Antony’s goal in the second half allowed the Portland Timbers to notch a 1-1 tie against the host Seattle Sounders on Saturday night.
Yeimar scored the lone goal for Seattle. The Sounders (16-9-9, 57 points) finished fourth in the Western Conference as Real Salt Lake took third with its victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps.
James Pantemis made five saves for Portland (12-11-11, 47 points), which is the No. 9 seed in the West. However, the Timbers will host the No. 8-seed Whitecaps in the wild-card round because Vancouver’s home facility is unavailable.
Portland claimed the Cascadia Cup — a three-team competition between the Timbers, Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps — with the draw.
Portland went 2-1-0 against Seattle this season.
Stefan Frei made one save for the Sounders. Seattle had a 16-7 edge in shots and placed six on target to Portland’s two.
The Timbers tied the score in the 68th minute as Evander set up Antony, who knocked a right-footer into the bottom left corner. The goal was the sixth of the season for Antony.
The assist was the 19th for Evander, who finished in a tie with FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta for the league lead.
The best opportunity in second-half stoppage time came in the fifth minute when Jonathan Rodriguez had room on the left side. But he sent his right-footed shot wide to the right of the net.
Seattle took a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute off a corner kick.
Albert Rusnak booted the ball toward the box and Yeimar jumped and snapped a header into the left corner of the net. The goal was the first of the season for Yeimar and Rusnak’s 16th assist of the season.
The Sounders outshot Portland 6-1 in the first half.
Seattle had two solid chances in a three-minute span of the second half. Pantemis made a stellar leg save on Jordan Morris’ right-footed blast in the 59th minute then snagged Yeimar’s header in the 61st minute.
–Field Level Media