Two teams off to slow starts meet up Saturday night when the Portland Timbers visit the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Portland (1-3-2, 5 points) won its opening game of the season and is winless in its last five matches. Vancouver (1-2-3, 6 points) went winless in its first five matches before getting into the victory column last Saturday.
The Whitecaps scored just five goals in their first five matches before exploding for a 5-0 romp over visiting CF Montreal.
Simon Becher scored two goals and has three in two appearances this season. The 23-year-old also scored a goal in his MLS debut last August and is looking to become the fifth MLS player to score a goal in each of his first four career MLS matches.
The first-round selection (No. 16 overall) in 2022 stood out last season when he had eight goals in 22 matches for Whitecaps FC 2, the reserve team for the parent club.
“I think it was a huge year, at least for me, for growth coming out of college to adapt to the professional game, and I think that it was valuable,” said Becher, who scored 21 goals in 47 career matches in college at Saint Louis.
Vancouver has less time to recuperate for this match as it lost 3-0 to visiting Los Angeles FC in the first leg of a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Portland is looking to continue momentum after rallying for a 1-1 road tie against FC Dallas on Saturday.
The Timbers were close to being shut out for the second straight game when Franck Boli scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. Boli, 29, entered in the 86th minute for his first career MLS appearance.
“It was fun to watch as I was sitting on the bench,” said Boli, a native of the Ivory Coast. “We started well and the team was playing good. I came in and I’m thankful to coach (Giovanni Savarese) for giving me five minutes to come in, and I really enjoyed it. I was lucky to be there at the right time and score the goal.”
Portland has been dealing with injuries all season and among the players who will miss Saturday’s game are midfielders Sebastian Blanco (knee) and Eryk Williamson (knee) and forwards Felipe Mora (knee) and Yimmi Chara (hamstring).
The Timbers went 1-0-1 against their Cascadia Cup rivals last season. The Seattle Sounders are also part of the Cascadia competition in the Pacific Northwest.
–Field Level Media
