Hope. I saw it in the eyes of all the fans at the game, especially those of the Timbers Army, some of whom arrived more than two hours before the game to cheer for their team. And I saw it in the eyes of the players, who had a lot of early chances to score.
Hope. I saw it in the eyes of all the fans at the game, especially those of the Timbers Army, some of whom arrived more than two hours before the game to cheer for their team. And I saw it in the eyes of the players, who had a lot of early chances to score.
Hope was present in Jeld-Wen Field on Saturday night when the Timbers stepped onto the field with Chivas USA. Although most of the fans have lost hope that the Timbers can make a run for playoffs, they still cheer and shout each game. They cheer for a few wins—anything to make the rest of the season interesting.
But after that final whistle blew and everyone stood up, stunned, all the hope that seemed so prominent had disappeared.
The hope started to dwindle in the 19th minute. Darlington Nagbe had what seemed like a sure opportunity to score, but the ball soared just right of the goal. The hope continued to evaporate when Kris Boyd had not one, not two, but three shots on goal. After Chivas scored and Portland had chance after chance in front of the net, the hope drained and was carried away with the whistle’s final blow. The cheers were replaced with boos.
A rolling tumbleweed would have exponentially increased the excitement in the locker room. It was completely silent, except for the chatter of a few players talking to reporters.
The Timbers have never been the best team in Major League Soccer, but they have always been known for scoring at home. Putting up a goose egg in front of a sellout crowd makes an already tough season even worse. They couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net, but the game completely fell apart for them when goalkeeper Troy Perkins was caught off his line, which allowed Chivas’s defender Danny Califf an opening to score.
“That’s my fault,” Perkins said after the game.
That goal might have been avoided, but that is not where this game was lost. If things had gone differently, the Timbers may have been up three to one when Chivas scored their lone goal, but the ball didn’t bounce that way.
At a post-game press conference, head coach Gavin Wilkinson couldn’t even fully explain what happened to his team on the field.
“It can be a cruel, cruel sport at times,” Wilkinson said.
He’s right. It is cruel at times, but after five straight losses, Timbers fans are still filling seats. Every opportunity the Timbers had, no matter how small, led to enormous waves of excitement and cheering. I don’t blame some of the fans for booing afterward. I’m surprised more of them didn’t.
A playoff run is not going to happen. It’s possible, but not many teams can come back after the losing streaks the Timbers have had this season. Most Timbers fans aren’t asking for the playoffs, though. They just want something to cheer for.
