MATCH INFORMATION
Date: Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015
Kickoff: 2 p.m. (Pacific)
Location: Providence Park (Portland, Ore.) Forecast: Rain, 56 degrees
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referees: George Gansner III, Brian Dunn Fourth Official: Sorin Stoica
National TV: ESPN
Talent: Adrian Healey (play-by-play), Taylor Twellman (analyst)
English Radio: 750/102.9 The Game (KXTG 750AM, 102.9FM)
Talent: Jake Zivin (play-by-play), Ross Smith (analyst)
Spanish Radio: La GranD (KGGD 93.5FM, 1150 AM)
Talent: Josue del Castillo (play-by-play), Ozkar Ramos (analyst)
MATCH PREVIEW
The Timbers earned their second trip to the Western Conference Semifinals in three seasons after battling to a 2-2 draw through regulation and two, 15-minute halves of extra time with a dramatic, 7-6 win on penalty kicks against Sporting Kansas City in the Knockout Round of the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs on Thursday at Providence Park. The 11-round penalty-kick shootout was the longest in the history of the MLS Cup Playoffs. Portland enters the first leg of the two-game, aggregate-goal Western Conference Semifinals against Vancouver on Sunday following short rest after playing 120 minutes on Thursday. White- caps FC, the conference No. 2 seed, earned a bye directly to the conference semifinals and have been idle since Oct. 25. Vancouver beat Houston 3-0 in their regular-season finale.
LAST MATCH RECAP
After battling to a 2-2 draw through regulation and two, 15-minute halves of extra time, the Timbers advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals with a dramatic, 7-6 win on penalty kicks against Sporting Kansas City in the Knock-out Round of the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs in front of a sellout crowd of 21,144 fans at Providence Park on Thursday night. Midfielder Rodney Wallace scored in the 57th minute and forward Maxi Urruti tallied the game-tying goal for Portland in the 118th minute, sending the game to penalty kicks where it lasted for 11 rounds, the longest in MLS Cup Playoff history.
LAST TIME VS. WHITECAPS FC
Midfielder Diego Valeri tallied the game’s opening goal and the Timbers recorded a hard-fought, 1-1 draw against Cascadia-rival Vancouver Whitecaps FC, extending their then-home unbeaten streak to seven consecutive games in a physical match before a sellout crowd of 21,144 fans at Providence Park on July 18. Valeri tallied the go-ahead goal in the 33rd minute, but Vancouver equalized through midfielder Matías Laba in the 57th minute.
ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES
Dating back to the first matchup between the Timbers and Whitecaps on May 16, 1975 – a 2-0 win for Portland in Vancouver – the Timbers are a combined 30-35-17 against their Canadian rivals. The Cascadia rivalry between Portland and Vancouver continues Sunday with the 11th all-time postseason meeting between the sides and the 83rd overall meeting since 1975. In MLS regular-season play, Portland leads the series 6-2-6, including a 3-1-4 record at Providence Park.
Portland traveled to face Vancouver earlier this season, falling 2-1 in a hard-fought derby match on March 28 at BC Place in Vancouver. The loss was just Portland’s first at BC Place in the team’s MLS era. On May 2, the two sides played to a scoreless draw at Providence Park in Portland, before battling to a 1-1 draw on July 18 in Portland.
Sunday’s match marks the first MLS Cup Playoffs match between the two Cascadia clubs, but the fourth overall meeting across all competitions during 2015.
SCOUTING WHITECAPS FC
Vancouver enters the postseason for the second straight season after securing a first-round bye to the Western Conference Semifinals of the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs. Whitecaps FC earned a 3-0 home victory over Houston Dynamo on Oct. 25 at BC Place in their final match of the regular season. Vancouver registered a league-best road record of 7-7-3 overall (.500) during the regular season. Vancouver is led by first-year sensation Octavio Rivero with 10 goals while veteran goalkeeper David Ousted made 99 saves and finished tied with a league-best 13 shutouts during the 2015 regular season.
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.
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. Portland reached the Western Conference Semifinals for the second time in three seasons following a dramatic, penalty-kick win on Thursday against Sporting KC in the Western Conference Knockout Round.
TIMBERS/WHITECAPS PLAYOFF HISTORY
While Sunday marks the first time the Timbers and Whitecaps are set to meet in the MLS postseason, the playoff history between the Cascadia-rivals remains deeply rooted, dating back to the NASL era and the first-ever postseason matchup on Aug. 12, 1978. The Timbers came away with a two-game sweep in 1978, earning a 3-1 win on aggregate. Since 1978, the two sides have faced off a total of 10 times in postseason play across all eras, in five two-game, aggregate-goal series (1978, 2002, ’07, ’09, ’10) with the Timbers also defeating the Whitecaps on aggregate in 2007.
PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE
The Timbers roster features 90 combined games of MLS Cup Playoffs experience with defender Nat Borchers (24 appearances) leading the way. Midfielder Will Johnson (18) is second, while midfielder Jack Jewsbury (14) 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.
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 midfielder Rodney Wallace has registered at least a goal or an assist in three consecutive games across all competitions. After recording consecutive assists in the final two matches of the regular season, Wallace tallied the opening goal against Sporting Kansas City in the Western Conference Knockout Round match on Thursday. Wallace’s goal was his first career postseason goal in his seventh MLS season.
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.
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.
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.
