked up his second yellow card. … Late in the match Liam Ridgewell also picked up a second yellow card, leaving the Timbers with nine players on the field. Ridgewell said it was the first time he has been given a second yellow card in a match. The Timbers are 1-1-2 this preseason.
Lineup notes: The Timbers and Whitecaps both started lineups of regulars for Sunday’s match. The Timbers 11 were Adam Kwarasey (GK), Alvas Powell, Nat Borchers, Liam Ridgewell, Jorge Villafana, Darlington Nagbe, Diego Chara, Ben Zemanski (Jack Jewsbury, 25th), Rodney Wallace, Gaston Fernandez (Dairon Asprilla, 64th) and Fanendo Adi (Maximiliano Urruti, 72nd).
Talk about a chippy preseason match: “It’s a preseason game, but there’s a full stadium. It’s basically another rivalry game, so whenever these two teams step across those lines, you know it’s going to get chippy,” Jack Jewsbury said. “Maybe (there were) a few more fouls than you’d like to see this early in the season, but it prepares us for opening day so it was good to see guys back each other up the way they did.”
The other match: Chicago Fire 0, Staebek (Norway) 0.
Next up: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Timbers host Chicago Fire. Vancouver plays Staebek at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Tickets are available.
