During Caleb Porter’s time in charge of the Portland Timbers, the team’s motto — stated often by the coach and repeated as gospel by the players — was “keep the lows high and the highs low.” At the start of his tenure with the Timbers, Giovanni Savarese had a different mission statement in mind: “every game is a final.”
Well, the Timbers certainly lived by Savarese’s words in 2018, particularly as the Timbers threw themselves into the playoffs and battled their way past three of the best sides in the West en route to a real, actual final; ultimately losing the MLS Cup last night 2-0 to an Atlanta United side that will go down as one of the most potent in league history.