BEAVERTON — Is momentum or rest more important?
The Portland Timbers insist fatigue will not be a factor on Sunday afternoon when the Vancouver Whitecaps visit Providence Park for a MLS Cup Western Conference semifinal-round match.
“I actually like being in the rhythm of playing a mid-week game and weekend games,” said Timbers defender Nat Borchers, who played 120 minutes in Thursday’s dramatic knockout-round win over Sporting Kansas City.
The key to recovering quickly is to sleep well and eat well, according to Borchers
Coach Caleb Porter noted that Sunday is the third day after the Thursday drama. The third day following a match is one of the team’s heaviest training days during a normal week, so the coach expects his club to be physically up to the challenge and to have mentally turned the page.
“The guys looked locked in, they looked ready. They looked turned around mentally,” Porter said following Saturday’s training session.
Porter pointed to the New York Red Bulls’ win at Portland in September as an example of how a good rhythm can mean more than rest. New York, which flew across the country and had only three days between games, controlled the match to win 2-0 over a Portland team playing for only the second time in three weeks.
The Timbers enter this match having scored 12 goals over their last four games, three of them regulation wins and Thursday’s shootout survival.
“There’s been a big wave of momentum,” Porter said. “We’ve got to just keep riding the wave.”
Portland did not beat Vancouver during the regular season, losing 2-1 on the road and tying both home matches. But the Timbers felt good about their play in those matches.
“I think Kansas City prepared us for a physical matchup against a good team, an experienced team, and a team that counters really well,” Borchers said.
But this game will be different than Thursday’s thriller, because this is not a loser-out contest. The teams will play again on Nov. 8 in Vancouver and the team with the most goals over the two games advances to the Western Conference finals. Add the fact that away goals is the first tiebreaker, and the calculation is different from a knockout scenario.
“We know if we have to go and score goals on the road that we can,” Porter said. “In this game we’re going to play to win, but we’ll definitely be smart about it. You can’t let this game get too open, and they won’t as well.”
So neither team is likely to gamble for a tying goal if it falls behind on Sunday. The important thing is not to walk away down multiple goals.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a 1-0 game either way,” Porter said.
Another difference from Thursday is that Porter might go to his bench sooner. He won’t have to worry about the chance of 30 extra minutes, so he can adjust if fatigue or other factors dictate.
A deep playoff run depends upon contributions from many players, Porter said, pointing to Thursday’s late goal from Maxi Urruti off a pass from Dairon Asprilla one example of the impact substitutions can make.
