Portland Timbers beat Vancouver 2-1, take Western Conference title

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Darren Mattocks scored early in the second half to give the Portland Timbers a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday in their regular-season finale.
 
Portland won the Western Conference title to earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The Timbers also won their second Cascadia Cup since joining MLS. The Cascadia Cup is a trophy created by the fans of Portland, Vancouver, and Seattle awarded to the best team in the Pacific Northwest.
 
Vancouver opened the scoring in the 29th minute, when Yordy Reyna’s free kick from 25-yards out found an unmarked Kendall Waston 8 yards from goal to head in his fourth goal of the season.
 
Portland tied it three minutes later. A corner kick bounced through the box and found Darlington Nagbe at the top of the box. Nagbe’s shot was blocked by goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic, but Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell reacted instantly to throw a foot out and stab the ball past Marinovic.
 
Portland took the lead early in the second half, as some fancy footwork and a clever pass by Sebastian Blanco found Vytautas Andriuskevicius open near the goal line. The Timbers defender dragged a pass back to Mattocks, whose shot ping-ponged off of two Vancouver defenders on its way into the net for his ninth goal
 
Vancouver started the game without goals leader Fredy Montero. The forward suffered an injury in training Thursday, and only entered the game in the 56th minute.