LAFC handed first loss of 2026 by Timbers in heartbreaking fashion

Despite a short-handed starting lineup, LAFC put forth a valiant effort, but eventually fell 2-1 at the hands of the Portland Timbers on Saturday afternoon at Providence Park. The loss was their first of 2026, snapping an 11-game unbeaten run across all competitions.

Kevin Kelsey scored his first goal of the season for Portland in the final moments of stoppage time, giving his squad the lead in dramatic fashion. Kristoffer Velde's cross found Brandon Bye on the receiving end, whose header landed in front of the net for Kelsey to finish.

Just minutes earlier, it was LAFC that thought they had scored the game-winning goal. Timothy Tillman delivered a perfectly placed cross to Ryan Porteous, who used his head to drill home. However, following a replay review, Tillman was ruled offside and the goal was wiped off the board.

 "After losing the game like that so late, when we felt at a certain point we were closer to the 2-1 [win] than them, it's very disappointing," said LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos. "But when I see what everybody was involved in, the amount of rotations we had to do to think about Tuesday at the same time, I'm very proud of the push from the guys."

Los Angeles deployed five different players to make their first-ever MLS starts, with three of them playing in their first MLS game. Dos Santos remained proud of the way his younger players impacted the game despite the end result.

"We are a club that has a second team, an academy and young players that we value," he said. "This was the moment to give them all an opportunity. We fought like a team, and these guys deserved much more tonight."

Thomas Hasal, who got the start at goalkeeper, was sent to the bench as part of a concussion substitution in the 30th minute after colliding with teammate Artem Smolyakov. 21-year-old Cabral Carter served as his replacement, making his debut in a high-pressure situation. Just two minutes after stepping onto the pitch, Carter and LAFC surrendered their first MLS goal of the season, with Portland's Velde firing a shot back across the left side of the pitch that snuck through.

The goal snapped a streak of 572 minutes for L.A. to open the season without conceding a goal, their longest shutout streak in club history. It will go down as the fourth-longest such streak throughout any stretch of a season in MLS history, behind only New York City FC (2022), Sporting KC (2000) and the Houston Dynamo (2007).

Carter managed to put together a solid performance throughout the majority of the match, however, making a clutch triple save in the first half to prevent the Timbers from doubling their lead.

"Cabral probably never thought about coming in and suddenly was playing in his first MLS game," said Dos Santos. "And overall, solid focus."

Another youngster, 17-year-old Jude Terry, came through in a big way for the Black and Gold as he made the first start of his young career. His first MLS appearance came against Orlando City in L.A.'s 6-0 win on April 4. 

With LAFC down 1-0, Terry took a short pass from Matthew Evans and curled it beautifully into the top right corner of the net from well beyond the box to even the score. It was the first goal of his career, providing a huge offensive boost when needed the most.

"I'm happy that the coaching staff and the players had confidence in me to give me the start," said Terry. "I thought the team did well. We came back, we fought back, but it was an unfortunate result."

The LAFC Academy product, who has played alongside Evans since the academy days, was happy to display their chemistry. Terry knew exactly where Evans was going to leave the ball for him and made sure to take advantage. 

"I kind of knew when I hit it," he said. "I knew where I wanted to put it, and when it came off my foot, it was exactly what I wanted to do. I had an idea that it was going in."

Denis Bouanga, who picked up the secondary assist on Terry's score, earned his 100th regular-season goal contribution. Doing so in 108 matches, he is the fifth-fastest to reach the 100 mark in MLS history.

The Black & Gold are 6-7-7 all-time against the Timbers, continuing to struggle against them on the road, with just two victories in 10 total trips to Providence Park.

LAFC will now travel to Puebla, Mexico, for the second leg of its quarterfinal matchup against Cruz Azul next Tuesday, April 14. Currently holding a 3-0 aggregate advantage, they will look to hang on and send home the defending champions of the tournament.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PT.