2015 Playoffs – MLS Cup Report

If you’re a follower of this blog, that means you’re a fan of the league, which means you probably watched the game on Sunday.  Maybe you were there, like I was.  Assuming all of that, you know the score and how things went, so here are details from our Cleveland-centric point-of-view.

MLS Cup XX
COLUMBUS CREW SC  1-2  PORTLAND TIMBERS FC  •  @ MAPFRE Stadium
Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] was the backup goalie for the Black and Gold and Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] did not dress.  On the winning side, Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started and played all 90.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] and Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] did not dress for the game.

Here are four thoughts I had while at the game and/or watching the game again once I got home and/or in the days following the game:

1.  Someone who doesn’t really know soccer might say that “Nagbe really didn’t do anything during the game.”  In truth he did a LOT.  We all know that stats don’t always tell the story in soccer, and when you look the fact he only took one shot, and he only attempted 37 passes – out of Portland’s 312 total – that’s not a lot for a guy with his ability to change a game.  But it was pretty clear that his role on the day was more about trying to keep Justin Meram quiet and he did such a good job of it that Meram was subbed out in the 78th minute.  The vision of him chasing down the fresh-legged Cedric Mabwati – who had a ten-yard head start – late in the second half to beat him to a through ball and win possession.  I’m not sure Nagbe gets enough credit for the work he does defensively, and his work was incredibly important and nearly perfect on Sunday.  That’s sometimes harder to notice than the goals he creates.
2. Our seats were in the corner of MAPFRE Stadium, just above the tunnel.  The Timbers who didn’t dress for the game were in a tent up above us on the concourse.  You should have seen those guys laughing and celebrating and partying after that first goal went in.  Several of them had a look on their face that said, “OMG! We are going to win this game!”  That’s something I’ll never forget.
3. I’m going to take off my objective journalist hat for a second here…  It’s been over-discussed that the assistant ref made a mistake and should’ve called that ball out that began the Timbers’ second goal.  It’s also been over-discussed that “you don’t stop playing until the whistle,” and that the Crew made a bunch of errors from that point (Tchani stopped playing and didn’t chase Nagbe, Francis had taken a knock and didn’t close down the cross from Melano, Wallace went right by Afful to head home, some jerks in the Nordecke threw stuff onto the field).  As a Crew fan, it’s hard to stomach “giving the title” to Portland like that on two horrible errors.  It was hard to watch the team that we all loved to watch all season when they were at their attacking best, find itself lacking in ideas and unable to break down the Timbers’ nine-behind-the-ball blockade.  Don’t get me wrong, I coach HS soccer and this past season, we had two teams do that to us and my boys got frustrated and yelled at each other and eventually ended up winning both games, so I know how hard it can be to find a crack in a team that’s so well-disciplined defensively.  Portland led the league with 13 regular-season shutouts for a reason.  My hat is off to them for, as their TIFO put it, coming to Columbus to “do what they say can’t be done.”  (Thank you very much, Jerry Reed.)  And while I’m extremely happy for our three guys who are going to get sized for MLS Cup Championship rings, but at the same time – from this blog’s point-of-view and also from a Crew SC fan point-of-view – I’m soooooooooo bummed for our two who came so close.  
4. A friend of mine who is a Timbers season ticket holder made the trip in for the game.  We met up pregame to chat a bit and one thing he said stood out to me, “I think the wood-work is going to play a role today.  It’s been a part of every big game for us so far on this playoff run.”  Turns out he was right!  In the second half, the Timbers – AND THE CREW – hit Steve Clark’s posts and crossbar at least three times.  The wood-work didn’t decide the outcome of the contest, but it kept it from turning into a blow out.  I dunno… maybe that’s a stretch.

The next post will deal with MLS and NASL and USL free agency and where our boys stand.  Then we’ll do some season-review posts just before Christmas.  It’s crazy, but preseason training will be upon us before we know it.

2015 Playoffs – Conference Finals Report

Wow… what a set of Conference Finals these were.  Not only because we had horses in each race, but I can’t recall a better, more exciting pair of pairs of games.  Yes, a pair of pairs.  Best thing is – we end up with our dream scenario… the maximum number of Clevelanders involved in the 2015 MLS Cup!!!  (Now if only all five of them could get to play in the game somehow…)

Stuver is top left in green… obviously.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
#2 COLUMBUS CREW SC  v  #1 New York Red Bulls  •  CCSC advance 2-1 aggregate
*  Leg 1  @ MAPFRE Stadium –  W 2-0  •  Leg 2  @ Red Bull Arena –  L 0-1  *
Which was more important, getting that second goal in the final few minutes of the home leg or keeping the Red Bulls scoreless in that contest?  We wouldn’t find out the answer until the dying moments of the away leg, but the answer was… BOTH!  While this series lacked the goals of its counterpart, it was no less exciting.  The Crew SC got a goal nine seconds into the series and another moments before “halftime” and surrendered a goal late in the “second half” before one final heart-attack-of-a-ball-off-the-post with seconds left to play, before emerging victorious.  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] was the backup goalie in both contests, as usual, and Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] did not dress for either one.

Nagbe is hidden behind the guy behind Diego Valeri (kissing the trophy) and Nanchoff is second from right edge

WESTERN CONFERENCE
#3 PORTLAND TIMBERS  v  #1 FC Dallas  •  PTFC advance 5-3 aggregate
*  Leg 1  @ Providence Park –  W 3-1  •  Leg 2  @ Toyota Stadium –  D 2-2  *
The Timbers really were in control of this series from start to finish, despite a few nervy moments in the second half of the second game, but an impressive bit of skill provided the final margin.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] played all of both legs and took 12 corner kicks and suffered eight fouls, for whatever that’s worth.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was an unused sub in both matches.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] is still out injured, recovering from a torn ACL in the preseason.

The Timbers advance to MLS Cup for the first time and Crew SC will play for its second league title.  Back in July, Portland beat Columbus 2-1 at MAPFRE Stadium, but that isn’t going to matter on Sunday.

2015 Playoffs – Conference Semifinals Report

From our perspective, we got the best possible outcome from the two conference semis.  Maybe not from the playing time p.o.v., but Crew SC does have two of our guys on its roster and the Timbers have three, while Montreal only have one (same for DC), so there you go.  Here are the details:

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
#2 COLUMBUS CREW SC  v  #3 MONTREAL IMPACT
– Leg 1 @ Stade Saputo  –  L 1-2 •  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] didn’t have that much to do while helping Montreal jump out to an early advantage in the series, though it was Crew SC that jumped out in front with an invaluable away goal.  Bush made two saves on the night.  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] was the backup goalie for Crew SC and Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was not in the team.
– Leg 2 @ MAPFRE Stadium  –  W 3-1  •  As Crew SC needed to win by two clear goals to advance, this one was shaping up to be a track meet, and Bush was a lot busier in the return leg in Columbus.  Both goalies were constantly under assault, as the two teams ripped off a combined total of 44 shots, with a whopping 20 of them on target.  Bush’s numbers were six saves, four punches and two corners caught in the 130 minutes that it took to settle things.  Same deal for Stuver and Speas.  At the end of regulation, the score was 2-1 Crew SC, which sent the contest into overtime.  Six minutes into the second overtime period, Kei Kamara sent the Black and Gold fans (including me) home happy with the game-winner/series-ender that pushed Columbus into the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2008.

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
#3 PORTLAND TIMBERS  v  #2 Vancouver Whitecaps
– Leg 1 @ Providence Park  –  D 0-0  •  The best thing about the first leg for the Timbers was that they didn’t give up a goal to the Whitecaps.  That meant there was everything to play for a week later up in Canada.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] played all 90 in a variety of attacking positions.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was not in the team.
– Leg 2 @ BC Place  –  W 2-0  •  A goal in the 31st minute was all the Timbers really needed to move on the the Western Conference Finals for the first time ever.  Just for good measure, they got a second goal in second-half injury time  Nagbe played 90 in this one, too.  Same deal for Nanchoff.

After the international break this week, the Conference Finals will see Columbus play the New York Red Bulls and Portland face FC Dallas.  Leg 1 will be in Columbus and Portland on 22 November, with Leg 2 taking place the following Sunday at NYRB and FCD, respectively.

PHOTO CREDIT – Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers

2015 Playoffs – Knockout Round Report

Two of our guys’ teams – three if I were still reporting on the injured Chris Korb’s [Gates Mills/University School] DC United – won their knockout round match this week to advance to Conference Semifinal matchups.  For two others, the offseason has begun.  Here’s how it all went down on Wednesday and Thursday:

#5W LOS ANGELES GALAXY  L 2-3  @ #4W Seattle Sounders  •  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was not a part of the Galaxy’s disappointing season-ender, as the visitors pretty much gave their hosts two of the three goals they scored.

#3E MONTREAL IMPACT  W 3-0  #6E TORONTO FC  •  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] made just two saves in a pretty comfortable win for Montreal over its Canadian conference competitors.  Didier Drogba… yeah… maybe HE should be the league’s MVP instead of Sebastian Giovinco.  Both Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] and Justin Morrow [Shaker Heights/St. Ignatius] did their best in 90-minute stints to keep their Reds alive, but in the end, les Bleu were too hot to handle.  The Impact moves on to face Columbus Crew SC in a two-leg series that’ll be played the next two Sundays.

#3W PORTLAND TIMBERS  D 2-2 (7-6 pk shootout)  #6W Sporting Kansas City  •  Wow.  If you like drama and late goals, go watch this full game on MLS Live.  Not only did both teams score in the overtime to send the match to penalty kicks, but it took 11 rounds of kicks for Portland to advance!!  That’s right – after the first set of five kicks each, it took six more sudden-death rounds to determine a winner!!  WOW!!!  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] made his kick – in round 8, if you care – after starting and playing the entire match.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was not in the gameday team.  I’m sure folks in the Rose City are going to be talking about this game for a looooooooooooong time!

This Weekend’s Conference Semifinals Schedule
~ Sunday, 1 November
#3W PORTLAND  v  #2W Vancouver, 5pm – live on ESPN
#3E MONTREAL  v  #2E COLUMBUS, 7pm – live on Fox Sports 1

~ Sunday, 8 November
#2W Vancouver  v  #3W PORTLAND, tba
#2E COLUMBUS  v  #3E MONTREAL, tba

PHOTO CREDIT:  Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers

2015 Weeks 33 & 34 Post

Well, the 2015 MLS Regular Season has come to a close and for the first time in the history of this blog, ALL of our boys’ teams are in the Playoffs.  There were several nervous moments over these past two weeks and two teams nearly didn’t make it.  But in the end, it all worked out and I will have lots to write about next weekend after the knockout round has concluded!  Here’s how things went in Weeks 33 and 34 for our fellas: (I refuse to refer to them as the Audi 2015 MLS Playoffs.  It just sounds dumb.  Audi doesn’t sponsor this blog, but if it did – or if it wants to… – then I would refer to them as such.  Audi, you know where to find me.)

COLUMBUS CREW SC  •  After defeating TFC 2-0 last Saturday to wrap up the 2015 Trillium Cup and officially clinch a playoff berth, the Crew needed to win on Decision Day and hope for some help up north to wrap up the second seed in the Eastern Conference.  Columbus took care of what they could, by destroying DC United by a club-record margin of 5-0, and then got a huge favor from Montreal (see below).  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] was the backup goalie in both and Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was not in either gameday XVIII.  So the SC is the #2-seed in the East and will the higher-seeded knockout round winner in the Conference Semifinals on 1 and 8 November.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  •  After being so hot and so unstoppable back in August and September, the Galaxy have gone just as cold here in October.  Needing two big wins to earn one of the top two spots in the Western Conference and a coveted bye into the Semifinals, LA got blasted 5-2 at home by Portland and then fell to a second-half strike from Dom Dwyer in a 2-1 loss at Sporting Kansas City on Decision Day.  LA dropped all the way to fifth in the standings, which earned them a knockout round matchup at #4 Seattle on 28 October.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] did not feature in either contest, but he did make the trip to Guatemala for the mid-week CONCACAF Champions League Group E finale at Comunicaciones, which ended in a 1-1 draw, sending LA to a quarterfinal matchup with Mexican side Santos Laguna.  A win would have given the Galaxy the #1 seed.  Walker was an unused sub that night.

MONTREAL IMPACT  •  The Impact won its final three matches to get into the playoffs, with Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] authoring shutouts in the first and second games in the string.  If Week 33’s 1-0 victory at New England was a hard-fought grinder, then Week 34’s 2-1 win at home against Toronto FC was a bare-knuckle brawl between two teams that have developed a genuine enmity between each other and their fans.  Good thing, though, since the two Canadian teams will play each other in the knockout round on Thursday.  Bush made two saves against the Revs to earn his ninth whitewash of the year, and he pulled off four more saves in the TFC win.  One of those saves was voted MLS Save of the Week.  Which one?  Click here for the video.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  •  Portland got into the playoffs much like Columbus did, but with three very convincing wins that helped it jump over other teams.  The Timbers are the #3 seed in the Western Conference thanks to double victories in Week 33 – a 1-0 win at Real Salt Lake midweek and the aforementioned 5-2 dismantling of LA  – followed by a 4-1 drubbing of Colorado on Decision Day.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit], who made his return to first team game action at RSL with a three-minutes-of-injury-time-runaround, was an unused substitute against LA and not in the team for the Rapids game.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] was a BIG part of all three wins, but none bigger than his MLS Player of the Week performance against Colorado, when he scored two goals – one on a free kick and the other on a delicate header – and he helped create another.  He played 89 minutes at RSL, 90 at LA – and scored this goal – and 87 minutes this past Sunday.  Portland will now face Sporting Kansas City in the knockout round on Thursday.

TORONTO FC  •  Losing two straight to arguably their biggest rivals was not how TFC wanted to head into the playoffs.  But at least they’re in the postseason, right?  In the 2-1 loss to the Crew, Justin Morrow [Shaker Heights/St. Ignatius] and Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] both started and played all 90.  Same deal in the 2-1 loss to Montreal.

So, all four knockout round playoff games will be televised live on UniMás.  I can’t guarantee a post on Friday, but if you follow on Twitter, I’ll try to link to match reports and highlights of goals, etc.  I’ll be watching these games, for sure.  I hope you will, too!  Here’s the line-up:

Wednesday, 28 October
Seattle  v  LOS ANGELES, 10pm

Thursday, 29 October
MONTREAL  v  TORONTO, 7pm
PORTLAND  v  Sporting KC, 10pm

PHOTO CREDIT:  Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers

MLS PLAYOFFS REPORT #2

And then there was one.  The offseason began for the other two.  Not much else to say, so here’s how it all went down:

DC UNITED  W 2-1  v New York Red Bulls  [2-3 aggregate]  •  It was the away goals rule that really changed this tie for the worst, when a 57th-minute goal from Peguy Luyindula not only leveled the score at 1-1 in the game, but made it so that DC would have to score three more goals to go through.  The home side got one more, but it was just too tall of a task for the Eastern Conference Champs.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] was an unused sub, which is curious, since his inclusion in the lineup has mostly gone along with preferred results for DC (last week being an exception, obviously).

COLUMBUS CREW  L 1-3  @ New England Revolution  [3-7 aggregate]  •  The Crew did not go down without a fight, but they did go down with not enough goals.  In fact, it was the visitors who carried the play in the opening moments, but they lacked that sharp scoring touch when they needed it.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed on for the final 16 minutes and helped create a little spark, but it  wasn’t enough.  One major plus to this negative result was the return to MLS action of Josh Williams [Copley/Copley], who subbed in for the final 34 minutes, as the Crew continued to chase the game after Ethan Finley’s (bogus) red card.  It had been a long 158 days (if my math is good) since Williams had last made an MLS appearance, after having surgery in June to remove a rib to alleviate some blood clotting issues he was having.  It was great to see him back on the field again.  He looked good and his playoff beard game was tight.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 5-0  v Real Salt Lake  [6-1 aggregate]  •  While many pundits figured that the Galaxy would advance from this series, I’m not sure too many people predicted that kind of scoreline.  Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane were in control from the get-go and few teams in MLS can handle LA when they’re in that kind of mood.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] had great a great view of the drubbing, as he was an unused sub.  So the Galaxy move on to play Seattle in the two-legged Western Conference Finals.  Game 1 is at home on Sunday, 23 November, 5pm (ESPN) and Game 2 is at Seattle on Sunday, 30 November, 9pm (ESPN).

Our next post won’t come until after the first leg.

PHOTO CREDIT – mlssoccer.com  (I looked high and low for an action photo of Williams from that game, but could NOT find one.)

MLS PLAYOFFS REPORT #1

One game into the two-legged conference semifinal series, one of our teams is near dead, one still has a ways to go and the third has the only one of our boys to see playoff action this season.  As everyone likes to say, “It’s halftime of these semifinal series,” and anything can happen as we head towards next weekend.  This year, a new rule change is that away goals is the tiebreaker.  Here’s a review of how the rule works: After regulation of the second game, if the teams have scored the same number of goals, the team that has scored more goals as the road team advances. If neither team holds such an edge, the series proceeds to extra time (two 15-minute periods played in their entirety) and penalty kicks if necessary.  The away goals rule does not apply to goals scored in extra time. If an aggregate score is tied at the end of regulation of the second game, for example 3-3, and both teams score in extra time, the series is tied, 4-4. The goal scored by the road team in extra time affects only the aggregate score.  Keep all that in mind as you consider our fellas’ likelihood of advancing.  Here’s what went down yesterday and today:

COLUMBUS CREW  L 2-4  v New England Revolution  •  Ufff… hosting the first leg of these ties puts the onus on the away team to at least get one goal – especially now with away goals being the first tiebreaker.  So, the Crew still have some hope next Sunday when they go to Foxboro, but not much.  A little.  They’ll need to win 3-0 to get to the Eastern Conference Finals.  Stranger things have happened, I suppose.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub today.  In case you were wondering, only one visiting team scored three goals in New England, and that was Philly in a 3-1 win.  So…

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  D 0-0  @ Real Salt  •  Not losing the away leg is a good policy, but RSL can still advance with away goals and a draw next weekend in Carson.  Next Sunday, Job One for LA will be to shut out one of the highest scoring teams in the league.  Job Two will be to win.  Seems easy enough.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was an unused sub today.  

DC UNITED  L 0-2  @ New York Red Bulls  •  An away goal would’ve been nice, but this series isn’t over.  Not with the home form DC had this regular season – 11 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses.  Also, they beat the Red Bulls 2-0 and 1-0 at home.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started at right back and played all 90.

Here’s the schedule for the second legs of the series:
Saturday, 8 November
  –  DC  v NYRB, 230pm – live on NBC
Sunday, 9 November
  –  COLUMBUS  @ New England, 5pm – live on ESPN2
  –  LOS ANGELES  v Real Salt Lake, 730pm – live on ESPN2

PHOTO CREDIT – DC United Instagram account

2014 Week 32 – Regular Season Finale Report

This report, I’m splitting in three – MLS, CCL and NASL.  I’ll present the MLS stuff in order of finish of the fellas’ teams in the overall Supporters’ Shield race – and I’ll also make note of who’s in the playoffs and who isn’t by using a horizontal line across the page!  Three in, three out.  Things in the CCL were a little bit better.  Two in, one out.  NASL… neither side made the playoffs.  Alright – enough intro.  Here’s how it all went down last weekend:

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  61 pts [17 wins-7 losses-10 draws]  L 0-2  @ Seattle Sounders  •  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe] played no part in this one, as he watched it all from the subs’ bench (and also from the warmup area, presumably).  It wasn’t great soccer and there were tons of fouls, but the hosts got the goal(s) they needed in the second half to earn the Supporters’ Shield.  LA goes into the playoffs as the #2 seed in the Western Conference and will play the winner of the FC Dallas-Vancouver knockout match in a quarterfinal home & away series.

DC UNITED  59 pts. [17-9-8]  D 1-1  v Montreal Impact  •  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started and played all 90 of this one, which wasn’t exactly meaningless for DC.  They wanted to roll into the playoffs on a good note and they kind of scrapped out a point up north, so that’s better than a loss, right?  DC will host the winner of the Eastern Conference knockout game (NYRB v SKC) in a home & away quarterfinal series.

 W 2-1  v Philadelphia Union  •  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started and played 78 minutes before subbing off.  He contributed an assist on the Crew’s first goal, springing Jairo Arrieta to run free and finish the 1v1.  Having qualified for the playoffs, the Crew needed to win again to give themselves the best possible shot at making it to the #3 seed, which would allow themto avoid playing in a Eastern Conference’s #4 v #5 knockout match.  This win, coupled with a Sunday night favor from NYRB, who beat Sporting KC, made that dream a reality.  There are a lot of teams that are not exactly looking forward to playing the Black and Gold, as the Crew was the only team in the league to win all of its final three matches.  Great time to be in fantastic form.

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PORTLAND TIMBERS  49 pts. [12-9-13]  W 2-0  @ FC Dallas  •  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started at attacking mid and played all 90 and scored the opening goal of the match  two minutes before halftime.  Two things, 1) Nagbe owns Dallas and has scored five goals in ten career MLS matches against them – plus another S-I-C-K one from US Open Cup play last year; 2) back in March, if you had bet any of the MLS media experts or any Timbers fan that Nagbe would go goalless for 2014 until the final game of the season – or simply that he’d only score once all year – you’d now be a rich man or woman.  Coming off a 2013 of nine goals, nobody would’ve thought he’d just get one.  Anyways, never mind that!  In a game that Portland needed to win if it was going to make the playoffs, D-Nags delivered the goods… too bad Vancouver tied and edged them out by one slim point for the final Western Conference spot.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started and played all 90 at holding mid.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was not in the travel team. Bummer of an ending to a bummer of a year for Portland, who will look to re-tool a bit and sharpen up the edges that allowed nearly twice as many home goals as were conceded a year ago.  BTW, if you didn’t catch this skills video featuring Nagbe, dig it here!

TORONTO FC  41 pts. [11-15-8]  L 0-1  @ New England Revolution  •  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started at center back (?) and played all 90 as the year ended with just a dollop of dog crap on top of a heaping pile of disappointment – New England’s goal came on a disputed offsides call.  Was it or wasn’t it?  Yo no sé, but the experts claim that it was a good call.   In mid-September, the Reds were in the playoff hunt, but they went L-L-L-D-L down the stretch and that was that.  There’ll be tons of questions all offseason, but one of them should not be #2 at right back.  We’ll delve deeper into this topic in our individual postseason reports, but of all the team’s offseason acquisitions, Morrow might have been the team’s most consistent performer.

MONTREAL IMPACT 28 pts. [6-18-10]  D 1-1 @ DC United  •  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] started in net for the Impact and made four saves in his 90+ minutes of work.  It was kind of fitting that DC tied it up in the 86th minute, from the point of view that while Bush has played well during his 13 games this season, les Bleus’ shaky defense has kept him from putting up decent stats.  Montreal limps home, dead last in the league.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
PORTLAND  L 1-3  @ CD Olimpia  •  Needing to do basically anything  other than lose by two goals or more in Honduras to ensure they’d move on to the CCL Quarterfinal Round, the Timbers blew it.  Zemanski played all 90 at holding mid, Nagbe came on with 19 left and Nanchoff didn’t make the trip, but the PTFC boys just could not put in or keep out that one goal that would have seen them through.  It’s never easy when you go to Central America.

MONTREAL  D 1-1  @ New York Red Bulls  •  Having already qualified, this was truly a meaningless match.  Well, maybe other than getting guys experience and match fitness it was meaningless.  Bush started and made one save.

DC  W 1-0  @ Tauro FC  •  Down in Panama, DC was also playing a meaningless group 3 match, since they had already qualified for the quarters.  They won and Korb subbed in for the final 29 minutes.

NASL REPORT
OTTAWA FURY  L 1-2  v Indy Eleven  •  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] started as one of the mids and played the first half of this clash of the expansion teams.  It was the Fury’s final home game of the season and puts them on 16 points with one match remaining.  They’ll travel to South Florida to take on the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers on Saturday, 1 November at 730pm.

PHOTO CREDITS:  Portland Timbers Facebook page

Playoff Report – Conference Finals

Here is the final report on our guys from the regular season.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  •  L 2-4 @ Real Salt Lake; L 0-1 v Real Salt Lake   

Throughout the regular season, RSL had the Timbers’ number and they called it during the Western Conference Finals both home and away, to knock our remaining Clevelanders out of the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started both games and played every minute of them, but Portland just didn’t have an answer for the questions RSL was asking of them.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub in both contests.

Now that “we’re all done” for the season, you can look forward to our year-in-review posts, which will come out sometime in the middle of December.  Keep an eye on our twitter feed until then, as we will continue to re-tweet and share links of interest to our readers.  With that in mind, here’s some great news about Nagbe – he earned one of the most prestigious awards in the league, the 2013 Xbox Individual Fair Play Award, which pretty much means what you think it does.

PHOTO CREDIT: Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers

Playoff Report – Knockout Round & Semifinals

Only two of our guys’ teams made it into the playoffs this season – well, the Galaxy made it, but Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was on loan for the second half of the season, so I’m not counting them.  Here’s how the two teams did/have done over the course of the Knockout Round and the Semifinals:

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 0-3 @ Houston Dynamo

Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was the backup keeper for this match, the Impact’s final outing of the 2013 season.  The Impact made it into the playoffs as the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference, and they bowed out at the hands of the 4th seed Dynamo, who jumped in front with two first-half goals and cruised home from there.  It was a disappointing end to the season for Montreal, who spent most of the year bobbing among the top three teams in the conference, but a downturn in form at just the wrong time caught up to the Impact in the end.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 2-1 @ Seattle Sounders; W 3-2 v Seattle Sounders  

Portland headed into the playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference, and after the Knockout Round, a delightful Cascadia matchup with the Sounders provided plenty of entertaining football.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] scored the visitors’ second goal in the first leg and subbed out in the 73rd minute for Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy].  Nagbe’s goal made it 2-0 and was a big factor in him earning man-of-the-match honors.  In the return leg, Nagbe started up top and subbed out for Zemanski in the 82nd minute.  Both players’ contributions helped the Rose City gang advance to the Conference Finals, where they’ll face Real Salt Lake.

PHOTO CREDIT: Craig Mitchelldyer/portlandtimbers.com