Portland Timbers fall 2-1 to Vancouver Whitecaps in regular season finale, will face FC Dallas in playoffs

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Portland Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese took a gamble Sunday afternoon.

Savarese decided to rest his starters for Portland's regular season finale Sunday, knowing that the Timbers had a high probability of finishing in fifth place in the Western Conference standings, regardless of their result against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Not a single player that started in Portland's playoff-clinching win over Real Salt Lake last week was in the starting 11 in Vancouver Sunday. 

The move put the Timbers (15-10-9, 54 points) in a position to have a well-rested lineup heading into the knockout round of the playoffs, but it also might have prevented Portland from securing a home knockout round playoff game.

The Timbers' second-choice lineup fell 2-1 to the Whitecaps (13-13-8, 47 points) on MLS Decision Day in front of 25,348 fans at BC Place, missing out on a huge opportunity to jump into fourth place in the Western Conference standings.

"No second-guessing," Savarese said. "It could have gone either way. One thing we knew for sure is we had to play Wednesday or Thursday and we wanted a fresh team."

The Colorado Rapids fought back to beat FC Dallas 2-1 Sunday, opening the door for the Timbers to move into fourth place in the Western Conference with a win over Vancouver. But Portland's second team couldn't keep pace with Vancouver's top lineup.

The fifth-place Timbers will now travel to face fourth-place Dallas in a knockout round playoff game Wednesday. The game will kick off at 6:30 p.m. PST. The winner of the game will advance to the Western Conference semifinals.

While Portland's top lineup will be well-rested for the knockout game after sitting out Sunday's regular season finale, Dallas' top 11 will be forced to compete on short rest after featuring in the club's 2-1 loss to Colorado Sunday.

Still, the Timbers won't be the favorite on the road against Dallas. Home teams have won in 15 of 20 knockout round games since the league implemented the knockout round format in 2011.

"The decision was the right one from our part," said Savarese about his lineup choices Sunday. "We wanted a fresh team Wednesday or Thursday, whenever we have to play. We believed that the guys that we put on the field could win the game. We came up a little short, a few mistakes, but now we have a full team fit and hungry, ready to play Wednesday or Thursday."

Sunday's game gave the Timbers a chance to test their depth ahead of the postseason.

But Portland's second team didn't do enough to challenge Vancouver in the match. The Whitecaps controlled 66.2 percent of possession in the first half and held a two-goal lead heading into halftime. 

Whitecaps midfielder Alphonso Davies received a pass from Jakob Nerwinski at midfield in the 28th minute and dribbled all the way to the top of the box before firing a left-footed shot into the corner of the net to give Vancouver the 1-0 lead.

Davies then found the back of the net once again three minutes later. Timbers defender Marco Farfan took a bad touch while trying to clear a cross from Whitecaps defender Brett Levis in 31st minute. Davies pounced on the mistake, burying his shot from close-range to put the Whitecaps up 2-0.

"On the first one, (Davies) did what he does and drifted across the middle. Maybe I could have gotten a better hand to it," said Timbers goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, who made three saves in the game. "On the second one, Marco just made a mistake and he capitalized on it. He's a really good player, but I also would like to give Marco a lot of credit... I thought Marco held his own and our whole back line I felt held their own and did a good job."

The goals were particularly meaningful for Davies, who was playing in his last game with Vancouver. The Whitecaps made a deal to transfer the 17-year-old superstar to Bayern Munich for an MLS record $22 million earlier this year. Davies is set to join Bayern Munich in January.

The Timbers looked a lot better in the second half. Portland midfielder Andres Flores scored his first goal as a Timber in the 90th minute, knocking a pass from Dairon Asprilla into the net with a slide to close the gap. 

"Very happy for that," said Flores about scoring his first goal for the Timbers. "I've been working a lot to help the team and scoring a goal is one way to do it."

Portland will now quickly turn its attention to its playoff match against Dallas.

The Timbers could potentially play three games in eight days this week if they beat Dallas in the knockout round. The winner of the knockout game will host a conference semifinal round game next Sunday. After resting their starters Sunday, the Timbers could be in a good position to approach the busy week. 

"Dallas just played a tough game in Colorado in altitude and our big guys were sitting down and relaxing," Attinella said. "So, I think we're in a great spot and we're a team that has gotten results on the road this year. We feel confident going into it."

UPDATED MLS STANDINGS AFTER DECISION DAY

Western Conference

Eastern Conference

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg