Cascadia victory gives Caps a needed boost
There’s nothing like a derby game to get a team going, and the Whitecaps needed the Portland Timbers on Saturday.
They needed their bitter rival to get them out of a funk, to get their heads right and to find their goal-scoring boots, even if it did take a month’s worth of chances over 90 minutes at B.C. Place.
The Caps (4-5-2) won 2-1 in the most spirited and entertaining game they’ve played in this year.
They showed they can beat the Timbers at home. They’d won just once against Portland in their previous seven games here, including last year’s bitter playoff exit.
And they showed they have the character to come back and win a game when trailing. It was the first time that had happened since September 2014, when they beat Salt Lake 2-1 at home.
Coincidentally, Nat Borchers scored the opener in that game, too, like he did Saturday in the 34th minute, tapping in after Darlington Nagbe and Fanendo Adi played a neat give-and-go.
But the Caps turned it around in front of 22,120 fans and were rewarded for carrying the play and creating so many quality chances. Oddly enough, for all their great looks at goal, they scored on two chances that required some luck.
Jake Gleeson was goalkeeper of the week last week. Not Saturday. He played well late to keep it close but was beaten at his near post by Masato Kudo on the hour mark. Cristian Techera’s pass had pinged off Diego Chara and into Kudo’s path on the left.
Then six minutes later, Christian Bolanos, who had an excellent game, lofted a shot from the right that Gleeson saw whiff between his legs. Blas Perez, on as a substitute, provided a distraction in front, but that was no excuse for the five-hole goal.