PORTLAND, Ore
. – Midfielder Ryan Pore scored his fifth goal of the season to lead the Portland Timbers to a 1-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps Thursday in front of 10,783 at PGE Park and capture the Cascadia Cup.
Pore scored his second goal in as many games in the 30th minute and the Timbers backline, anchored by goalkeeper Steve Cronin’s six saves, kept the Whitecaps off the board to record its 10th shutout of the season.
The Timbers (10-1-9, 39pts) move into a two-way tie for first place with the Carolina RailHawks at 39 points with the win. The victory also extends Portland’s USL First Division record unbeaten streak to 19 matches.
With their second win over the Whitecaps this season, Portland captured its first-ever Cascadia Cup – a fan-based derby between the two Northwest rivals. The cup is awarded annually to the team with the best head-to-head record between the clubs. Portland finished the season series against Vancouver with a 2-1-0 record.
Goalkeeper Jay Nolly logged seven saves of his own and forward Marlon James took five shots to lead the Whitecaps (7-8-4, 25pts), who had three-game unbeaten streak come to an end.
Portland looked to pressure the Whitecaps early as Pore attempted the first shot of the match in the sixth minute, lifting a right-footed volley over the bar. Vancouver countered with chances of its own throughout the opening period as the two clubs finished even in shots (8-8) at halftime.
Pore broke the game open at the half hour mark, capitalizing on a breakaway up the middle of the field. Midfielder Johan Claesson threaded a pass up field to spring Pore on a run 40 yards out from goal. Pore chased down the pass and from 10 yards out, curled a shot around Nolly as he charged off the goal line. A Whitecaps defender attempted to clear Pore’s shot off the line, but the ball found its way into the back of the net for a 1-0 Timbers advantage.
In the 39th minute, midfielder Takayuki Suzuki was able to separate from his defender at the top of the box after receiving a pass in from the wing. Suzuki unloaded a shot from 15 yards, forcing Nolly to come up with a key save by punching the shot over the bar.
Portland saw near chances by Pore and forward Mandjou Keita early in the second half just miss their mark. Midfielder Brian Farber, after out-working his defender down the right side of the penalty area, knocked a shot off the back post in the 58th minute.
Cronin turned in an important save in the 63rd minute, denying James on the doorstep after a scramble in the box on a Vancouver corner kick. Following the initial ball in, it was kicked around the box before it found James on the left stick. Cronin stopped James’ attempt with a diving save to his right and then forced the ball out of play over the endline to end the threat.
In the final minutes of the match, Pore had chances to add an insurance goal for the Timbers. In the 86th minute, second-half sub Alex Nimo played a ball over the top for Pore to set up a one-on-one with Nolly. From a tight angle in the box, Pore put his shot wide of the frame. Then in stoppage time, Pore forced Nolly into another late save on an open run into the box.
Prior to Thursday’s match, several former Timbers players, including Garrett Marcum, Lee Morrison, Erik Cronkite, Ryan Youngblood, Jarrod Weiss, John Bain, Jimmy Conway, Bernie Fagan and Bill Irwin, were recognized as the Timbers celebrated Alumni Night at PGE Park.
The Timbers face the Charleston Battery Saturday at PGE Park on Nike Night; kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The first 1,000 kids 12 and under receive a Nike drawstring bag. Tickets start at $11 and are available through the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000.
Notes:
Claesson was credited with his first assist of the season on Pore’s goal … Portland played without forward Jason McLaughlin due to a one-game, league-imposed suspension for his red card ejection on Aug. 1 … The Timbers improve to 7-0-2 at home this season and have out-scored opponents 17-2 at PGE Park.
Lineups:
POR: GK Cronin, D Knowles, D Hayes, D Keel, D Nishimura (Savage, 82), M Farber (Thompson, 63), M Claesson, M McManus, M Suzuki (Nimo, 73), F Keita (Forrest, 89), F Pore
VAN: GK Nolly, D Knight, D Reda, D Pozniak, D Trafford, M Davies (Arze, 57), M Chin, M Nash (Gage, 73), M Burgess (Bellisomo, 64), F Haber (Gbeke, 70), F James (Edwini-Bonsu, 81)
Scoring Summary:
POR: Pore (Claesson, 30)
