Quarterfinal Second Leg – Timbers 1 – Vancouver 0

There was no Miracle at Merlo as Portland Timbers defeated Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 on Sunday, losing the quarterfinal tie 2-1 on aggregate. James Marcelin’s header from an Ian Joy cross just after half-time was all the Timbers could muster, despite peppering Vancouver goalkeeper Jay Nolly with shots, particularly in the opening and dying minutes. The aggregate loss marks the second consecutive playoff defeat to the Whitecaps, both of which have come with Portland as the higher seeded team.

This space struggles to understand the tactics and substitution patterns of now former manager Gavin Wilkinson. Hoofing long balls from the back, particularly from Stephen Keel and Kevin Goldthwaite, who was on his Timbers’ starting debut, did very little to create scoring chances. Entering the game, Portland knew two goals would be the minimum requirement for avoiding elimination, yet repeated build-ups appeared to be out of the question for Wilkinson. The Timbers did have several very nice chances in the early moments, particularly from the head of Doug DeMartin and a strike from Bright Dike that drifted just wide. Yet those chances came more from poor defending than well-executed build-up.

In the end, Vancouver were disgraceful in their time-wasting. Clearly manager Teitur Thordarson had either no control of his players or does not have enough class to play out a full ninety minute match. The referee did seem to give Portland some time beyond the four minutes of ‘injury’ time, so in that regard, the Timbers cannot complain.

Ultimately Portland were just too poor in the first leg to overcome Vancouver. Again.

Category: Playoffs, Portland Timbers, USSF Division II