BEAVERTON, Ore. — With a win against visiting New England on Saturday, the Timbers can give Portland area soccer fans something they have not experienced since 1982: three consecutive league victories in the top division of American professional soccer.
In their fifth season in Major League Soccer, the Timbers have never won more than two regular-season matches in a row.
“We have a chance to make history by winning three in a row, which is amazing,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said.
Wins last week over D.C. United at home and in Colorado lifted the Timbers into sixth place in the Western Conference. A third consecutive win might lift Portland to as high as third place in the conference.
Between mid-April and the end of May, the Timbers played six of their eight matches on the road. With four wins, three losses and one draw in that stretch, the Timbers put themselves in position to hustle up the standings if they take advantage of upcoming home games.
Porter said he mentioned the chance to win three in a row for the first time to his team after last Saturday’s stunning win at Colorado — a win that came on a final-second goal from Jack Jewsbury.
“We’ve got to keep winning. As much as we are in a good spot now, it can change quickly the other way,” Porter said. “We need to take care of business with our home games in June.”
Win streaks, though, have eluded even the more successful Timbers clubs.
In their MLS history, the Timbers have won two in a row eight times during the regular season. Four times they have lost their next game, and four times they have tied their next match.
Last season the Timbers won two in a row three times, but twice lost their next match and once played Real Salt Lake to a scoreless draw.
Portland won four of its last six games last season, and might have had a real win streak had Toronto not come back from two goals down to beat the Timbers in late September.
Even in 2013, when they finished atop the Western Conference, the Timbers only twice won two in a row.
The 2013 season did, however, produce a notable string of three wins. After closing the regular season with a 5-0 win at Chivas USA, the Timbers won their first two playoff matches to eliminate the Sounders and advance to the conference finals.
The Timbers’ last significant regular-season string of wins came in August of 2009. On their way to the best record in the United Soccer Leagues First Division — then the second level of American pro soccer — the Timbers won five consecutive games during a 17-day stretch.
Porter has recently used the phrase “dripping points” to describe the way his team approaches the long season. He uses it as a positive description of the consistent way his club tries to approach each match. But he certainly would not sneeze at a real winning streak.
And center back Liam Ridgewell said two wins are but a drop in the bucket.
“For us to build as a team and as a franchise, we’ve got to start backing these two wins up with three wins, four wins, and really putting points on the board and moving up the table,” Ridgewell said.
