PORTLAND, Ore. – And there went this year’s Cascadia Cup.
On a night when What We’ll Remember is dominated as much by events off the field as on, the on the field aspect can’t be ignored. The Portland Timbers would have won this year’s regional competition with Seattle Sounders FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC with any result on Friday. Instead, and for the second match in a row, the Timbers gave up two goals, never led, and lost an important game at home.
Unlike last week’s defeat at the hands of Atlanta United FC, this one will force some reflection. It can’t be cast as a blip, one where a series of good chances could have turned the game with a little more luck. That’s how Sunday felt. Tonight, it’s different.
Tonight’s 2-1 loss makes it two in row. Two games where the final product wasn’t there. Two games where mistakes at the back happened too often, as well as too soon. Two games that leave you wondering where, exactly, the Timbers are in their season.
It’s always a bad night when 900 people supporting your arch rival get to celebrate in your building, but in terms of the broader season, there are now other concerns. The swagger the Timbers had after finishing their season-opening road trip strong, and after getting road results at New York City FC, Seattle and Los Angeles FC, has disappeared. Now, the team needs to regroup.
“I think, right now, it’s important for the guys to disconnect completely and not think about anything,” head coach Giovanni Savarese said, when asked about how to move forward. “(The coaches) will make sure that we analyze the game for them; that we go back, when we train, and show them the things we can do better. But I think that they need a little time to make sure they can come back strong, mentally calm, and do the things that we do.
“Because when we play (well), we’re a very difficult team. But we have to do it through the entire 90 minutes.”
The Timbers are in an in-between space, right now: between the stretch when they proved they can compete with anybody in MLS and, if things go right in the future, the place they’ll be at closer to the playoffs, when they answer the questions which define the now. Those questions, however, will be part of What We’ll Remember as the season moves forward.
Here are the other memories we’ll take from Friday’s loss.
Jordan Morris vs. Zarek Valentin
If there was one matchup that defined Friday’s match, it was Seattle’s left winger versus Portland’s right back. Twice, tonight, Morris went left and beat Valentin to the end line. Twice, tonight, the Sounders ended up with goals.
