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Musovski Brace Caps Reno Comeback

By COLTON CORESCHI - colton.coreschi@uslsoccer.com, 04/22/18, 12:00AM EDT

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Visitors earn first win of season, snap Timbers 2 streak


Photo courtesy Sam Ortega / Portland Timbers 2

PORTLAND, Or. – Reno 1868 FC battled back from a first-half deficit to claim its first victory of the year on the road against the Portland Timbers 2 with a 2-1 win at Merlo Field on Saturday night. In the 19th minute, T2 came inches away from opening the scoring as Renzo Zambrano's strike from long range rattled the crossbar above Reno goalkeeper J.T. Marcinkowski. The crossbar would help in the other direction in the 29th minute, as a diagonal run into the box freed up Reno's Antoine Hoppenot for a left-footed shot that rang the bar. It would ultimately be T2 who opened the scoring, as a bad back-pass among the Reno defense was intercepted by Victor Arboleda, who blasted it beyond Marcinkowski for the lead in the 38th minute. Despite a few late attempts from Reno, and a few nice saves from T2 goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh, that would be the score heading into the break. T2 came inches away from doubling their lead in the 73rd minute as the freshly-introduced Marvin Loria curled a left-footed effort from the top of the penalty area just wide of the post. The hosts would regret that, as moments later Reno struck back through a corner kick. After the short ball into play, a cross ended up bouncing around in the T2 penalty area and was finally put away by Danny Musovski to equalize for the visitors. Moments later, Reno intercepted a poor back-pass by its hosts and had a chance to take the lead. Mohamed Thiaw took advantage of the confusion among the T2 back-line, but McIntosh got a finger on the one-on-one shot and captain Josh Phillips hustled back to clear the resulting deflection off the line to keep things level. Unfortunately for the hosts, Reno got its winner late as Musovski finished off a clever cut-back from Hoppenot for his second of the night to steal a victory for the visitors. For T2, it meant the end of their unbeaten run, and for Reno, their first win of the season.

Scoring:
38’ – POR – Victor Arboleda
75' – RNO – Danny Musovski (Antoine Hoppenot)
89' – RNO – Danny Musovski (Antoine Hoppenot)

Three Things That Matter:

  • 1. T2's hot performances of late came to an end, losing their first in their last four matches. Though Victor Arboleda scored a hustle goal to give them the early lead, the defense let them down with one sloppy goal on a corner and couldn't stop Reno's second to end in a disappointing collapse.

  • 2. On the other side, Reno broke out of its recent struggles, earning its first win in five matches this season. As another minor point of hope, Reno haven't lost away yet, but they'll need to get their play at home sorted to truly contend in the Western Conference.

  • 3. While his team ultimately lost this one, Kendall McIntosh truly shined, making several near-impossible saves to frustrate Reno all match long and keep T2 in the match, which could've easily gotten out of hand.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match

Danny Musovski, Reno 1868 FC – Musovski put away both of Reno's goals on the night to complete an amazing comeback effort for the visitor's first win of the season.

Upcoming Games:

Portland Timbers 2 vs. Sacramento Republic FC – May 2, 10 p.m. ET, Providence Park

Reno 1868 FC vs. OKC Energy FC – April 28, 10 p.m. ET, Greater Nevada Field

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