PORTLAND
, Ore.
– With two regular-season matches remaining, the Portland Timbers won the 2009 USL First Division Commissioner’s Cup as the regular-season champion Saturday, the result of the Carolina RailHawks 2-1 victory over the Puerto Rico Islanders in Cary, N.C.
The Timbers, who occupy first place in the USL First Division standings with a record of 15-3-10 (55pts), have captured their second Commissioner’s Cup in modern-franchise history. Portland won its first regular-season title in 2004, assembling a league-best 18-7-3 (57pts) record.
While the second-place RailHawks and the fourth-place Charleston Battery can still reach 55 points by winning their remaining regular-season matches, the Timbers hold the advantage in the three-way tiebreaker should they all finish even in points, as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker over both clubs should one of the two catch them in the standings.
As the Commissioner’s Cup winner, the Timbers will enter the USL First Division playoffs as the No. 1 seed and receive a first-round bye to the semifinals slated for Oct. 1-4.
“Winning the Commissioner’s Cup is a special honor for our organization,” said Timbers head coach and general manager
Gavin Wilkinson
. “Credit needs to be given to the hard work put in by the players and the organization as well as our outstanding fan support. With the support the city of Portland has given the Timbers, we will continue to work hard towards our goal of bringing a championship here as well.”
The USL First Division playoffs begin Sept. 24, with the first and semifinal rounds consisting of a two-game, aggregate-goal series. New this season, the championship round will also consist of a two-game series, starting Oct. 9.
Portland clinched a playoff spot on Aug. 22, with a 3-1 win over the Miami FC Blues at PGE Park. The Timbers will advance to the postseason for a sixth time since joining the USL First Division in 2001.
The Timbers play host to the Cleveland City Stars Sunday on All-About-Kids Day at PGE Park. Kids 12 and under eat free prior to kickoff at 5 p.m. as part of the Timbers’ new Kids-Eat-Free plan. Tickets start at $11 and are available at the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at
www.ticketmaster.com
or by phone at (800) 745-3000.
