PORTLAND – The Timbers 11th draw of the season went down hard.
In a physical and feisty Cascadia Cup match, Portland grabbed a second-half lead but had to settle for an unsatisfying 1-1 tie with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday at sold out Jeld-Wen Field.
Ryan Johnson scored for Portland in the 49th minute at the end of a counter-attack. But Vancouver answered in the 69th minute with Jordan Harvey converting a header from a corner kick.
“We make that play, we win the game,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said.
Porter was pleased with his club’s effort, and said his team handled itself well in a hard-fought, high-stakes match.
The result was not what Portland was looking for in one of only two home Cascadia Cup matches this season. The Timbers now have three draws in three Cascadia matches, and with eight wins, 11 draws and three losses remain tied with Colorado for second place with 35 points in the ultra-tight Western Conference standings.
Vancouver (9-7-6, 33 points) is fifth in the West.
“We expect to win every game we play,” Porter said, describing his players as mad about the draw. “If we don’t win, we’re not pleased.”
The sting on this night was that Portland had a second-half lead, but gave up a goal to an opponent that didn’t create much offense in open play.
Ryan Johnson, who replaced injured starter Frederic Piquionne late in the first half, scored with a header from a Diego Valeri cross that came from deep on the right wing. The play started with defender Pa-Modou Kah winning possession at the top of the defensive 18-yard box and sliding a pass for Darlington Nagbe to break forward. Nagbe pushed the ball to Valeri on the right with room to deliver a high-quality ball for Johnson to head inside the post.
On a night when Vancouver’s defense clogged the passing lanes and disrupted Portland’s passing game with aggressive challenges, the counter-attack presented one of the few great chances for the home team.
The visitors had few dangerous moments for the more than 700 Whitecaps supporters to cheer. But for the second week in a row, a set-piece resulted in a goal for the Timbers foe.
Harvey, a defender, found room at the near post to direct Camilo Sanvezzo’s corner kick into the goal. Porter said he emphasized set pieces all week in training, and Timbers captain Will Johnson said the team will feel real pain if such breakdowns continue.
“We need guys to step up and make plays” at both ends of the field to turn draws into wins, Will Johnson said. The team captain called Portland’s 11 draws unacceptable.
Despite the tough result, Porter said he liked most of what he saw from his Timbers.
“From a mentality standpoint, from an energy standpoint, this was one of our best games of the year,” Porter said.
The Timbers coach credited Vancouver with earning the draw. The match featured 31 fouls, taking much of the flow from play. Despite owning 58 percent of possession and completing 77 percent of their passes, the Timbers couldn’t create many quality chances.
They did put one more ball into the Whitecaps goal, but Kah was offside when he scored from in close in the 78th minute.
A spirited first half presented no high-quality scoring chances, and just seven shots attempted.
Vancouver midfielder Brad Rusin left with an injury in the 17th minute after a collision with Diego Valeri that also earned the Whitecaps player a yellow card for an elbow to Valeri’s head. That interaction was the most violent of a series of aggressive challenges typical of a rivalry match.
Piquionne left in the 40th minute with an undisclosed injury, replaced at striker by Ryan Johnson.
Alvas Powell, a 19-year-old Jamaican, made his first MLS start and played 63 minutes at right back before Ryan Miller relieved him.
The Timbers travel to Utah on Wednesday to play Real Salt Lake in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal match. Their next league match is Aug. 17 at home against FC Dallas.
The Timbers and Whitecaps play a Reserve League match at 2 p.m. Sunday at Jeld-Wen Field as part of a doubleheader with the Portland Thorns, who play FC Kansas City at 5:30 p.m.
Cascadia Cup standings — Portland has played three of its six Cascadia Cup matches. The Timbers still have visits to Seattle and Vancouver and a home match against the Sounders.
