Through the looking glass, the Portland Timbers are the New England Revolution. They’re the team who, with a first-year coach, finds its season on the brink, their small losing streak having turning into a bonafide free fall. They’re on the outside looking in on a playoff race they’d been a part of most of the season, left holding onto the hope a new style the team has embraced will, with a little faith and confidence, come good.
The Timbers escaped that world with Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Toronto FC – a performance which, with the virtue of three points, cast the team’s former, four-game losing streak in a new light.