Soccer Saturday In Oregon: Timbers And Beavers Looking To Advance

PORTLAND, OR —Though Friday in Oregon might be dedicated to football and watching the Oregon Ducks face the Utah Utes in the Pac-12 Championship Game, soccer will take center stage on Saturday at both the professional and college level.

At 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Providence Park, the Portland Timbers will host Real Salt Lake in the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final.

The winner advances to the Dec. 11 MLS Cup Final, which would be in Portland if the Timbers prevail.

Saturday's Western Conference Final will be broadcast nationally on FS1 and FOX Deportes with radio broadcasts on 750 The Game (English) and La GranD 1150AM/93.5 FM (Spanish). Tickets remain available for the contest.

Portland entered the playoffs as the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, while Real Salt Lake is the No. 7 seed. The Timbers also won all three regular-season meetings against Real Salt Lake in 2021, outscoring Salt Lake 12-4 in the process.

However, Portland will be without forward Dairon Asprilla, 10 goals, who received a red card late in the Timbers' 1-0 win over over top-seeded Colorado Rapids on Thanksgiving.

During that Colorado game, Timbers star playmaker Sebastian Blanco limped off with a hamstring injury, which many believed would keep him out of the semifinal.

But on Thursday, Portland head coach Giovanni Savarese said the Argentine might be able to play some role against Real Salt Lake.

"Seba is a very competitive player and person," Savarese said about Blanco. "He's making big leaps, pulling off miracles to try and be ready for this game. He may be able to play a few minutes. A few days ago, we thought it was impossible. Today, we're saying there's a little hope he'll be available. That could be very important."

If the Timbers advance, they will host the MLS Cup Final for the first time. Portland has appeared in two previous MLS Cup Finals — defeating Columbus Crew in 2015 and losing to Atlanta United in 2018 —but the Timbers played both of those games on the road.

Meanwhile, at 6 p.m. Saturday at Lorenz Field Corvallis, the No. 1 seed Oregon State Beavers men's soccer (14-2-3) team will host No. 8 seed Clemson (15-5) in the quarterfinal of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Now app, and joined in progress on Pac-12 Network.

With a win, the Beavers will advance to the first Final Four in program history, which will take place Dec. 10-12 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.

The Beavers are led by junior midfielder Sofiane Djeffal, who was named the Pac-12 Player of the year. Senior midfielder Tyrone Mondi (8 goals, 5 assists) was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, and freshman midfielder Joran Gerbert was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

On Tuesday, Oregon State men's soccer head coach Terry Boss and his staff were named the 2021 Regional Staff of the Year for the Far West region by the United Soccer Coaches. Boss also was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year this season.