Timbers U23s Midfield Cam Vickers (center) celebrates his 2nd half goal v. Seatlle Sounders U23s June 22, 2012 (Photo by Jeremiah Mitchell Braeback)

The Portland TImbers U23s (8-3-2, 26pts) will face stiff competition this weekend as they take on Washington Crossfire (8-5-1, 25pts.) Friday and Kitsap Pumas (9-3-2, 29pts.) Sunday in their final homestand of the regular season. The Timbers U23s are currently riding a three game unbeaten streak, with wins on the road over North Sound 3-1 (41' Hurtardo, 5; 54' Vickers, 4; 71' Sherrod, 8) and Fraser Valley 2-0 (52' Evans, 3; 83' Welshman, 2), followed by a 1-1 (23' Sherrod, 9) draw in Victoria.

With three games remaining in the season, the Timbers U23s are currently in 3rd place of the PDL Northwest Division, behind Kitsap in first place with 29 points with 2 games remaining (Friday v. Seattle, Sunday @ Portland) and Seattle in second place with 27 points with 3 games remaining (Friday @ Kitsap, Sunday v. Fraser Valley, and 7/11 v. North Sound). With 4 spots available in the division playoffs, Portland only needs 1 point to clinch a spot.

Portland division-leading offense is led by F Mark Sherrod who ranks 4th in both goals scored (9) and total points (21) in the PDL. M Cam Vickers has a PDL-leading 8 assists, to go along with 4 goals. Portland's defense is anchored by GK Spencer Richey (1.14 GAA), who's 7 wins rank him 4 in the PDL. On the season Portland has only allowed 15 goals, which is tied for the best mark in the division with Seattle.

PORTLAND TIMBERS U23s v. WASHINGTON CROSSFIRE

FRIDAY JULY 6, 2012

7:00 PM

DOC HARRIS FIELD, 1125 NE 22ND AVE, CAMAS, WA

Washington Crossfire comes into the game on a two-game losing streak, having fallen to Kitsap Pumas 2-1 and Seattle Sounders U23s 1-0 and currently sit in 4th place in the PDL Northwest Division at 25 points, 1 point behind Portland and 2 points behind Seattle, with both of their remaining games against Portland.

In their only meeting of the season against Portland on June 6, Portland's Andrew Riberio (2g, 2a) opened the scoring with a 3rd minute goal. Washington responded with a 40th minute penalty kick by Nic Besango (1g, 0a) and a 65th minute goal by Adam Bonifacio (4g, 0a).

If you are unable to attend the game, I will be live-tweeting @CascadiaFooty.

PORTLAND TIMBERS U23s v. KITSAP PUMAS

JULY 8, 2012

6:00PM

HARE FIELD, 1151 NE GRANT ST, HILLSBORO, OR

Kitsap Pumas, the 2011 PDL Champions, comes in on a two game winning streak, having beaten Washington 2-1 on Friday and North Sound 2-1 on Sunday. In their first meeting the season on May 24 at JELD-WEN Field, Portland crushed Kitsap 4-0 on goals from Andrew Riberio (33'), Cam Vickers (34'), and two goals from Steven Evans (39', 54'). In the second meeting on June 9 in Bremerton, Kitsap and Portland traded goals in a 2-2 draw, with Clark Phillips (10') and Erik Hurtardo (54') scoring for Portland and Ben Truax scoring both goals (21'; 64') for Kitsap.

This game marks the second doubleheader with the Portland Timbers U23s and the Portland Rain (4-2-2, 14pts.), who currently sit tied for first place in the WPSL Northwest Division. The Rain will take on the Spokane Shine (2-2-2, 8pts) at 3:00PM

If you are unable to attend either of these games, I will be live-tweeting @CascadiaFooty.