Tactical Alterations, Strong Road Form Propel Portland to MLS Cup

At the start of the 2015 Major League Soccer season, very few pundits and fans believed the Portland Timbers would make the playoffs, let alone earn a berth in the MLS Cup. The Timbers surprised plenty of people across the league on Sunday, when they held off a late surge from FC Dallas to win the Western Conference Final 5-3 on aggregate. "This is a great moment for this club," manager Caleb Porter said, per the club's website. "It's our first trophy, but we want the biggest trophy and we have one more game still to achieve that.” Although many are still shocked the Timbers advanced to the final match of the postseason, the little details suggest Portland is more deserving than any team in the Western Conference. The Timbers were the best road team in the league this season and a formation tweak by manager Caleb Porter late in the year was the final adjustment needed to make a run into December.

Winning on the road is one of the most difficult things to do in MLS, but the Timbers managed to perfect earning results on their travels over the final three months of the regular season. Since their 0-0 draw at Avaya Stadium with the San Jose Earthquakes on August 2, the Timbers dropped one game on the road, a loss to rival Seattle on August 30. During that time frame, the Timbers went into some of the most volatile home environments in MLS and secured three points. Portland twice went into Rio Tinto Stadium and took down Real Salt Lake. It also defeated the LA Galaxy by an emphatic 5-2 score in October. One of Portland's other road victories came on September 26 in the place it will contest the MLS Cup on Sunday.