(Click on any image to go to gallery and see full size)

Kharlton Belmar scored a pair of goals in the second half to lift the Portland Timbers U-23s to a 3-0 win over the Sounders U-23s in front of 1,012 soccer fans at Tumwater Stadium.

Belmar, who will be a senior at Virginia Commonwealth in the fall, broke a scoreless tie in the 58th minute when he won a loose ball in the box that got behind Sounders keeper Jeff Caldwell. 13 minutes later, Will Seymore scored off of a corner kick to give the Timbers a two goal lead and Belmar finished it off and recorded a brace with another goal in the 85th minute.

Caldwell was peppered all afternoon as the Timbers racked up 18 shots with the Sounders keeper making seven saves. Conversely, Timbers keeper Justin Luthy only had to make one save in the shutout. It was just the second win of the season for the Portland squad and they move to within a point of the Sounders in the table.

The contest at Tumwater Stadium was a fundraiser for Blackhills FC with the majority of the 1,000+ in attendance affiliated with the youth soccer program. Blackhills president Scott Kee said that his organization raised “a couple thousand dollars” on Sunday.