A hard-fought draw on the road for the Portland Timbers

Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 Portland Timbers

One tough outing and despite the draw in the end, the Portland Timbers earned a point on the road, and after sharing the spoils, somehow this feels like a win in the end. After James Pantemis’s out-of-this-world save and Kamal Miller’s amazing goal in the 39th minute, this team is looking like an all-around contender.

However, Brian White’s equalizing goal in the 88th minute ensured that the Whitecaps ended up sharing the spoils at home in BC Place. Wednesday’s performance on the road moves the Timbers closer to a possible run to the postseason under the Phil Neville era.

The Timbers are now on 43 points and sit pretty in seventh place in the Western Conference. They will have a chance to clinch a playoff spot when they come back at home against FC Dallas on Saturday (7:30pm, Apple TV).

The Whitecaps were looking to earn a win as they did back in the opener with a 4-1 rout over the Rose City side and ending last postseason with a 5-0 rout and both at home, On this day though, the Timbers had a fight and delivered it Wednesday, not with a win, but with a draw.

This puts the Portland Timbers with a record of 11-10-10 (43 points) as Vancouver Whitecaps put their record at 16-6-8  (56 points), and with the season winding down with a few matches left for both sides to play and make their statements. In the end, Pantemis was the hero and has earned the right to be the starting keeper over Maxime Crepeau as he an amazing effort to keep the Caps’ strikers like Sebastian Berhalter and Manuel Laborda at bay.

Photos by Gerrit te Hennepe

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