PORTLAND, Ore. – As the rain fell on the Providence Park pitch, the chants grew louder and louder.
“Let it rain, let it pour! Let it rain, let it pour!”
Victory had all but been decided for the Portland Timbers in their regular-season-ending 4-1 rout of the Colorado Rapids, and realization had set in among the beer and rain-soaked crowd that their team would be heading to the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs. At the final whistle, deafening chants filled the wet air as players and coaches made well-earned victory laps around the pitch.
It was a scene decisively different from the one that marked the last time the Timbers played on their home ground. Last time they walked off the field, heads down, after a 1-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City on Oct. 3 that left their season very much in jeopardy.
Out of the playoff picture at that point, Portland needed at least seven points from their final three games for a postseason berth. Nevermind that the first two games were at Real Salt Lake, a team fighting for their own playoff lives at the time, and LA Galaxy where Portland had never won.
The Timbers needed seven points, but they got nine.
Tonight's win over Colorado marked their second-longest winning streak of the season. This streak has seen them score 10 goals while allowing only three.
“Three games ago these guys were under pressure, and we were being questioned,” Timbers head coach Caleb Porter said in his postgame comments. “And for good reason; we weren’t getting the job done. But the players answered the call. You know, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”
Now not only are the Timbers in the playoffs, they’re one of the hottest teams in the league. And as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, they’ll play host to that same Kansas City team in a Thursday night Knockout Round match – a scenario that seemed highly unlikely three weeks ago.
“I think confidence-wise getting those two results in Salt Lake and LA really picked the group up because we didn’t take care of business here at home in a few games down the stretch and put ourselves in a tough spot,” said midfielder Jack Jewsbury, a Timbers original who joined the team in their inaugural MLS season in 2011. “But I think it’s the character we’ve shown within this group coming out on top in those games to put ourselves in good position coming into the last game.”
It’s a run that certainly can’t be called a fluke. Portland beat RSL 1-0 on Oct. 14 before dismantling LA 5-2 last Sunday. In that stretch, some of the Timbers’ most important players are peaking.
Striker Fanendo Adi recorded goals in all three games, four in all, to up his club-record total to 16. And Darlington Nagbe has three goals in the last two, with a two-goal performance leading the way against the Rapids.
After the Kansas City loss the Timbers were averaging just a goal per game; the league’s second-lowest scoring team in the league.
“With the way the guys are playing right now, I wouldn’t bet against them because we’re getting the balance right,” Porter said. “We’ve defended well all year, but now we’re scoring goals. And when you get those things right and get momentum heading into the playoffs, you like your chances.”
When asked to put in perspective what celebrating with their home fans meant after clinching the franchise’s second ever playoff berth, all coming in Porter’s three years at the helm, the Timbers head coach shifted all credit to the locker room.
“This team has taken ownership,” Porter said. “I’ve got guys in the locker room that grabbed the bull by the horns and they stepped up and answered the call and answered the criticism. And when you’re getting players taking ownership like they have and playing for each other like they have, good things happen.”
