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The Orange County Blues aim to grab maximum points on their Pacific Northwest road swing this week, with a meeting in Portland against Portland Timbers 2 Sunday afternoon (2 pm PT). Both teams are coming off wins, but for the Blues, a win would help further solidify their playoff credentials for 2016.
The Blues enter this match coming off a 1-0 smash-and-grab win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 on Wednesday, who were leading the Western Conference at the time. A late corner kick finished by Brenton Griffiths separated the teams, and OC got a nice boost in a game that looked like it was destined to be a scoreless draw.
Meanwhile, Portland is coming off arguably their best result of the season, a 4-3 comeback win over LA Galaxy II on the road last week that was remarkable because they went into the halftime break down 3-0, before scoring four unanswered goals in the second half. While T2 are hanging out near the bottom of the conference standings, they aren’t a terrible team. They’ve put together several terrific performances this season and can certainly get the Blues in this one if OC is not up to the task.
But this is a "should-win" game for OC. They beat Portland 1-0 in their first meeting this season, and given the need to peak as the end of the season approaches, taking another three points today will get them closer to a postseason berth, and cap off a crazy five games in two weeks stretch.
Tale of the Tape:
OC Blues: 31 points (9-10-4), 7th place in Western Conference; Goal Difference: -6 (29-35); Last five games: W-L-W-W-L
Timbers 2: 22 points (6-11-4), 14th place in Western Conference; Goal Difference: -8 (22-30); Last five games: W-D-L-L-D
How to watch Portland Timbers 2 vs. Orange County Blues: The game kicks off at 2 pm PT at Merlo Field in Portland. You can watch the game on the stream below on at the USL’s matchcenter for this game.
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