Game 15: Portland Timbers v. Vancouver Whitecaps

2010 Match-Up Images Courtesy of Spacewalk Creative

Both Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps reach the mid-way point of their seasons this evening when the Cascadia rivals play for the second time at PGE Park. Portland are coming off of their disappointing loss to Seattle Sounders in the US Open Cup while Vancouver defeated Montreal away on Wednesday night. In fact, the Whitecaps have not lost since May. The Timbers are on two straight wins after eight consecutive non-winning results.

Prior to the past two weeks, Portland’s last victory was an April 29 win against Vancouver. At that time Ryan Pore was the team’s star. Today it is Bright Dike, the young forward who has scored five goals in three games, including two US Open Cup ties. With Gavin Wilkinson’s apparent plan to try players out, Dike can be expected to start up front with some combination of Doug DeMartin, Pore or Mandjou Keita.

At the moment, Vancouver are atop the NASL table while Portland sit in fourth place in the much more difficult USL side. The Timbers actually have more points than any side other than the Whitecaps on the NASL side but are a distant fourth place in their own half of the standings. The Timbers played most starters last weekend against Tampa and again mid-week against Seattle in the Cup so it will be interesting to see who Wilkinson chooses for this tie. With the Cascadia Cup on the line with every Vancouver match, the Timbers will be keen to earn a positive result at the exact half-way point of this final second division season for each side.

Category: Cascadia Cup, Portland Timbers, USSF Division II