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Sandy • The final regular-season roadie of 2014 will undoubtedly serve as a precursor to what Real Salt Lake will experience now that a playoff appearance is a certainty. It won't be anything new to this group, but a sure-fire warm-up - with MLS Cup postseason play starting in three weeks - certainly won't hurt.
Following its clinching of a seventh-straight playoff spot Saturday night in a 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes, RSL (14-8-10, 52 points) makes its lone visit to Portland on Friday. The Timbers (11-9-12, 45 points) currently sit one point outside the playoff picture, trailing Cascadia rival Vancouver for the fifth and final spot out West.
Which means one thing: Portland will go for it. In fact, the Timbers will go all-out. A win for last season's regular-season Western Conference champs is a must. Anything less allows the young Whitecaps to control their own destiny.
"I think it's going to prepare us," midfielder Ned Grabavoy said. "It's going to obviously be a difficult atmosphere against a great team. They have some very good individual players and they're very dangerous. I think it's a great opportunity to kind of see a little bit what a playoff road game is going to feel like. I think we'll go in there and approach like that a little bit."
The Timbers are headlined by midfielder Diego Valeri, who in his second year in Major League Soccer, is having an MVP-caliber campaign. The 28-year-old has 11 goals and 14 assists this season and is being leaned upon even more so with Will Johnson lost for the season. The former RSL midfielder, now Portland's captain, suffered a gruesome leg fracture on Sept. 27. Nevertheless, RSL knows facing a team desperate for a win - at home, no less - will present a stiff test.
"Looking forward to that, I'm sure," midfielder Luke Mulholland said. "I'm sure the fans will be buzzing. They'll be right to bring their players in and pushing their players on to victory. That revs us up as well, and everyone wants to play in front of thousands of fans."
In the meantime, RSL will wait for three of its most important players to return from international duty sometime this week. RSL coach Jeff Cassar said he expects strikers Alvaro Saborio and Joao Plata, as well as goalkeeper Nick Rimando, to return to the club on Oct. 15 after playing with their respective national teams in FIFA friendlies. Saborio scored in his first international match back with Costa Rica in a 4-3 win at Oman. Plata fared well in 45 minutes against the U.S. in a 1-1 draw in East Hartford, Conn., and Rimando is expected to go the full 90 against Honduras Tuesday in Boca Raton, Fla.
To what their availability at Portland will be, remains to be seen Cassar said.
"Extremely pleased with the guys we had on the field [Saturday] and when they return, it's only going to make us stronger," Cassar said.
Twitter: @chriskamrani —
Real Salt Lake at Portland Timbers
P Friday, 8 p.m. MDT
TV • NBCSN —
MLS standings
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W L T Pts GF GA
x-D.C. 16 9 7 55 49 35
x-New England 15 13 4 49 48 45
x-Sporting K.C. 14 11 7 49 47 37
x-New York 12 9 11 47 52 47
Columbus 12 10 10 46 47 40
Toronto FC 11 14 7 40 43 52
Houston 11 15 6 39 37 54
Philadelphia 9 11 12 39 48 48
Chicago 5 9 18 33 38 48
Montreal 6 18 8 26 36 56
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W L T Pts GF GA
x-Seattle 19 10 3 60 61 48
x-Los Angeles 17 6 9 60 67 33
x-Real Salt Lake 14 8 10 52 52 39
x-FC Dallas 15 11 6 51 54 43
Vancouver 11 8 13 46 41 40
Portland 11 9 12 45 59 52
Colorado 8 16 8 32 43 60
Chivas USA 8 18 6 30 28 59
San Jose 6 15 11 29 35 49
x- clinched playoff berth
Wednesday's Games
Houston 1, Toronto FC 0
Portland 3, San Jose 0
Friday's Games
Sporting Kansas City 2, Chicago 0
Vancouver 1, Seattle FC 0
Saturday's Games
Montreal 2, New England 2, tie
New York 3, Toronto FC 1
Columbus 3, Philadelphia 2
Real Salt Lake 2, San Jose 0
Chivas USA 2, Colorado 1
Sunday's Games
D.C. United 3, Houston 1
FC Dallas 2, Los Angeles 1
Thursday, Oct. 16
New England at Houston, 6 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 17
Real Salt Lake at Portland, 10 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 18
Montreal at Toronto FC, noon
FC Dallas at Colorado, 3 p.m.
Sporting Kansas City at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.
Chicago at D.C. United, 5 p.m.
Vancouver at San Jose, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 19
Columbus at New York, 1 p.m.
Seattle FC at Los Angeles, 6:30 p.m. —
Sunday's games
FC Dallas 2, Galaxy 1 • In Frisco, Texas • Fabian Castillo scored in the winner in 88th minute and FC Dallas clinched a playoff berth by beating L.A.
United 3, Dynamo 1 • In Houston • Taylor Kemp, Fabian Espindola and Eddie Johnson scored and Eastern Conference leader D.C. United eliminated Houston from playoff contention.