December 9, 2015
Page 5
S
PORTS
Best in Major League Soccer
Timbers find perfection
as post season champs
(AP) The Portland Timbers had a plan to at-
tack early in their first MLS Cup appearance.
They didn’t expect it to work to perfection so
quickly.
Diego Valeri scored 27 seconds after the
opening whistle for the fastest goal in Major
League Soccer Cup history to stun the Colum-
bus Crew and their home fans Sunday in Co-
lumbus, Ohio.
A second goal in the seventh minute by Rod-
ney Wallace provided all the scoring the Tim-
bers needed to beat the Crew 2-1 for their first
league title.
The first goal came when Columbus mid-
fielder Wil Trapp sent a back pass to goalkeeper
Steve Clark, who tried to move the ball from his
right foot to the left for a clearance. But Clark
didn’t see Valeri closing and the midfielder
Columbus Crew midfielder Wil Trapp
(left) heads the ball away from
Portland Timbers forward Darlington
Nagbe in the first half of the
championship MLS Cup match Sunday
in Columbus, Ohio. Portland went on
to defeat the Crew 2-1 to claim their
first national title. (AP photo)
Far West Classic Returns
The spirit of a legendary 40-
year holiday basketball tradition
returns this month when Oregon
State University and University of
Portland host the Far West Classic
Invite at Moda Center.
The two-day doubleheader
features the Pilots against Weber
State on Friday night, Dec. 18,
followed by Cal State Fullerton
and the Beavers. On Saturday,
Dec. 19 Portland faces Cal State
Fullerton while Oregon State
takes on Tulsa.
For tickets and more informa-
tion, visit rosequarter.com
poked the ball away from him and into the goal.
The Crew had barely recovered when a men-
tal gaffe gave Portland a controversial second
goal.
Crew midfielder Tony Tchani and several
teammates stopped playing when the ball rolled
several feet over the right boundary. Instead of
a stoppage for a throw-in, Portland’s Darlington
Nagbe kept going with the ball and sent a pass
wide to Lucas Melano, who found Wallace for
the header.
Kei Kamara, the Crew star who tied for the
MLS regular-season lead in goals with 22,
made it 2-1 in the 18th minute off a poor punch
of the ball by Timbers goalkeeper Adam Larsen
Kwarasey.
But that was the only shot on target among
the nine Columbus took in the match.
“We were never in danger,” Portland coach
Caleb Porte said. “We were comfortable. We
were tight. We saw the game out. We shut it
down. That’s a part of winning.”
The victory capped a three-year mission for
Porter, who led the University of Akron to an
NCAA title in 2010 before leaving in August
2012 to join the Timbers.
Even though Portland has been in MLS only
since 2011, the Timbers go 40 years back to
the North American Soccer League when they
played for a championship and lost to the Tam-
pa Bay Rowdies in the 1975 NASL Cup.
The Timbers are the 13th club to reach the
MLS Cup and the 10th to win it.