BEAVERTON — A year ago, the Portland Timbers gave themselves a shot at the MLS Cup playoffs with a win at Dallas on the final day of the season. But later that day, the Vancouver Whitecaps won to claim the final playoff spot.
Timbers coach Caleb Porter wonders if things might have played out differently had the matches been played simultaneously.
Porter is pleased that will be the case on Sunday, when all 10 Western Conference teams play at 4 p.m. with much to be decided.
One other difference this season: The Timbers control their own fate. Beat Colorado at Providence Park and the Timbers will host a playoff match — and perhaps even escape the midweek knockout round. A tie means Portland is in the playoffs, but could be on the road for the one-game knockout round. Lose to the last-place Rapids, and the Timbers might find their season is over.
“Obviously you (will) still check scores, but I think it’s great that all the games are played at the same time,” Porter said.
The Timbers will finish second in the West with a win if both Los Angeles and Vancouver do not win on Sunday.
A Timbers win means the Timbers will finish no worse than fourth place, which means they will at least host a knockout round game on Wednesday or Thursday.
A draw with Colorado clinches a playoff spot, but means Portland could finish anywhere from third to sixth. The fifth- and sixth-place teams are away for the knockout run.
Should Colorado beat Portland, the Timbers would miss the playoffs completely if the three teams currently below them in the standings all win: Seattle (hosting Real Salt Lake), Sporting Kansas City (hosting Los Angeles) and San Jose (visiting Dallas).
Porter said the staff will be monitoring other games.
“If the other results are going a way where a loss means we’re out, that’s where we do have to kind of be a little bit calculated in the second half (against Colorado),” Porter said. “But if we play to win and we’re in a position to win then we don’t need to worry about anything, and that’s going to be our mindset.”
Johnson, Jewsbury training — Will Johnson and Jack Jewsbury have returned to full training. Porter reported that Friday was Johnson’s fifth full training session since missing a month after he had screws removed from the leg he broke last season, while Friday was Jewsbury’s first full session in two weeks because of his foot injury. The status of both for Sunday depends upon their fitness level, the coach said.
Porter declined to comment on how the absence of Diego Valeri on Sunday for yellow card accumulation will influence his lineup choices.
