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'Quakes, Timbers lock horns at Buck Shaw

Oct 3, 2014 - 8:18 PM Santa Clara, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - A pair of Western Conference rivals will clash on Saturday as the Portland Timbers travel to Buck Shaw Stadium to face the San Jose Earthquakes.

Both sides enter the match below the infamous red line of playoff qualification, but the Timbers can jump into the top five in the West with a victory, while San Jose will just be hoping to put an end to its 10-match winless streak in league play.

The Timbers saw their four-match undefeated streak come to an end last week in disappointing fashion as Caleb Porter's club wasted a two-goal lead and suffered a 3-2 defeat to Toronto FC at BMO Field.

Portland took the lead after just 13 minutes when a deflected pass put Fanendo Adi all alone behind the TFC back line to break toward goal, and he buried the shot one-on-one with goalkeeper Joe Bendik.

Three minutes later, Portland doubled its lead when a corner kick wasn't dealt with by Toronto's backline, and Diego Valeri recovered a bouncing ball and pushed into the right side of the box. His low crossing attempt hit off the foot of TFC defender Steven Caldwell and rebounded into the back of the net.

But the wheels began to come off for Portland in the 62nd minute as a cross from Daniel Lovitz connected with center back Nick Hagglund, who buried home a header for his first goal in Major League Soccer.

Just eight minutes later, Hagglund and TFC had their second as Michael Bradley took a free kick which fell to Hagglund, and he headed home from the corner of the six-yard box for the equalizer.

The winner came in the 89th minute. From a free kick well out on the left side of midfield, Bradley swung in a service and the ball bounced through a crowd, eluding Timbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and nestling inside the far post to give send Portland home empty handed.

"You have to manage the game better. We weren't going for the third goal recklessly, we were very organized, tight, and didn't think we gave up many chances through the run of play," said Porter. "For me it is about managing the moments that will get you the result, and those set pieces were crucial moments on both sides of the ball. Also scoring that third goal to go up 3-0 then the whole thing is different."

San Jose, meanwhile, will see its slim playoff hopes all but ended without a win on Saturday and are coming off a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

The opening goal came for Colorado in the 84th minute when Chris Klute found Gabriel Torres with a perfect cross to the far post, and he drove home a full- blooded first-time strike past Quakes goalkeeper Jon Busch.

But San Jose came up with some late-game heroics as a long ball was launched into the area in stoppage time, and Matias Perez Garcia came up with it before finding Atiba Harris with a brilliant feed, and he slotted home the equalizer.

"When you go down a goal and you get a late goal in injury time, you like the fight back," Earthquakes head coach Mark Watson said. "But I think we came in here knowing we needed three points to get closer to the pack and get to where we want to be."