Mirroring the first game of the season, the Portland Timbers fell to the 5th seed Vancouver Whitecaps on the road by a score of 2-1. The Vancouver, BC team dealt the Timbers their only road loss on opening day, and held strong again last night. Near misses were thick on the ground for the Timbers, but their only goal came from a Ryan Pore penalty kick.

Each round of the USL-1 Playoffs are two-match, aggregate score battles, with each team hosting one game. The semifinal contest between the two clubs returns to PGE Park on Sunday, October 4th at 4:00 pm. The Timbers need to win by two goals to advance to the finals without resorting to extra time or (gulp) penalties. Their last foray into the semifinals, against the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2007, ended with a disappointing penalty shootout and Atlanta victorious.

On the other side of the bracket, the Montreal Impact defeated the visiting Puerto Rico Islanders by a score of 2-1. Both the Canadian teams are lower seeds than their opponents, and made the most of their home field advantage.