A Sausage-Themed Welcome to the City of Roses
Portland Bangers 2, Midlakes United 1
photos by Jay Ortiz
Midlakes United made its first-ever road trip to Portland on Tuesday night, and the Bangers’ faithful made sure the occasion was memorable. The crowd at Lents Park has a reputation for enthusiastic, eccentric home support centering on their mascot, Saucy T. Sausage. “Keep Portland Weird” is more command than slogan at Bangers games, and the energy was predictably loud from the opening whistle.
The visitors matched that energy early. In the 11th minute, Sebastian Rangel drove into the box through heavy traffic, drawing a save from Portland’s keeper. But the ball deflected to Trey Mitchell, who is making a habit of being in exactly the right place, and he put the rebound away. It was Mitchell’s fourth goal in three games and another example of his increasingly dynamic and dangerous connection with Rangel.
Portland leveled matters in the 34th minute. Drew Pedersen battled down the right wing under pressure, delivered a ground-level centering cross, and Brice Miller outmuscled Midlakes captain Miguel Regino to tap it in. It was the kind of physical, grinding goal that has characterized Portland’s offense all season: nothing flashy, all effort, often from a goal down. It ended a disheartening roller-coaster for Midlakes after another Portland goal just two minutes earlier was called back as offside. There was a second call-back for Portland after the halftime break.
The match stayed level well into the second half, with possession roughly even and both teams creating occasional chances. Midlakes’ defense did well to contain the Bangers’ attacking threats on the flanks. The anchor was a strong right back performance from Regino, who the coaching staff named player of the match for his meddling interceptions and effective link-ups with the midfielders. Neither Milo Wray nor Vala Saghafi, two of Portland’s more dangerous wide options, found much traction in the attacking third.
The night took a turn in the 69th minute when Portland brought on Daniel Palomino. The substitute changed the texture of the game entirely. Palomino immediately began delivering dangerous crosses and making overlapping runs that Midlakes hadn’t seen in the previous hour of play. His impact was felt most sharply in the 77th minute, when he delivered a long cross from near the goal line into the box and Lorenzo Lopez powered a firm header past Will Ficek for the go-ahead.
Ficek, for his part, did everything he could to keep the margin at one. He finished with five saves, including a couple acrobatic stops in the second half as Portland took clear control. The Bangers took seven of their shots in the final half-hour, compared to just one from Midlakes.
The closing stretch was further complicated by yellow cards to Michael Luande (68′) and Dan McKay (81′), and then a red card to McKay in the 85th minute after a second bookable foul. For the remaining five minutes, plus five more of stoppage time, Midlakes faired well, creating opportunities despite the disadvantage. But it wasn’t ultimately enough to mount a comeback.
The first trip to Lents Park didn’t go as planned, but there’s a rematch on the home schedule July 3.
photos by Jay Ortiz
Midlakes stays on the road Friday at Snohomish United, and Sunday at West Seattle Junction FC.
