The Portland Timbers will start the Audi 2015 MLS Cup playoffs by playing host to Sporting Kansas City on Thursday night (7:00pm PT, ROOT SPORTS/UniMas) at Providence Park. Here are five numbers to know for #PORvSKC in a special playoff edition of Quick Strikes by Simple.
34 Thursday will be the 34th playoff game for the Portland Timbers since the club was founded in 1975. The Timbers played 11 postseason matches in the NASL era, 18 in the USL era, and have played four MLS playoff games.
486 No team in MLS took more shots in 2015 than Portland, who finished the regular season with 486 shots. It is the second consecutive season that the Timbers have finished with exactly 486 attempts.
23 With his brace on Sunday, Darlington Nagbe has now scored 23 league goals for Portland, which ties him with Diego Valeri for second-most career goals by a MLS Timbers player behind Fanendo Adi's 25 goals. Nagbe's first career goal came in 2011 against Thursday's opponent, Sporting KC. It earned the 2011 MLS Goal of the Year honors.
17 Portland scored 17 goals after the 75th minute of matches in 2015, which tied them for most in MLS with New York City FC and Toronto FC. Leading the way for Portland in the last 15 minutes of games was Adi, who scored seven goals in that period.
1978 It has been a long time since the Timbers have played in a one-off, winner-take-all playoff match. The last time was August 9, 1978 when John Bain scored an extra time game-winner to defeat the Washington Diplomats in front of 14,230 fans at Civic Stadium. The victory moved Portland onto a home-and-home series with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
