Lawrence Olim's goal nets draw for Portland Timbers against New England Revolution

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:28 am

Midfielder Lawrence Olum scored the tying goal in the 70th minute as the Portland Timbers salvaged a 1-1 draw with the host New England Revolution on Saturday night at Foxborough, Mass.

Olum's tally represented Portland's only shot on goal en route to the club's second straight without a loss after dropping its previous four matches. The Timbers (11-7-8, 41 points) pulled into a tie for fifth place in the Western Conference with the Seattle Sounders, one point ahead of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Midfielder Scott Caldwell scored the lone goal for New England, which is winless over its past nine matches (0-6-3). The Revolution (7-10-9, 30 points) are six points behind the Montreal Impact for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

New England hasn't prevailed since defeating D.C. United on June 30.

The Revolution outshot Portland 13-6 with four of their shots being on target.

Forward Teal Bunbury saved the ball from going out of bounds to create the Revolution goal.

Bunbury sent a cross into the center of the field and midfielder Kelyn Rowe delivered a hard shot that Timbers goalkeeper Steve Clark saved. Caldwell was stationed in front of the net and slammed the rebound past Clark to get New England on the board in the 58th minute.

The New England goal came just two minutes after Clark replaced starting goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, who grabbed for his right hamstring after striking the ball on a goal kick.

The Timbers finally got that elusive shot on goal when they equaled the score on a corner kick with just over 20 minutes remaining in the contest.

Midfielder David Guzman took the kick from the left corner and his boot deflected off Portland defender Julio Cascante and directly down toward the right foot of Olum. The reactionary flick by Olum sent the ball inside the right post to tie the match at 1.

Neither team created a legitimate scoring chance in the first half.

New England took four shots -- none on target -- and Portland managed just two shots.