But Timbers coach Caleb Porter said he was never anxious. They’re the exact same, I believe. “That’s a deep question”.
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Portland took a longer road to reach the final; beating Sporting KC in an epic penalty shootout, defeating Cascadia rivals the Vancouver Whitecaps, and advancing to MLS Cup after a convincing series win over FC Dallas.
In the 11-round shootout, jaws dropped when Kansas City rookie Saad Abdul-Salaam’s shot unbelievably bounced off both posts and out of the goal.
Portland’s best player: Midfielder Diego Valeri.
Portland, typically known for its stout defense and slow build-up play has experienced an offensive explosion in the playoffs, while Crew SC, who typically look to outscore opponents rather than keep them off the scoresheet, suddenly have a solid defense behind Sauro, Parkhurst and full-backs Waylon Francis and Harrison Afful. And he’s really turned things around. But if you’re able hang on and going through the suffering then you survive. “I think we were close”, Berhalter said after the match.
While the Timbers pondered destiny, the Crew were dealing with uncertainty.
Columbus forward Kei Kamara, who was a finalist for the league’s MVP award, suffered a right leg injury during the team’s final training session on Saturday. The striker from Sierra Leone tied for the MLS goals lead with 22 in the regular season.
“All year, something like that hasn’t happened”, Columbus coach Gregg Berhalter said.
The club’s Twitter account provided information once Kamara had been evaluated, confirming the 31-year-old will be a game-time decision. Of the six MLS Cup finals not held on a neutral field, the home team won five times.
“The fact of the matter is, with three games and two weeks left to go in the regular season, this team was not making the playoffs”. In the conference semifinals, Columbus beat Montreal 4-3 with extra time, and claimed the East title with a 2-1 victory on aggregate over NY.
Several Timbers players, who were almost hit by the projectiles, quickly moved away from the disgruntled fans to continue their celebration.
After a less-than-impressive 2014 season in a stacked MLS Western Conference (12-9-13), the Timbers decided to make some significant moves in regards to their roster.
The Columbus Crew S.C. play this weekend for a second M.L.S. title in team history. The Timbers had another near-miss in the 70th minute when forward Fanendo Adi’s header banged off the right post.
The Timbers are unbeaten in eight-consecutive MLS matches, including postseason (5W 3D in regulation, 6W 2D including PKs). And it was yet another goalkeeper error, this one by Portland’s Adam Kwarasey, that led to the Columbus goal. The goal scorer is awarded the slice. Portland is the 24th largest TV market playing in Columbus, the 31st largest US TV market. They recently changed the rules at Mapfre to ban both chainsaws and “logs of any wooden variety”.
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How did the Timbers get here?
