Timbers lock up playoffs
BY DOUG FRY
SPORTS EDITOR
On Sunday, Oct. 15, the third place Portland
Timbers played host to D.C. United in the
second-to-last game o f the regular season.
As always, the Timbers played in front of
a high energy and very enthusiastic crowd
of 21,144 at Jeld-Wen Field.
Portland defeated D.C. in blowout fashion
4-0 and aided the United in achieving MLS
history with the most scoreless games in a
single season (17).
With this win the Timbers have officially
punched their ticket to the MLS postseason
and are looking to regain the MLS Cup., With
a second cham pionship win, the Timbers
could jo in their sister team the Portland
Thoms in a sweep of soccer gold. The Thoms
were crowned the 2017 National Womens
Soccer League champions the night before
and celebrated with a championship parade
proceeding the Timbers win on Sunday.
Mistakes hindered the potential of Portland
lighting up the scoreboard in the first half
o f play. With 11 shots on goal including an
uncontested attempt from Darren Mattocks in
the 43rd minute that sailed over the goal, the
Timbers offense felt relief when, Mattocks
drew a penalty kick in stoppage time. MVP
candidate Diego Valeri stepped to the line
for the free kick and drilled his 20th goal
of the season to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead
at the half.
Head coach Caleb Porter was proud of his
team with what they’ve endured this season.
“Our guys showed a lot o f composure
and patience,” said Porter. “It wasn’t easy,
it took us a while to pick the lock and get
that first goal. Obviously in the second half
we opened the floodgates.”
The second half picked up where the first
left off for the Timbers.
In the 49th m inute o f play, defender
Alvas Powell added to the lead, off of an
assist from Valeri. The scoring did not stop
there, just 10 minutes later Providence Park
erupted following Portland’s third goal from
Timber’s midfielder Sebastián Blanco that
gave Valeri his second assist of the night.
After his performance against D.C., Valeri
becomes the second player to have at least
20 goals and 10 assists in a year.
“I don’t even think there is enough time
to do it justice with all the words you could
say,” said Timbers goalkeeper Jeff Attinella.
“H e’s been a huge part. H e’s a tremendous
leader, he’s an amazing human being, he’s an
amazing player and you just can’t even put
into words what he has meant to the team.”
Porter said he enjoyed that much of the
scoring in this game came from players
working together as a team.
The scoring play o f the night came in
the 85th minute when Blanco left a trail
of defenders on the field before dribbling
around United goalkeeper Steve Clark for
the fourth score of the night.
When asked which of his two goals he
preferred, Blanco stated the first was a
really good strike and the type of play you
need in this time of the season to give him
confidence going forward.
“The second one was just a little choppy,
if you want to call it that,” said Blanco.
W ith its fair share o f offensive plays
the 4-0 m atch saw some bright defense
highlighted by a diving save in the top right
corner of the goal from Attinella.
Portland moves into second place going
into their final game against the Vancouver
Whitecaps on Oct. 22. Portland currently sits
two points behind Vancouver. Which sets up
an epic match between the two teams with
the winner claiming the Cascadia Cup and
will sit atop the Western Conference.
Left: On
Oct. 15 at
Providence
Park, Darren
Mattocks
shows
fruststraion
after missing
on open shot.
Right:
Sebastián
Blanco jukes
defenders on
his way to his
second goal.
Clackamas Print
th e c la c k a m a s p rin t.n e t
OCTOBER 18, 2017