PORTLAND, Ore. – If the rest of the season goes as planned, this will be the most dramatic victory of the season – a level of suspense and payoff that isn’t that uncommon for this group.
The playoff victory last season in Seattle. Then the same dramatics in the next round, in Kansas City. The core that the Portland Timbers refined two years ago has gotten used to seeing their backs pushed to the wall and then responding. Perhaps Saturday night’s stakes weren’t as high as last year’s postseason, but the drama was equally profound.
Finding themselves down to a flukey Benny Feilhaber goal after 65 minutes, the Timbers nearly saw a night of patient control go for naught, only to have late goals from Jeremy Ebobisse and, four minutes into added time, Brian Fernandez salvage victory.