The Portland Timbers knocked the San Jose Earthquakes out of any chance for post season at Providence Park in Portland on Wed Oct 27, 2021 (USA Today photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

PORTLAND—It was inevitable but the San Jose Earthquakes will be making tee times on November 8th.

The Portland Timbers had their way with the Quakes in a 2-0 shutout win on Wednesday evening at Providence Park.

With the loss, San Jose has been eliminated from playoff contention as they suffered another loss in their house of horrors. The Quakes are 0-11-4 at Providence Park in their history. Portland snapped its three match losing streak.

Quakes head coach Matias Almeyda returned with the same lineup with the exception of the return of Nathan who was suspended for the last match due to yellow card accumulation.

The Timbers played counter ball against the Quakes throughout the match and controlled the majority of the possession in the first half.

San Jose (9-14-10-37 points) best chance to score in the first half came from a shot from Jeremy Ebobisse in the 22nd minute that Timbers goalie Steve Clark made a punch out save.

Portland (16-13-4-52 points) broke the seal in the 34th minute. Felipe Mora sent in a low cross into the middle of the box where Diego Chara slipped behind Tommy Thompson and kicked the ball past Quakes goalie JT Marcinkowski for his second goal of the season.

“I think many dreams came to an end today,” said Almeyda. The sporting dreams that we had. Looking at the first half, we had some chances to open the scoring. The first half was under control, it was even. They hurt us at the right time. In the second half, we were looking for the result because we needed to win. We knew spaces would open up. The team made a huge effort, but we were outplayed by the opponent. We repeated what we had been practicing but we weren’t able to finish our chances. Individual mistakes are possible. We were up against a great team that scores many goals and possesses important players in their offense. Even if we have two matches left, we need to finish the best way possible, but this is the end of what we were preparing for.”

It could have been worse for San Jose in the first 45 minutes if it wasn’t for Marcinkowski. He made two consecutive saves on back to back shots from Mora and Yimmi Chara that resulted in a corner kick for the Timbers in the 39th minute.

In the second half the Timbers came out aggressive looking to double their lead. Mora sent a point blank shot from five yards out that Marcinkowski was able to gobble up.

Once again it was Ebobisse, playing in his first game in Portland as a member of a visiting team, with the Quakes best attempt at getting on the scoreboard in the second half. His shot attempt in the 54th minute from 20 yards out bent in from left to right but Clark was able to get a piece of the ball to keep out of the net.

“I think there was more anticipation than I actually felt in the moment. in the moment, it just felt like another game with guys I spent a lot of years with. Some good and not so good memories. When you’re on the field, it’s all about business. This time around, we did not get the job done which is disappointing, but it was really just another game, ” Ebobisse said.

Portland’s Dairon Asprilla put the game away with what quite possible was the goal of the year in the 55th minute. A ball went into the box that Marcinkowski fumbled off his hands with Asprilla applying pressure on the play. The 29-year Colombian native collected the ball just outside the box, made one touch popping the ball up before sending a backwards bicycle kick that sailed over Marcinkowski and into the back of the net for his 10th goal of the season.

Asprilla has five goals in his last eight matches as he finished with four shots, two on target.

The play was Marcinkowski’s only mistake of the match as he kept the Quakes within striking distance as he continued to make saves late in the match as Portland kept pressure on all the way up to the final minute of the match.

Clark earned his seventh clean sheet of the season as he stopped all five shots on target. Marcinkowski finished the match with 10 saves, a new single-game career high, on 12 shots in a valiant but losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the match with four corner kicks. Portland had three.

Quakes striker Chofis was issued a yellow card in the 19th minute. He will miss the next match against RSL for yellow card accumulation.

San Jose is now 5-15-9 all-time vs. Portland.

UP NEXT: San Jose plays their final road game of the season on Saturday 10/30 as the take on Real Salt Lake at 12:30pm at Rio Tinto Stadium.