PORTLAND, Ore.
– Following a pair of international exhibition matches, the Portland Timbers return to league action and open a four-game road stretch Thursday as they travel to face the Vancouver Whitecaps at Swangard Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
The matchup between the Northwest rivals and 2011 Major League Soccer expansion clubs will air live on 95.5 The Game, with a live video webcast available at
www.portlandtimbers.com/live
.
In USSF Division-2 Pro League play, the Timbers (6-5-5, 23pts) are on a four-game unbeaten streak and have matched a team record with four consecutive shutouts. The Timbers have not allowed a goal since their 1-0 loss to the NSC Minnesota Stars on June 17 at PGE Park – a span of 430 minutes, which is a new modern-franchise record.
During its break from the regular season, Portland split back-to-back exhibition contests, defeating Mexico’s Club Deportivo Atlas of the Primera Division on July 11 before taking a loss to the English Premier League’s Manchester City over the weekend.
In their last regular-season contest on July 10, the Timbers defeated the Miami FC Blues 2-0 at PGE Park. In that match, midfielder
Ryan Pore
scored his league-leading 10th goal of the season and became just the third Timbers player since 2001 to record consecutive 10-goal seasons.
The Timbers are in fourth place in the USL Conference and sit just four points back of the second-place Rochester Rhinos.
Thursday’s match features two of the top defenses in the USSF D-2 Pro League; Portland and Vancouver (7-2-8, 29pts) share the league lead for fewest goals allowed (10). The Timbers are 1-0-1 against the Whitecaps this season, playing the first two games of the four-game, regular-season series at PGE Park. Since 2001, the Timbers are 10-18-9 in regular-season matches against the Whitecaps, but have posted a 1-14-2 record in Vancouver over the past 10 seasons. The two sides meet for the fourth and final time during the regular season as lower-division foes in Vancouver on Oct. 2.
The Timbers hold the lead in the race for the 2010 Cascadia Cup – a fan-based derby between Portland and Vancouver. Started in 2004, the Cascadia Cup was originally a competition between United Soccer Leagues’ Seattle Sounders, Portland and Vancouver, and the cup was awarded to the team with the best record in head-to-head matchups. All three clubs will compete for the cup once again in 2011 when the Timbers and Whitecaps join Seattle Sounders FC in MLS. The Timbers won the Cascadia Cup for the first time last season.
The Whitecaps are in first place in the NASL Conference standings and enter Thursday’s tilt on a 10-game unbeaten streak (4-0-5). In their last match, midfielder Blake Wagner scored all three goals to lead the Whitecaps to a 3-1 win over the Miami FC Blues at home on July 14. The Whitecaps are in the middle of a four-game homestand at Swangard Stadium, where they are unbeaten (5-0-4) in 2010. On Tuesday, the Whitecaps traded midfielders Ricardo Sanchez and Jonny Steele to FC Tampa Bay Rowdies for future considerations.
After facing the Whitecaps on Thursday, the Timbers will embark on a three-game road trip, starting July 28 against AC St. Louis. Portland will then travel to meet the Rowdies and Rochester Rhinos, playing all three away games in an eight-day span.
