It would be an understatement to say the Portland Timbers' backs were against the wall heading into Saturday night’s away matchup with the San Jose Earthquakes.
Following last weekend’s devastating loss to Toronto FC, Portland took the pitch at Buck Shaw Stadium trailing the Vancouver Whitecaps by four points for the fifth and final MLS Cup Playoff spot after the ‘Caps won earlier in the day over FC Dallas.
That predicament was only exacerbated when Portland fell behind the Quakes 1-0 after a second-half Chris Wondolowski goal.
But like they have after four previous losses, the Timbers rallied for a win with a 2-1 result, thanks to a Rodney Wallace brace, to stay within one point of the Whitecaps with three games left in the regular season.
It was, head coach Caleb Porter said, just one more example of his team’s never-say-die attitude.
“You can question a lot of things this year, but you can never question that this year,” Porter said. “Because our backs have been against the wall several times, and every time you think we’re down we get up and respond.”
Not only were the Timbers responding to a loss, but also the absence of two of their most important players.
Team captain Will Johnson was lost for the season after suffering a broken leg in the opening minute in the Timbers 3-2 away loss to TFC. And the team’s offensive centerpiece Diego Valeri was suspended against the Quakes after picking up a yellow card late in the TFC game.
It made the contribution of Wallace, who missed the first half of the season while recovering from offseason knee surgery, all the more welcome; it was his third and fourth goals of the season after his late-June return. Of Wallace, Porter said, “We’ve missed him.”
“All these guys have heart,” Porter continued. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have them on our team. We pick players for their talent, but we make sure they have the intangible qualities, too. And I don’t care what level it is, best teams in the world, they have talent, best teams in this league have talent, but the difference is always the character as well in the locker room and all the intangible things, the mentality.”
Porter also credited his much-maligned defense, which had given up eight goals in four games coming into the contest, including a 3-3 home draw against San Jose on Sept. 7. After Wallace struck for goals in the 71st and 74th minutes, Porter lauded his team for “managing” the lead, something they weren’t able to accomplish after they took a 2-0 lead on TFC last weekend.
“We’ve taken a lot of valid abuse for not defending well, but I thought we were exceptional today defensively,” Porter said. “... We talked about making sure when we got up on a team we shut the game down and managed it well.”
Portland now plays host to San Jose for the third and final game in the series Wednesday in Portland before playing host to Real Salt Lake on Oct. 17 and then on the road against FC Dallas on Oct. 25 to round out the season.
“I like our team’s chances when our backs are against the wall, which our backs are going to be against the wall the last three games, “ Porter said. “And that’s great because that will bring out our best.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
