Arizona United Soccer Club Drops Record Setting Home Opener at Scottsdale Stadium

More than 6,000 fans were in attendance

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (April 25, 2015) — Arizona United SC opened its first home season at Scottsdale Stadium in front of a record-breaking crowd of 6,108 in a 2-0 loss to Portland Timbers 2. The attendance record breaks United’s previous record of 4,018, which was set on June 18, 2014, during a US Open Cup fourth round match against Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy.

“This is a tough one to swallow,” said head coach Michael Dellorusso. “Those are ones that I’ll lose sleep over for sure. We went out and did everything that we wanted to, and they executed and we didn’t. “

Arizona came out of the opening kickoff strong, controlling possession and getting the match’s first scoring chance in the 6th minute with a cross into the box that was deflected by the T2 defense. United continued creating most of the match’s early scoring chances before two defensive miscues led to goals in the 19th and 40th minute by T2 forward Kharlton Belmar.

United played stronger in the second half, sending a barrage of attacks into the T2 box, forcing Portland’s defenders to constantly scramble to defend the net. Forward Brad Stisser fired a loose ball just over the crossbar in the 52nd minute. One minute later, Carl Woszczynski came up with a huge point-blank save to keep the game 2-0. Arizona continued attacking with success, especially along the right channel where Stissler kept getting behind the defense and sending crosses into the box or cutting back inside and slotting passes into dangerous areas. In the 62nd minute, forward Long Tan had his own chance with a header that went just wide of the frame.

“We wanted to play our style,” Delorruso said. “We went four games at the beginning of the year without playing our style. Like I told them before the game, we got nine out of twelve points but it’s the beginning of the season. Unfortunately we didn’t get the result tonight, but everything else we did well. Obviously we need to get a little sharper on the defensive side and in the attacking third.”

Arizona United SC falls to 3-2-0 on the season while T2 improves to 3-2-1. Arizona United gets another shot to earn three points in front of their home crowd (and another opportunity to break an attendance record) next Saturday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Scottsdale Stadium.

For additional ticketing information that includes season tickets and mini-game plans, contact the Arizona United SC front office by calling 623-594-9606 or email at info@arizonaunited.com. Additionally, all Arizona United SC home matches include free parking.

For more information on Arizona United Soccer Club, follow the team on Facebook www.facebook.com/ArizonaUnitedSoccer,  Twitter @AZUnitedSC and Instagram @AZUnitedSC.

Match: Arizona United Soccer Club vs Portland Timbers FC 2
Date: April 25, 2015
Competition: USL
Venue: Scottsdale Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. PT
Weather: Cloudy, 70 degrees
Attendance: 6,108

Scoring Summary:
T2 – Kharlton Belmar (assist: Rundell Winchester) – 19th minute
T2 – Kharlton Belmar – 43rd minute

Misconduct Summary:
T2 – Rennico Clark (caution) – 13th minute
AZ – Jonathan Top (caution) – 24th minute
T2 – Nick Besler (caution) – 70th minute

Stats:
Shots: AZ (11) | T2 (10)
Shots on goal: AZ (2) | T2 (5)
Corner kicks: AZ (7) | T2 (3) 
Offsides: AZ (2) | T2 (4)
Saves: AZ (3) | T2 (2)

Lineups:

Arizona United SC: Carl Woszczynski, Damian Rosales, Tyler Ruthven, Rob Valentino, Scott Morrison, Jose “Chiva” Cuevas, Jonathan Top (Robbie Derschang 76′), Brad Stisser (Alex Shinsky 79′), Long Tan, Dennis Chin

Substitutions not used: Jacole Turner, Devon Grousis, Daniel Antunez, George Malki, Milton Blanco