Midfielders Diego Valeri and Ben Zemanski each scored goals and forward Frederic Piquionne registered two assists as the Portland Timbers played the Chicago Fire to a 2-2 draw at Toyota Park on Saturday night, extending their MLS-club record unbeaten streak to 12 games. The Timbers (5-1-8, 23pts) own the longest unbeaten streak in MLS this season and remain the only club in the league unbeaten on the road. Portland sits in third place in the Western Conference. After hitting the goal frame three times in the opening four minutes of the match, the Timbers struck for the opening goal in the 33rd minute from Valeri. Portland then doubled its lead, 2-0, as Piquionne set up Zemanski for a strike in the 58th minute. But the Fire stormed back late in the match. After trimming the deficit 2-1 on a goal by Mike Magee, the Fire received a free-kick goal from substitute Daniel Paladini from just outside the box in the 82nd minute to level the score. Valeri tallied his fourth goal of the season, Zemanski registered his first goal on the campaign, Piquionne became just the sixth MLS Timbers player to record two assists in a match and goalkeeper Milos Kocic made five saves and registered his first MLS assist as the Timbers are now unbeaten in their first eight road games of the 2013 season. Magee scored in a second straight league match and Paladini found the back of the net for the second time this season to help the Fire (3-7-3, 12pts) become the first team this season to score two second-half goals against the Timbers to earn the draw and extend their unbeaten run to three matches. Off a re-start deep in his own penalty area, Kocic sent a long ball down field and it was flicked on by Piquionne to send Valeri with the ball down the left channel and into the Fire's box. After a quick cut back, Valeri had just enough space between two defenders to thread a right-footed shot and the ball hit off the left post and crossed over the goal line before it landed down inside the far right side, giving Portland a 1-0 lead just after the half hour mark. The Timbers claimed a 2-0 advantage in the 58th minute. Piquionne drove the ball down the right channel to the end line before cutting back into the penalty area. He slotted a pass into space for Zemanski near the top of the area and Zemanski, making his third start of the season, one-timed a shot that beat Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson to the bottom right corner of the goal; it was his first goal since the 2011 campaign. Chicago fought its way back into the match, starting with Magee's goal in the 68th minute. After winning possession of the ball near midfield, midfielder Alex sent in a well-placed through ball into the box for Magee, tightly marked by Timbers defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste, on a run down the left side. Kocic collided with Jean-Baptiste trying to make a play, which left the ball free in the box. Magee took hold of the ball and converted to trim the deficit 2-1. Magee's goal sparked the Fire attack as they attempted eight of their 19 shots on the night over the final 22 minutes of the contest. Chicago capitalized on a free kick eight minutes from time. From roughly five yards outside the penalty area, Paladini curled the ball just over the wall and it dipped down inside the top left corner of the goal to level the score at 2-2. The Timbers had a pair of scoring chances late in the match, with build-up leading to a shot by forward Darlington Nagbe from the top of the box that just missed wide in the 89th minute. In second-half stoppage time, defender Pa Modou Kah was on the receiving end of a Will Johnson free kick and the defender's effort towards goal was saved by the Chicago goalkeeper. Portland had three shots find the woodwork in the opening minutes of the match. Less than one minute into the game, Piquionne had a shot from the left side of the six-yard box deflect off Johnson's foot and hit the crossbar. Midfielder Diego Chara had his follow-up attempt also strike the crossbar. In the fourth minute Will Johnson's header off a cross by Michael Harrington found the left post. Kocic made two of his five saves late in the match to preserve a point on the road, including a save a minute into stoppage time on a close range shot by Fire midfielder Patrick Nyarko on the right post. Kocic also opened the match with a pair of saves in first 10 minutes, tipping a shot by Chris Rolfe from the top of the box over the goal on one effort in the 10th minute. The Timbers return home to play host to a pair of matches next week, starting Wednesday, June 12, against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the fourth round of the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at JELD-WEN Field at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific). The Timbers then play host to FC Dallas on Saturday, June 15, at 2 p.m. (Pacific) in a nationally televised match on ESPN at JELD-WEN Field. A live radio broadcast of both matches will be available on 750 The Game and in Spanish on La Pantera 940AM.
