Pre-season opens for the Portland Timbers on Feb. 4 against their rivals (and defending MLS Cup Champions) Seattle Sounders FC. This is not only a warm-match for the MLS season, but our first look at two of the three teams competing for the 2017 Cascadia Cup. With the release of the 2017 regular season schedule, here is a quick peak at this year’s Cascadia Cup. But first, a bit of history.
The Cascadia Cup is a competition between local rivals Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps, that takes place within the regular season of MLS play. Each team plays each other 3 times during the season. The team with the most points after those three matches wins the Cup.
The Cascadia Cup was formally introduced in 2004 by the supporters groups of the three teams. The main supporters groups for the three clubs are the Emerald City Supporters, the Timbers Army, and the Vancouver Southsiders. This is the fan’s Cup, and represents the most heated and longest-running rivalries in American soccer.
In 2004, the teams were all playing in the second-tier USL. Sounders FC were the first of the three teams to join MLS (2009), and therefore did not participate in the Cascadia Cup in 2009 or 2010. In 2011, both the Timbers and the Whitecaps entered Major League Soccer, and the Cascadia Cup was once again a three-way competition.
Over the course of the past 13 years, the Whitecaps have won the Cup 6 times, the Sounders 4, and the Timbers 3. This year, the Vancouver Whitecaps will have the toughest schedule, facing both opponents on the road twice, and playing them each at home only once. Portland will face Seattle on the road in two out of three of their games, leaving Seattle with the most comfortable schedule, hosting both teams twice.
PORTLAND TIMBERS 2017 CASCADIA CUP SCHEDULE
HOME MATCHES
Vancouver Whitecaps
Saturday, April 22, TBD, TSN
Seattle Sounders
Sunday, June 25, 1pm, ESPN
Vancouver Whitecaps
Decision Day- Sunday, Oct 22, 1pm
AWAY MATCHES
Seattle Sounders
Saturday, May 27, 12pm, FOX
Vancouver Whitecaps
Sunday, July 23, 3pm, FS1, TSN
Seattle Sounders
Sunday, August 27, 6:30pm, FS1
VANCOUVER VS SEATTLE
Seattle Sounders @ Vancouver Whitecaps
Friday, April 14, TBD, TSN
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Seattle Sounders
Wednesday, August 23, TBD, TSN
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Seattle Sounders
Wednesday, September 27, TBD, TSN
