The Portland Timbers take on Columbus Crew SC in the 2015 MLS Cup Sunday at MAPFRE Stadium (1pm PT, ESPN). Here are five numbers to know for #CLBvPOR in a special MLS Cup edition of Quick Strikes by Simple.
779 The 2015 MLS Cup will be the 779th competitive match in the history of the Portland Timbers since the club's founding in 1975. It will be the team's second cup final, joining Soccer Bowl '75 in Portland's inaugural season.
3Dairon Asprilla has been surging during the club's run through the postseason. The Colombian midfielder has delivered three assists in five postseason matches, which surpasses his regular season assist total of two.
36 Defender Nat Borchers delivered a crucial block on a Blas Perez shot late in Portland's Western Conference Championship second-leg match at Dallas. The block was the 36th of the season for Borchers, which is two more than any player has had in a single season (including playoffs) since Opta began tracking MLS stats for the 2011 season.
6 In the 2015 postseason, the Timbers have scored six second-half goals. For comparison, all six Eastern Conference playoff teams combined have scored seven goals in the second half of their 2015 playoff matches.
18 No player has been fouled more in the playoffs than midfielder Darlington Nagbe, who has suffered 18 fouls in the five matches. This comes as no surprise with Nagbe having been fouled 384 times in regular-season and playoff matches since his MLS debut in 2011, which is 44 more than the next player on the list (Sporting Kansas City's Benny Feilhaber).
