AUSTIN, Texas — Portland needed only three minutes on Decision Day to take control. Ariel Lassiter beat the Austin FC back line for an early goal, Kristoffer Velde doubled the margin in the 70th minute, and the Timbers won 2-0 at Q2 Stadium Saturday night to secure a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Lassiter set up the opener with a quick exchange with Vincent Janssen near midfield, raced down the right side and finished low with his left foot. It was his eighth goal of the year, a career high. Velde, the club scoring leader, struck from outside the box off feeds from Ian Smith and Cole Bassett for his 12th.
Goalkeeper James Pantemis stopped seven shots to post the shutout, and the club said he became the first Timbers player to log every minute of an MLS regular season.
Portland closed at 13-14-7 with 46 points, good for seventh in the Western Conference, and enters the postseason on a four-game winning streak. The Timbers will play second-seeded FC Dallas in a best-of-three first-round series, with the schedule still to be released by the league.
It is the third playoff trip in a row for Portland, which changed coaches in the middle of the season when Marti Cifuentes replaced Phil Neville.
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