News & Neuigkeiten » field coming home off a 2-1 road trip.

PORTLAND, Ore. - With a potential playoff spot in the balance, as well as a chance to climb to the top of the Cascadia Cup standings, the Vancouver Whitecaps travelled to Portland on Saturday looking to make amends for the drubbing suffered at the the hands of the Timbers less than a month ago. It was not to be. In a near-replica of that August 20th matchup at B.C. Place Stadium, Vancouver got off to a lively start before giving up a goal and then fading down the stretch. Portland dominated for long stretches en route to another 3-0 trouncing of the Whitecaps in front of 20,814 at Providence Park. Fanendo Adi scored twice, Diego Valeri added a goal and an assist, and Donovan Ricketts had his fourth shutout as the Whitecaps ceded the fifth and final Western Conference playoff spot to their Pacific Northwest rivals with just five games remaining. "Were chasing them now," said Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson. "Its a different scenario when youre chasing a team rather than them chasing you." The game started with the visitors creating some good chances in the opening 15 minutes, including a Sebastian Fernandez shot in the games first minute that went just wide of the post. "For the first 20-odd minutes we were excellent but werent able to capitalize on that," said Robinson. "And goals change games, as we all know." Unfortunately for the Whitecaps, it was the Timbers that changed the game to their benefit. Following an end-to-end first twenty minutes, momentum started to shift in Portlands favour, culminating in the opening goal from Valeri at the 28-minute mark. The sequence started with Steven Beitashour getting caught in a two-on-one situation on the right wing. With Beitashour unable to commit, Portlands Jorge Villafana had time and space to neatly pick out Valeri running unmarked through Vancouvers penalty area. "My initial reaction was to go out, but I saw I had guy," said Beitashour. "I didnt want to go out and have them just play in behind, so I sat in and he whipped in a good ball. Great finish." Beitashour, a question to start prior to the match, had words with Mauro Rosales about the defending mixup, but the damage was already done. "The goal took the wind out of our sails," said centre back Andy OBrien. Robinson agreed that there was a bit of a drop-off in Vancouvers performance once the home side took the lead. "When we go a goal down, were probably not playing with the same energy, desire or confidence we should," Robinson said. "But weve got to learn, because were not always going to score the first goal." The Timbers put a choke-hold on the remainder of the first half and Vancouver took a one-goal deficit into halftime. The visitors regrouped to start the second half, but a costly mistake in the 66th minute by Matias Laba gave Portland a chance to double the lead, and Adi capitalized on the chance for the first of his two goals on the night. Laba tried to cut the ball back near midfield with his teammates mostly in the attacking third. Valeri took it cleanly off Laba and easily found Adi breaking towards David Ousteds net all alone. "Ninety-nine times out of 100 (Laba) makes that play," said Robinson. "Valeris a good player, hes knicked the ball." Adi put the finishing touches on just four minutes later, slipping a ball between Ousteds legs for the final goal of the game. The additions of Kekuta Manneh, Darren Mattocks and Nicolas Mezquida created a flurry of half-chances in the waning moments of the game, but Portland saw out the match to keep the visitors scoreless for the the sixth time in nine games. Vancouver is winless on the road in that stretch as well. "Its not a fun way to lose," said Ousted. "Its not a fun place to lose, especially with the fan support we had out today. There are five games left and we cant feel sorry for ourselves, we cant get down. We need to continue to work." The Whitecaps face three playoff-bound teams in their remaining five games, starting next Saturday at home against Real Salt lake. Despite the recent form and a tough outlook for upcoming games, Robinson doesnt feel his team is wilting. "People can say whatever they want," he said. "Its a good challenge for us. If we want to play in big games, important games, weve got to cope with this pressure. Theres a little bit of pressure on next week." Dexter Fowler Cardinals Jersey . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. Matt Wieters Cardinals Jersey . Nix is a career .218 hitter in 425 games over six seasons. The 31-year-old right-handed hitter batted .270 with a homer this spring for Tampa Bay. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/cardinals-willie-mcgee-jersey/ .C. - Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek says guard Goran Dragic will return to the starting lineup against the Charlotte Hornets after missing the last two games with a strained back. Harrison Bader Jersey . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Orlando Cepeda Jersey . - Gary Kubiak is John Elways No.Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Jimmy Butler had 26 points, Pau Gasol scored 25 with 13 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls led for the final 39 1/2 minutes on the way to a 102-84 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. The Bulls went 4-3 on the annual road trip they take while the circus moves into United Center. We just kept going, said Butler. We didnt let up and we kept playing defense and kept getting to the free throw line. Derrick Rose added 14 points in 26 minutes for Chicago and Nikola Mirotic had 12 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 13 points to lead the Nets, who shot under 38 percent from the field coming home off a 2-1 road trip. Jarrett Jack chipped in 12 points off the bench in the loss. Brooklyn was out-rebounded 50-34. I thought we played pretty well defensively, we just struggled to score a lot, said Nets center Brook Lopez, who had 11 points. Chicago led by five at halftime and never trailed after that.dddddddddddd Gasol scored 12 in the third quarter, including six during an 8-0 burst that stretched the lead to 10 points. Roses jumper several minutes later made it a 15-point game and the Bulls took a 76-63 advantage into the fourth. It was never closer than 10 after that and Chicago led by as many as 24. Earlier, Butler scored seven points in the first quarter and the Bulls made half of their 18 shots to lead by as many as eight. Butlers 3-pointer with 3:26 left in the quarter gave Chicago the lead for good. He added nine points in the second quarter, including an alley-oop layup that gave Chicago a nine-point lead with seven minutes left in the half. His 16 points in the half helped the Bulls to a 47-42 lead at the break. Game Notes The Bulls will face Dallas on Tuesday in their first home game since Nov. 15 ... The Nets play city rival New York at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. ' ' '