MATCH INFORMATION
Date: Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015
Kickoff: 7 p.m. (Pacific)
Location: Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Forecast: Scattered Showers, 62 degrees
Referee: Armando Villarreal
Assistant Referees: Peter Manikowski, Corey Parker Fourth Official: Allen Chapman
Local TV: ROOT SPORTS
Talent: Jake Zivin (play-by-play), Ross Smith (analyst), Samantha Yarock (sideline reporter)
National Spanish TV: UniMás
Talent: Raul Guzman (play-by-play), Marcelo Balboa (analyst), Ana Caty Hernandez (sideline reporter)
English Radio: KXL 101.1 FM
Talent: Keith Bleyer (play-by-play), Brett Jacobs (analyst)
Spanish Radio: La GranD (KGGD 93.5FM, 1150 AM)
Talent: Josue del Castillo (play-by-play), Ozkar Ramos (analyst)
MATCH PREVIEW
The Timbers secured their second trip to the MLS Cup Playoffs in the last three seasons with a 4-1 victory against the Colorado Rapids on Sunday night at Providence Park, earning the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and the right to play host to No. 6 seed Sporting Kansas City in a single-elimination, Western Conference Knockout Round match on Thursday at Providence Park. Over its last two regular-season games, Portland has registered nine goals, including five in the final 25 minutes of a 5-2 road win against the LA Galaxy on Oct. 18 and four in a regular-season ending 4-1 win against the Rapids. Sporting Kansas City enters the postseason as the conference’s No. 6 seed following a 2-1 win against the LA Galaxy on Sunday at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.
TALK TIMBERS
Hosts Fletcher Johnson and Ross Smith talk ahead of the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs with Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe and head coach Caleb Porter.
LAST MATCH RECAP
The Timbers secured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and a spot in the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs as midfielder Darlington Nagbe tallied two goals and one assist to help lead Portland to a 4-1 win against the Colorado Rapids in front of a sellout crowd of 21,144 fans on Sunday evening at Providence Park. Portland finished the regular-season schedule with three consecutive wins to set a new MLS-club record mark for wins (15) in a single season.
LAST TIME VS. SPORTING KC
Despite controlling a majority of the possession and registering a 17-8 advantage in shots, the Timbers conceded a goal late in the second half in a 1-0 loss against Western Conference side Sporting Kansas City in front of a sellout crowd of 21,144 fans at Providence Park on Oct. 3. Sporting KC grabbed the lead in the 83rd minute as forward Krisztian Nemeth dribbled into the box, placing a low, hard shot into the bottom-left corner of the goal.
ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES
Thursday’s match marks the first time Portland and Sporting Kansas City meet in postseason play, but the 10th all-time meeting across all competitions since 2011. The two clubs have squared off eight times in regular-season play since 2011, with Sporting Kansas City previously a part of the Eastern Conference until making the switch to the Western Conference in 2015 with the additions of expansion sides Orlando City SC and New York City FC. Outside of regular-season action, Portland earned a 3-1 win against Sporting Kansas City on June 24, 2014, in the fifth round of the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Sporting Park.
Across all competitions, Portland has registered a 3-4-2 overall record. Thursday’s match marks the fourth meeting of 2015, as Portland earned a 0-1-2 record against Sporting Kansas City during the regular season.
SCOUTING SPORTING KC
Sporting Kansas City enters the postseason following a 2-1 win against the LA Galaxy on Sunday at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. Forward Dom Dwyer’s strike in the 65th minute lifted Sporting Kansas City to the win over the defend- ing MLS Cup-champion Galaxy and into the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. Head coach Peter Vermes’ side won the league’s title in 2013, defeating Real Salt Lake on penalty kicks in a dramatic final, but struggled down the stretch this season with just three wins in their final 12 regular-season games. Dwyer leads the club with 12 goals, while midfielder Benny Feilhaber has tallied 10 goals and 15 assists. Forward Krisztian Nemeth has chipped in 10 goals in his first season with the club.
LATE-SEASON FORM
Since the 2013 season, the Timbers have posted a regular-season record of 13-3-7 overall during the months of September and October, including a mark of 7-2-4 at Providence Park.
SOLID DEFENDING
The Timbers defense finished the season tied for first in MLS with 13 clean sheets in 34 games. Over the last three seasons, Portland has registered the most shutouts (35) among all MLS teams.
MLS CUP PLAYOFFS HISTORY
Portland has reached the MLS Cup Playoffs for the second time in three seasons under head coach Caleb Porter. In Porter’s first season in 2013, the Timbers finished as the top seed in the Western Conference and defeated Seattle Sounders FC 5-3 on aggregate in the two-leg, conference semifinals round after bypassing the knockout round. In the conference finals, Portland fell to Real Salt Lake 5-2 on aggregate. In 2014, the Timbers missed out on the postseason by just one point.
PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE
The Timbers roster features 76 combined games of MLS Cup Playoffs experience with defender Nat Borchers (23 appearances) leading the way. Midfielder Will Johnson (18) is second, while midfielder Jack Jewsbury (13) ranks third in career postseason appearances. Borchers and Johnson helped Real Salt Lake win the 2009 MLS Cup in penalty kicks against the LA Galaxy, while Borchers also helped guide Real Salt Lake to the 2013 MLS Cup as RSL lost on penalty kicks to Sporting Kansas City. Jewsbury started and played 66 minutes for the Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting KC) in the 2004 MLS Cup as Kansas City lost 3-2 against D.C. United.
2015 SEASON BY THE NUMBERS
Portland concluded the 2015 season with several impressive marks in a variety of categories. The Timbers racked up an MLS-club record mark with 15 wins, while tying for the league lead in shutouts (13). Portland finished with the league lead in both chances created (477) and total shots (486), while also conceding the third-fewest goals (39) among all teams.
AGAINST THE WESTERN CONFERENCE
The Timbers have put together a 7-1-8 regular-season home record against teams from the Western Conference, dating back to Sept. 7, 2014. The Timbers have lost just four home games (12-4-8) in their last 23 at Providence Park dating back to the 2014 season. Portland has earned five regular-season home shutouts against Western Conference sides in 2015.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe was named Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 34 of the 2015 MLS season, it was announced on Tuesday. Nagbe, 25, registered a first- half brace and added an assist to help guide the Timbers to a 4-1 win against the Colorado Rapids on Sunday at Providence Park. This marks Nagbe’s first MLS Player of the Week award as he also becomes the sixth different Timbers player to earn the honor since 2011. Additionally, it is the second straight week a Timbers player has earned the award after forward Fanendo Adi was named NASR MLS Player of the Week for Week 33 of the regular season.
WINNING AT HOME
The Timbers finished among league leaders with a 8-3-6 overall record at Providence Park during the 2015 season, including a Timbers MLS-club-record-tying streak of five straight wins from May 27-July 5. Portland has compiled one of the league’s best home records with an overall mark of 24-7-20 (.667) over the last three seasons since 2013. The Timbers’ seven home losses since 2013 is the second fewest of any team in the league over that span of time.
CONSISTENCY
Over the last three seasons, the Timbers have compiled regular-season point totals of 57 (2013), 49 (2014) and 53 (2015), reaching the postseason in two of the last three years. Over that span of time, Portland’s combined point total (159) ranks as the fourth most in MLS, behind only the New York Red Bulls (169), Seattle Sounders FC (167) and LA Galaxy (165).
STREAKING
Timbers forward Fanendo Adi has registered six goals in the last five regular- season matches, including scoring a goal in three straight games heading into the postseason. Midfielder Darlington Nagbe has scored in back-to-back games, including a brace in the regular-season finale against Colorado on Sunday. Additionally, midfielder Rodney Wallace has registered an assist in consecutive games.
SCORING FIRST
Portland finished as the best team in the league when scoring the all-important opening goal this season. The Timbers registered an undefeated 14-0-2 overall record when scoring first and were one of just two teams (Houston, 10-0-4) to have never lost after scoring the opening goal.
