Joining Kitchen in scoring for United were teammates Josh Wolff (3) and Chris Pontius (4).
Head coach Ben Olsen had this to say after the game:
“It’s a big step for us. I don’t want to blow it out of proportion too much because in this league on any given day, you can beat a team. I was proud of the way we defended set pieces. We had a bunch of men out there and they showed that we have the ability to compete physically with a pretty demanding Portland team when it comes to set pieces. That’s been a weak spot of ours and I thought we did a great job with it. What I’m most proud about today was, after that call – the second call, to regroup after that, in front of this crowd, shows a lot of character from every person on that field.”
Goalkeeper Bill Hamid spoke about having to face three consecutive penalty kicks:
“I’ve never been in a situation like that. I definitely don’t agree with those calls. I don’t know what (the assistant referee) expects of me. It happens everywhere around the world. I was not even half a foot off my line, I don’t believe, and (the assistant referee) calls (the violation) twice. On the second one, I definitely kept it in my mind, ‘Stay back and make the save. React.’ But we won and that’s all that matters. We got the three points in a tough arena. Hats off to the Timbers and their fans. We’re going to keep moving forward toward to LA.”
With the win in Portland the Black-and-Red now sit in 4th place in the Eastern Conference up from their previous 6th place.
Next up for Olsens' Army an away match at Western Conference leaders L.A. Galaxy June 3rd at Home Depot Center.
