Editor's Note: As part of the Portland Timbers celebration of their 10th season in MLS, Timbers.com will be doing unique content throughout the year that looks back at some of the more memorable moments of the team's history.
As part of that, Mike Donovan, resident "StatMan" will be doing a monthly series that highlights some of the more curious numbers, stats and moments of the #TimbersX years.
To celebrate the first month of the year, here is a look at 10 different firsts that the Timbers have had in their MLS era.
0 In Portland's 2015 season opener, goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey delivered a clean sheet in his first match with the Timbers. In the 0-0 draw against Real Salt Lake, Kwarasey became the first Timbers goalkeeper to record a shutout in his MLS debut. Kwarasey went on to deliver an MLS-leading 13 shutouts in 2015 and helped lead Portland to the 2015 MLS Cup – their first.
2 On June 26, 2016, the Timbers won a match after facing a two-goal deficit for the first time. After conceding twice in the first half to the Houston Dynamo, a Diego Valeri brace paired with a Lucas Melano goal were enough for the club to earn a 3-2 victory in front of a raucous Providence Park crowd.
2 When the Timbers defeated Seattle Sounders FC on June 20, 2018, defender Larrys Mabiala became the first Timbers player to notch a brace in an MLS match at Seattle. Mabiala also became the first Timbers defender with two goals in a single match as Portland defeated its rivals, 3-2.
4 After qualifying for the competition by virtue of having the best record in MLS's Western Conference in 2013, the Timbers played their first CONCACAF Champions league match on Aug. 19, 2014 when they took on Guyana's Alpha United. The match also marked the first time ever that Portland played outside the United States or Canada. In the game itself, Portland scored four times with Steve Zakuani scoring the first goal as the Timbers cruised to a 4-1 win.
5 In the final regular season game of 2013, the Timbers hammered Chivas USA, scoring five goals in a single match for the first time as an MLS club. The 5-0 victory at the then-named StubHub Center secured the number one seed in the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs. Valeri scored twice and added an assist, all in the first half, to lead the way for Portland.
7/16/11 The Portland Timbers secured their first road win in MLS play when the club defeated the Chicago Fire, 1-0, on July 16, 2011. Jack Jewsbury delivered the lone goal when he fired home an unstoppable penalty kick after Jorge Perlaza was fouled in the box giving the club its first MLS victory away from home.
9 In the midst of his 2017 MVP season, Valeri became the first MLS player to ever score in nine consecutive matches. In the final game of the record-setting run, Valeri notched a brace as Portland defeated Orlando, 3-0 on Sept. 24, 2017.
:35 Gastón Fernández became the first Timbers player to score in the first minute of an MLS match when he finished off a Valeri cross against D.C. United on May 3, 2014 in Portland's 3-2 win. Fernández's goal at 0:35 remains the earliest ever scored by the club in a regular-season match. The game itself is the only match in MLS history where a team has scored a first minute goal and a stoppage-time game-winner.
98 Over their time in MLS, Portland has had many players called up for national team duty, but the first Timbers player to be called into a national team in the club's MLS era was Futty Danso, who had also played for Portland in the USL era. Danso was called in by The Gambia for their match against Equatorial Guinea, which was played on March 29, 2011.
214 The first draft pick the Timbers ever made in an MLS draft was Darlington Nagbe, who the club selected with the second overall pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. Nagbe went onto play seven seasons with the club and finished his Timbers career with 214 regular season games played, which ranks as second-most games ever by a Timbers player in all eras of the club.
