Evander scores twice in Timbers' win over Whitecaps

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Evander scored twice and the Portland Timbers defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in a Cascadia Cup rivalry match on Saturday night.

The loss snapped Vancouver's eight-game unbeaten streak. The Whitecaps had three wins and five draws entering the match.

Portland (4-5-3), which extended its unbeaten streak to three games, opened the scoring on Franck Boli's goal just 79 seconds into the match, the fastest goal in Major League Soccer this season.

Evander scored off a cross from Juan Mosquera to make it 2-0 for the Timbers in the 18th minute. But the Whitecaps (3-3-5) closed the gap on an own goal off Portland's Zac McGraw in the 24th.

The Timbers went up 3-1 in the 54th minute when Evander spun around a defender and blasted his shot into the bottom left corner, out of the reach of diving Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka.

Evander was subbed out late in the game. No Timbers player has a hat trick since the team joined MLS in 2011.

“I wanted one more opportunity to score the third goal,” Evander said. “I knew that nobody has scored a hat trick in MLS competition, so I wanted to be the first. But I have to wait until the next opportunity.”

The Whitecaps beat Portland 1-0 earlier this year in Vancouver. They've won two or more straight games in the series only once, when they won three straight between 2018 and 2019.

The Cascadia Cup was created by supporters of the Timbers, Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders for the team with the best record on points in head-to-head matches between the three rivals. Portland won last season's Cascadia Cup title.

With wins over Vancouver and the Sounders, the Timbers lead the Cascadia Cup standings this season.

“Very important win for many reasons: Three points, Cascadia Cup, home game. And then we performed very well,” Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said.

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