Abe Asher

The game was getting tight, the night was getting dark, the cards were down, and the stars were out, and there was just no way that Seattle was going to beat the Portland Timbers. So the Sounders did what the Sounders do when they’re pushed into a corner: They lit themselves on fire. Brad Evans, […]

It’s time for that annual, seemingly unavoidable, usually frustrating event: The Portland Timbers traveling to Tukwila to play the Seattle Sounders in an early-summer, early-round US Open Cup matchup. The game is going down tonight (Tuesday June 16) at Starfire Sports Stadium, with the winner moving on in the United States’ oldest, biggest, knockout club […]

Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers From the get-go, the Timbers were different. Hot out of the gate, crisp in possession, interchanging with purpose, and playing with the kind of verve and conviction that made this city fall so hard for its soccer team in 2013. But when the goal didn’t come in the first half, and then […]

After resurrecting a season very much on the brink with an unusual, almost unheard of six-point week last week, the Portland Timbers fall back into a familiar groove—pressure, injuries, absences, tough games, and, above all else, opportunity. The New England Revolution—sans their two best players—come calling at Providence Park on Saturday night for Portland’s first […]

Jack Jewsbury’s last Portland Timbers MLS goal was two and a half years ago in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the time since, the old midfielder lost his starting spot, his captaincy to Will Johnson — and apparently the vice-captaincy to Liam Ridgewell — reemerged as a starting fullback, lost that job too, and came back […]

The Timbers advance to Colorado their third games in eight days, after a busy week which saw a deflating loss in Toronto, a Timbers Army protest, a much-needed victory over DC United, and some fireworks from owner Merritt Paulson. This last game, Saturday at 6:00 PM at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburb […]

Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers It was the perfect storm. The Portland Timbers got a Wednesday night respite from four straight Saturday road games against a DC United side composed almost entirely of reserves, and a chance to dim quickly mounting frustrations about the direction of the 2015 season. They took it. The final score-line was just […]

Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers The fallout from the Timbers’ loss to Toronto on Saturday hasn’t been pretty. Acrimony and frustration have hit levels not seen since the Timbers’ now-infamous swoon at the beginning of last season, and are quickly approaching 2012 levels—a season that has been frequently invoked when talking about Portland’s struggles this year. Thankfully, […]

Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers The numbers, now, aren’t unsure about the story they are telling. After the first 12 games of the 2015 MLS season, the Portland Timbers have the same number of points they did after the first 12 games of 2014, and the same number of points after 12 games played this year as […]

After a deeply demoralizing 3-1 loss to the Houston Dynamo last Saturday—possibly the Portland Timbers’ worst of the season—the Timbers travel to BMO Field for an afternoon matinée against big-spending Toronto FC. It’s the Timbers’ third consecutive road game, and second trip to Canada in three weeks. Will Johnson is set to make the game-day […]

It was the worst performance of the season. The Portland Timbers fell apart on a sticky Saturday Houston night en route to a thorough 3-1 beatdown at the hands of the Dynamo. Things were bad early, and got worse late. If it wasn’t a 90 minute meltdown, it was the closest the Timbers have come […]

The Timbers travel to new Western Conference opponent Houston for the second of their three-game road swing that will take up the bulk of May. The first game of that trip, last weekend, was a victory over the Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo courtesy, in the final tally, of the Goal of the Week from […]