By Marc Weber
Martin Nash is the only active player on either roster who could, in theory, give a first-hand account of it, and he barely remembers.
The Vancouver Whitecaps' midfielder is the lone holdover from the last time the Portland Timbers beat the Caps at Swangard Stadium.
It speaks to how much these USL-1 semifinal opponents — both bound for Major League Soccer in 2011 — have changed in recent years.
More so, it speaks to how the Caps have dominated their I-5 rivals at home.
All-time, through A-League and USL-1 play, Vancouver is 15-1-2 against Portland at Swangard Stadium. The lone Timbers win was May 23, 2004.
It's a statistic made more staggering by the fact the Timbers have consistently been a highly competitive squad, only twice in nine seasons finishing below .500.
"It was a while ago, so, yeah, it has been impressive," said Nash. "But in recent years, it's probably been just as bad for us down there, so it evens out, I guess." True, Vancouver has won just once in its last nine games in Portland and is 1-4-1 in its last six. So this two-leg semifinal series — which kicks off Thursday at Swangard and continues Sunday at PGE Park — is shaping up, even more than usual, as a contest of who can dominate more on their home turf.
"We usually get a good run on them at home and it's vice versa down there, so we need to have a big game Thursday," said Caps defender Lyle Martin, considered a Vancouver veteran in his third year. The seventh-place Whitecaps advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 first-leg home win and a subsequent 0-0 road tie against the second-place Carolina RailHawks.
First-place Portland, who had a first-round bye, have opted to open on the road as well. The difference in this series is that the travel is minimal, so making two trips is negligible and the Timbers won't be foolish enough to leave some of their best players at home to rest, as Carolina did.
Perhaps most important, the Timbers will be returning to a madhouse on Sunday. Only 2,500 showed up for the quarterfinals in Cary, N.C.
More than 10,000 will likely be on hand at PGE Park.
But confidence is high in Vancouver's camp because, finally, the team is marching to the same defensive beat. And on Thursday, they have a chance to draw first blood in a setting that's been extremely unkind to the Timbers.
"Whoever takes care of home field better probably will come away with the series," said Nash.
USL-1 SEMIFINALS
Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Portland Timbers
First leg: Portland at Vancouver
When: Thursday (Oct. 1), 7:30 p.m., Swangard Stadium
Web: USLlive.com
Second leg: Vancouver at Portland
When: Sunday (Oct. 4), 4 p.m., PGE Park TV: Fox Sports World Canada © Copyright (c) The Province
