UPDATE: The results are in. In a close three-way race, the Timbers' big 3-2 victory at Seattle over Sounder FC in 2018 will be the PTFC: From the Archives, presented by KeyBank, rebroadcast to air on April 19, 2020 at 3pm PT on FOX 12 Oregon KPTV. The winning selection had 38.24% of the vote.
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Now is your chance to select what Timbers game should be next on PTFC: From the Archives, presented by KeyBank. The top choice will air on Apr. 19, 2020 at 3pm PT on FOX 12 Oregon KPTV and stream on Timbers.com.
Voting closes on Apr. 14, 2020 at 10am PT.
The nominees:
May 19, 2018 – Timbers with a 2-1 win over LAFC
The fact his first Timbers’ goal was a game-winner has become the afterthought to something more memorable: Samuel Armenteros authoring the best north-end celebration since Fanendo Adi snared Timber Joey’s chainsaw.
In the game’s 81st minute – seven minutes after an exquisite goal from Carlos Vela seemed to salvage a point for LAFC – Armenteros created his signature moment as a Timber, cutting in on to his left foot near the top of the penalty box before beating Tyler Miller inside the goalkeeper’s right post. Between its distance and the purity of the strike, Armenteros’ goal was already more noteworthy than most, but in the moments after his shot touched nylon, the striker’s reaction became the show. After a slight pause, the Benevento loanee broke toward the north end’s capo stand, ascending its stairs to celebrate at the edge of an Army that had just erupted.
Though the Swedish international would return to Italy that offseason, he left having forged something unforgettable.
June 30, 2018 – A 3-2 Timbers win at Seattle with Mabiala brace
The Timbers had never won at CenturyLink Field in the regular season. Ahead of the team’s first meeting of 2018, that footnote felt a little empty, particularly given Portland won at the Sounders’ home in the 2013 playoffs. Technically, though, the footnote was still true, part of the reason why it was so prominently mentioned ahead of the head coach Giovanni Savarese’s first game in Seattle. With the Timbers unbeaten in 11 straight before their trip north, Savarese’s “CLink” debut was as good a time as any to test whether the club’s regular-season visits were cursed.
Spoiler alert: They weren’t. In what turned into a battle of sketchy set-piece defending, Portland struck first, seeing Larrys Mabiala head home a corner kick in the 48th minute. Three goals would come in the next 20 minutes, with Chad Marshall’s own set-piece conversion leaving the teams even at 2-2. Six minutes later, Mabiala would put an end to the regular-season footnote, heading home another corner to give the Timbers a 3-2 lead and their first regular-season victory at CenturyLink Field.
Oct 21, 2018 – A 3-0 win over RSL clinches playoffs with Blanco, Chara, Mabiala goals
The Timbers final record-season victory of 2018 allowed the club to leave another ignominious fact behind, with Portland, to that point, having never made back-to-back playoff appearances in Major League Soccer. Yet thanks to goals from Mabiala, Diego Chara and Sebastián Blanco, Portland would not only return to the postseason but begin to foreshadow their MLS Cup final run, posting a one-sided victory over a Real Salt Lake team who, just over a week later, would eliminate Los Angeles FC from the postseason.
Perhaps as memorable as the result was Chara’s score. Racing 75 yards after Mabiala forced a turnover in front of Portland’s defense, the Timbers legend outpaced eight RSL players (in terms of who was closer to the byline at the time of the turnover), making Nick Rimando the eighth as his single touch of Blanco’s pass rounded the oncoming `keeper, allowing Chara to finish into an empty goal.
