PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Brian White scored twice and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the rival Portland Timbers 4-1 on Saturday night in a Cascadia cup rivalry match.
Sebastian Berhalter and Tristan Blackmon also scored for Vancouver, which has won all three of its matches to open the season.
Eighteen-year-old Eric Izoita, called up from Timbers II earlier in the day, scored in his debut for Portland.
The Whitecaps, who advanced to the MLS Cup final last season before falling to Inter Miami, opened scoring in the 21st minute with a goal from White off a well-placed pass from Sebastian Berhalter.
Blackmon doubled the lead for Vancouver in the 49th minute with a header off a free kick from Berhalter, who added a goal in the 63rd to make it 3-0.
The Timbers narrowed the lead with Izoita’s goal in the 72nd. It was the first goal that the Whitecaps have conceded this season.
White added his second goal in the 87th.
Alexander Aravena was in the starting lineup in his debut match for the Timbers (1-2-0). The forward from Chile is on loan to the Timbers for the season from Brazilian club Grêmio. The Timbers had several players unavailable because of injury, including Diego Chara and Cole Bassett.
The Cascadia Cup is was created by supporters of the Timbers, Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders before the teams joined MLS. The trophy goes to the team with the most points in head-to-head matchups at the end of the regular season.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
