with Portland as the 4th seed and Vancouver as the 5th seed. On October 7, 2010, in the first leg of the matchup, Gershon Koffie scored in the first minute and Martin Nash added a 13th minute strike to give the Whitecaps a 2-0 win at Swangard Stadium. Three days later, on the return leg in Portland, James Marcelin scored for the Timbers in the 49th minute, but Portland was not able to find the equalizer, and Vancouver advanced to the next round with a 2-1 aggregate win, their second straight season eliminating Portland in the playoffs. MLS era (2011–present) The Vancouver franchise was granted status on March 18, 2009 by MLS Commissioner Don Garber as the seventeenth franchise of Major League Soccer. The Portland Timbers were announced as the eighteenth franchise two days later, and the two Cascadia clubs joined MLS together for the 2011 MLS season. The Timbers won the initial MLS game against the Whitecaps, and it would take until 2014 for Vancouver to first win against Portland. The two clubs met for the first time in the MLS Playoffs in a two game aggregate series in the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals. After the first game tied 0-0 at Portland's Providence Park, the Timbers won the return match at BC Place 2-0 on goals by Fanendo Adi and Diego Chara, advancing to the Western Conference Finals. The Timbers would later win the 2015 MLS Cup, becoming the first team from Cascadia to do so. On August 10, 2019, Portland defeated the Whitecaps 3–1, placing them first in Cascadia Cup standings. Goals were scored by Sebastián Blanco, Marvin Loría, and Jeremy Ebobisse. Due to the COVID-19 disruption of MLS play as well as cross-border restrictions imposed by the Canadian government, Vancouver played the entirety of their 2020 home matches against American teams at Portland's Providence Park in a way to easier facilitate travel accommodations. The first "home" match for Vancouver coincidentally was against the Timbers, who played as the away side in their own park. Portland won 1-0, scoring an official away goal by Felipe Mora in the 5th minute. In 2021, Vancouver continued to play in the United States, but at Real Salt Lake's own Rio Tinto Stadium given the continuing cross-border travel restrictions that continues to prevent Vancouver from playing their home matches in Canada. Vancouver played as the home team against Portland on April 18,