PORTLAND – The Portland Timbers 2 continued their winning ways Wednesday night at Merlo Stadium, as the home side recorded a 3-2 victory against Rio Grande Valley FC. Despite being down 1-0 at halftime, T2 rallied and scored three goals within 12 minutes of each other in the second half to earn all three points. Foster Langsdorf scored the game-winning goal in the 68th minute, heading in the ball after a quality cross into the box from Terrell Lowe. Jack Barmby scored T2's second from the penalty spot in the 61st minute after Jeremy Ebobisse smashed in a left-footed volley to even things up in the 56th minute. The visitors got on the scoreboard first in the 30th minute, when Todd Wharten whipped in a corner kick towards the front post. Conor Donovan headed Wharten’s cross further along before Omar Ontiveros rose high to head the ball past Portland goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh. After conceding three goals, RGVFC got one back by way of a penalty kick from Todd Wharten, but the road side was unable to tie things up before the final whistle. With the result, Portland improves to 3-2-1 on the year, while RGVFC moves to 0-3-2 this campaign.

Scoring:

30’ – RGV – Omar Ontiveros (Conor Donovan)
56’ – POR – Jeremy Ebobisse
61’ – POR – Jack Barmby (PK)
68’ – POR – Foster Langsdorf (Terrell Lowe)
81’ – RGV – Todd Wharten (PK)

• #PORvRGV: Highlights and Opta Box Score

Three Things That Matter:

• 1. With Wednesday’s victory, Portland has now equaled its win total from 2017. T2 has now recorded three wins in five games since losing its season opener to Cascadia rival Seattle Sounders FC 2 on March 16. Portland dominated possession throughout the match, especially in the first half with 67.3 percent of the ball – the team finished the game with 62.4 percent possession. In additional good news for the T2 faithful, Wednesday's match was the first of three upcoming home games, with Reno 1868 FC set to visit Merlo Stadium on Saturday and Sacramento Republic FC scheduled to play at Providence Park on May 2.
• 2. RGVFC is still looking for its first win of the 2018 USL regular season after recording its third road loss out of three this campaign. However, while the Toros may not have started off on the right foot this USL season, the team’s fans will take solace in the fact that RGVFC will be playing at H-E-B Park in four of its next five games. Furthermore, while the Toros have yet to record a shutout this year, their opponents have also been unable to prevent them from scoring, as RGVFC has scored at least one goal in each game this season.
• 3. One of a handful of players to start every match for T2 this season, Jeremy Ebobisse came up big again for Portland on Wednesday evening. The former Premier Development League and Duke University standout jumpstarted the team’s second-half comeback with an impressive left-footed finish. His presence up top was important for Portland, and fans will be hoping his first goal of the 2018 campaign is a sign of things to come.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match

Jeremy Ebobisse, Portland Timbers 2 – The forward scored T2’s first goal of the evening and completed 81.8 percent of his passes.

Upcoming Games:

Portland Timbers 2 vs. Reno 1868 FC – April 21, 10 p.m. ET, Merlo Stadium

Rio Grande Valley FC vs. Orange County SC – April 18, 10 p.m. ET, H-E-B Park