Portland Timbers advanced directly to Round One of the MLS playoffs after beating Austin FC 2–0 away on Saturday, 7 November. The league’s post-match report confirms that the result secured seventh place in the Western Conference, allowing Portland to bypass the single-elimination Wild Card round.

Ariel Lassiter opened the scoring inside three minutes at Q2 Stadium before Kristoffer Velde added the second goal after the interval. Their finishes settled the regular-season finale and completed a four-match winning run that transformed Portland’s position in the qualification race.

The attacking contribution during that run was shared. Lassiter, Velde and David Da Costa combined for nine goals and four assists across the four victories, according to the figures published by MLS. Those numbers explain the team’s climb through identifiable production from several players, alongside a clean sheet on the decisive night in Austin.

Martí Cifuentes took charge in July and described reaching the playoffs as an ambitious target only weeks earlier. The coach credited his players’ belief in their work, while acknowledging that the team’s development remains incomplete. That is his assessment, as reported by the league, rather than a guarantee of further progress.

Portland now meet second-seeded FC Dallas in a Best-of-3 Series. Dallas striker Petar Musa finished the regular season with 22 goals and six assists. The Timbers therefore move from trying to preserve their qualification chance to facing a productive attacking opponent, with their third consecutive postseason appearance secured.

Archival cover photograph: Portland’s Providence Park in March 2015; not from the current event. Photographer/creator: Ray Terrill. Image source and metadata; CC BY-SA 2.0. Image date as recorded by the source: 2015-03-07 14:52. Wikimedia-supplied file used without raster edits.