Timbers Season Ends In 5-0 Defeat vs. Vancouver In Wild Card Game
750 The Game Staff
The 2024 Portland Timbers season came to an abrupt end Wednesday night with a 5-0 loss to Vancouver in the Western Conference Wild Card game at Providence Park.
Ryan Gauld scored a hat trick for the road Whitecaps with goals in the 20th, 31st, and 59th minute. Vancouver broke open a scoreless game with Gauld’s opener, added a second via Brian White in the 24th minute, and made it 3-0 with Gauld’s impressive second goal that sent Portland into halftime with a massive deficit.
The Whitecaps added goals four and five in the second half to turn the playoff game into a rout.
The Timbers were unable to score once again at home, making it three straight games being shutout at Providence Park to close a season that featured a club-record 65 goals scored.
“Tonight was an embarrassment, I thought,” head coach Phil Neville said postgame. “What I saw out there was not a reflection of what I’ve seen all season. I think it shows how much work we’ve still go to do.”
In Neville’s first year, Portland finished 9th in the Western Conference regular season standings with 12 wins, 11 losses and 11 draws on 47 points. Vancouver, the 8th-seed, was unable to host the contest due to a scheduling conflict at their home venue. What was considered Portland’s good fortune of hosting a playoff game ultimately did not produce the result the club and their fans anticipated.
The Timbers enter the offseason, with the 2025 regular season expected in late February 2025.
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