It had to feel a bit surreal for Gage Guerra. In the moments after Portland’s 3-2 Open Cup win over Tacoma on Tuesday, Guerra was pulled in front of a Timbers banner and spoke with media for the first time in his professional career. Behind him, Timbers supporters nearly drowned out his voice with drums and chants as Guerra tried to contextualize the day he had. It was just that morning that the Timbers announced that Guerra, along with five of his T2 teammates, would be joining the first-team roster for its Round of 32 match against MLS Next Pro side Tacoma. Maybe he figured he’d get a few minutes once the Timbers were comfortably ahead. Instead, with Portland down 2-1 in the 79th minute, Guerra made his Timbers debut with fairly simple instructions from manager Phil Neville. “Go get a goal. Go score. Go be the hero,” Guerra said his coach told him. Guerra was only on the pitch for a minute before Ian Smith took a ball along the left side and crossed it into the box. Guerra took a run, he jumped and squared the ball up with his head, sending it past Tacoma keeper Andrew Thomas for the equalizer. Thirteen minutes later, Kevin Kelsy won it for the Timbers in the 93rd with a penalty. Portland survived and advanced to the Round of 16 because Guerra did exactly what Neville told him to do. He was the hero — not for the first time in his career. From Texas, Guerra played with the Houston Dynamo Academy as a sophomore and junior in high school before returning to Kingwood Park High School as a senior, leading the Panthers to a 26-3-2 record. He scored three goals to help Kingwood out of a 3-1 deficit in the Texas 5A semifinals, then scored the Panthers’ lone two goals in the 3-2 championship game loss to Frisco Wakeland. “I knew we could come back — it was just a matter of time,” Guerra told reporters after the semifinal. “I tried to make sure that everyone had that same energy and faith that we would get through.” Guerra was named the Houston boys soccer player of the year, then took his talents to college, where he scored 15 goals in two seasons with Army, then 16 goals in two seasons with Louisville. His seven goals as a junior with the Cardinals got him on the Timbers’ radar, who picked him 69th in the Dec. 2023 MLS SuperDraft. Then he followed that up with a senior year that saw him lead Louisville in scoring (9 goals) and earn a spot on the All-ACC Third Team roster. Guerra earned that honor just two weeks before signing his first professional contract with T2 in November. In February, he scored a brace for the Timbers in preseason action against San Diego FC. In April, his hat trick led T2 to a 3-2 win over Ventura County FC. And even before the Timbers needed to call up the reserves for Tuesday’s Open Cup match at Starfire Sports Complex, Neville had taken note that the 22-year-old rookie was becoming a difference maker. “He’s close to the squad now,” Neville said. “He scored three goals in training yesterday. Well before the game, we said if we needed a goal, Gage was the guy to put on. He’s a goal scorer and I think he’s got a big chance at this football club.” Thanks to Guerra, the Timbers are on to the Round of 16, where the club will face the winner of Wednesday’s San Jose Earthquakes/Sacramento Republic FC match in two weeks. Maybe we’ll see Guerra again in that match. Maybe we’ll see him again before it — the Timbers have a loaded schedule in May with five¹ more MLS league matches to close the month. However the Timbers decide to use their rookie, Guerra figures he’ll just keep doing what he’s always done. “It’s a pretty intense environment whenever you’re down a goal,” Guerra said. “But my job is to come in and score, so I was ready for the moment. The whole time on the side just instilled belief in me with the teammates all telling me they think I’m going to go in and get a goal. “…It’s the dream, honestly. I’ve dreamt of this my whole life. I want to come in. I want to play at the best level to the best of my abilities.” This article originally appeared in The I-5 Corridor. -- Tyson Alger ¹It would have been six, but Portland’s May 31 game at Vancouver has been rescheduled for September.