Author’s note: Red, White and Green is Playing for 90′s newest column aimed at focusing on the Cascadian (Pacific Northwest) teams. In MLS, three teams – Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver – battled for the Cascadia Cup each year. Red, White, and Green will give a critical eye to Cascadia teams. The column is named Red, White, and Green based on the team colors. Red for the Portland Timbers as they are known as “Rose City”, white for the Vancouver Whitecaps as it is their primary color when they play, and lastly green for the Seattle Sounders as they wear “Rave Green” for most matches, home or away.
The first Red, White and Green column previewed Wednesday’s game between the Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas. The second looked at Portland Timbers 6-0 win on Tuesday in CONCACAF Champions League play. The third asked what in the world is wrong with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Mar 16, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter (left) and Seattle Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid (right) hug prior to the game between the Seattle Sounders FC and the Portland Timbers at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
I am sure you all know by now, but only five teams from each conference make it into the playoffs each year. That is a total of 10 out of the 19 teams in the league. The top three teams from each conference get a “bye” and the fourth and fifth seed play a mid-week “play-in” game. The winner of that match then would host the number one seed in the first leg of the their respective conference semifinals.
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We know one thing for sure. The Seattle Sounders are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.
What seed would it be?
Who knows as there is five weeks left in the season and anything can happen (just ask Sounders fans about last years late season slide that almost cost them the playoffs). If the season ended today (yes, I know it doesn’t but lets just play along with me her please), the Sounders would be the number one seed. The Los Angeles Galaxy would be the second seed, Real Salt Lake the third, and FC Dallas and the Portland Timbers would round out seeds four and five.
Inter Heron
In this scenario, the Timbers would travel to Dallas to play either on Wednesday or Thursday, October 29-30. The winner of that match would host the Seattle Sounders in the first leg of the conference semi-finals and Salt Lake would host the Galaxy.
Let me get back on topic here now that I have explained how all this works. There will only be two teams from Cascadia that will make the playoffs. I have already mentioned the first one as they already have qualified, the Sounders.
The second team that will make the playoffs will be the Timbers.
Head Coach Caleb Porter took the league by storm last year shocking everyone when they finished as the first seed in the Western Conference going into the playoffs. The ended up losing in the Western Conference Finals to Salt Lake but considering their previous history as an MLS club, the season finished well.
MLS Multiplex
The 2014 MLS season did not start out so well for the Timbers. They struggled to win at home, which is a rarity. The first three months of the season they spent most of it near the bottom of the table. As of late, they have gotten much better.
The last few weeks that have been hovering around the dreaded “red-line” and took a two point lead over the sixth place team, the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Whitecaps’ year has been the complete opposite compared to the Timbers. They floated around the top half of the table for a good majority of the season but have slowly faded down that stretch. The currently sit below the “red-line” and it doesn’t seem to get any better for them as the season is coming to an end. Three matches in a row against teams in the top four of the table isn’t good news for any team.
Vancouver has struggled to score as of late and were just shut out 3-0 by the Timbers this past weekend. As I have mentioned in an early post, I don’t feel Head Coach Carl Robinson is on the hot seat, but if he wants to make sure he someone needs to win one or two of his next three matches or it could be getting really hot in Vancouver come late October.
The way I see the season ending in the Western Conference:
- Los Angeles Galaxy
- Seattle Sounders FC
- Real Salt Lake
- Portland Timbers
- FC Dallas
What do you think about my predictions? Vote for yourself on who you think will win both the Western Conference and the Supporters Shield.