Portland Timbers at Providence Park
Major League Soccer fans can expect excitement on the field and in the stands when the Portland Timbers return for another high-intensity season at the newly expanded Providence Park.
After joining MLS in 2009, the Timbers wasted little time in their mission to prove that Portland was a proud soccer city. The Timbers clinched the top spot in the Western Conference in 2013, earning their first-ever playoff berth.
In 2015, head coach Caleb Porter and stars like forward Maximiliano Urruti and midfielder Diego Valeri led the squad all the way to its first MLS Cup victory over the Columbus Crew. A former MLS Newcomer of the Year, Valeri clinched his place as one of the biggest stars of MLS when he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player in 2017.
The Timbers have remained one of the most competitive teams in the league, finishing first in the Western Conference in 2017. Under the leadership of head coach Giovanni Savarese, the Timbers fought through daunting challenges early in the 2018 season to ultimately earn a spot in the MLS Cup Final against Atlanta United.
Though the Timbers were edged out by Atlanta in a heartbreaking 2-0 game, it still made history. Attracting 73,019 fans at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the MLS Cup set a new record for league attendance, a sure sign of soccer's prominence in North America's sports world.
