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VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Whitecaps know they have to be more ruthless in front of the goal. They nearly ran the Seattle Sounders out of B.C. Place Stadium in the opening 30 minutes last weekend with their attacking style, but couldnt capitalize on a number of clear-cut chances and settled for a 2-2 draw. Creating those opportunities is one thing, but the Whitecaps understand they must be better finishers in order to climb up the Major League Soccer standings. "We have to continue to try to take our chances," said Vancouver captain Jay DeMerit. "Over the past couple weeks weve really created a lot of them, now the final step in that is to put a few more in the net." The Whitecaps (4-2-5) will be looking to do just that on Sunday when they travel south to Oregon to take on the rival Portland Timbers (3-3-7). You can see all the action on TSN beginning at 9pm et/6pm pt. "Its part and parcel of our DNA as a team now to start on the front foot, be a forward-thinking team and try and go for the throat," said Whitecaps assistant coach Martyn Pert. "Weve got the surprise element at the moment because people are looking at us and probably werent tipping us to play that offensively. "(Head coach Carl Robinsons) philosophy is to be on the front foot and play attacking football. Youre going to create chances." But burying those chances has been a problem. Vancouver could have had at least four goals in a 1-0 road victory over the Columbus Crew on May 10, and also wasted a number of opportunities in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship semifinal four days later against Toronto FC. Then last week, the Whitecaps could have easily been up 3-0 on the Sounders after half an hour, but they were betrayed by their final touch on numerous occasions. "Weve just got to focus on doing what weve been doing," said Whitecaps striker Erik Hurtado, who has three goals in three games in all competitions. "Were attacking ... we just have to finish our chances more often." Vancouver currently occupies the fifth and final playoff spot in the West, a point up on Portland with two games in hand. The L.A. Galaxy, meanwhile, are two points back, but have a game in hand themselves and are also in action Sunday. Looking up in the standings, the Whitecaps are also just a single point behind both the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas, with games in hand on both clubs. "Theres a good team spirit, and I dont use the term loosely because there is a general feel-good factor about the place," said Whitecaps defender Andy OBrien. "The chances that weve created, and with a little bit of luck the results could have been a little bit different. But taking everything into consideration were pleased with how weve done so far." Sunday will also mark the second game for both Vancouver and Portland in the Cascadia Cup, a mini-tournament played between the Whitecaps, Timbers and Sounders for bragging rights in the Pacific Northwest. The team with the most points in games between the three clubs is crowned champion, something that Vancouver has accomplished four times, including last season. "Weve got to start well. We know to expect a battle against Portland, especially at their ground," said DeMerit. "Theyre a big, physical team. They like to get the ball down and play as well so were going to have to stay up and not give their good players time and space because they can hurt you." While the Whitecaps have not lost in MLS competition in their last five (2-0-3), the Timbers enter the derby clash unbeaten in six (3-0-3), including back-to-back road victories. "Were looking forward to Vancouver, we know with a win there we can jump them in the table," Timbers head coach Caleb Porter told the clubs official website. "And with our fans behind us, the boys will be flying." Portland, which will be playing its third game in eight days, got two goals from six-foot-four striker Fanendo Adi in a 2-0 midweek victory over Chivas USA, his first two with the club. "Hes a big, athletic guy. He gives a different element for them," said DeMerit. "Most of the guys that play up front for them are tricky guys or guys that have a bit of flair. "Were going to have to battle him, stick with his pace and make him play." The atmosphere inside B.C. Place last week against Seattle was electric and OBrien said the Whitecaps expect the same in Portland. "Its one of the beauties of where we located that we get that because coming from Europe thats part and parcel of the game," said OBrien, a veteran of the English Premier League. "I must admit the abuse that you get from away supporters is not as bad as in Europe, but its certainly one of the fixtures that you look for when theyre released because you know theyre going to be great games." DeMerit said it will be crucial for the Whitecaps to continue to play the attacking, aggressive style that made them successful through 11 games this season if theyre going to pick up their second road win of the campaign. "(The Timbers) will make it hard for us, especially in the beginning with the crowd on their side," he said. "Its up to us to make sure we battle that back but still try to stay expressive on our end and not sit back and give them the ball. "Weve got to make sure we continue to stay at a high tempo both offensively and defensively to give ourselves the best chance." Notes: The Whitecaps have never beaten the Timbers in MLS play, including three draws last season. ... Vancouver plays at the Philadelphia Union on June 7 before MLS goes on its World Cup break. The Whitecaps dont play at home again until June 25 against the Montreal Impact. Discount Authentic Air Jordan . Left back Armero opened the scoring in the fifth minute when his deflected shot rolled past Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. Striker Teofilo Gutierrez poked in Colombias second goal from a deflected corner in the 58th and James Rodriguez capped it off with a low shot in stoppage time after a slick backheel flick from Juan Cuadrado. Wholesale Authentic Air Jordan Free Shipping . The 21-year-old Canadian earned a spot in his third career ATP final on Saturday thanks to his first Top 10 victory of the new tennis season, a 6-4, 6-4 win over world no. 10 Nicolas Almagro of Spain. http://www.cheapauthenticairjordan.com/.com) - NFL owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Buffalo Bills. Cheap Nike Authentic Air Jordan .com) - Kam Chancellor bobbed his head in celebration as he crossed the goal line on his game-clinching 90-yard interception return. Authentic Air Jordan China . Cain departed in the fourth inning of a 10-5 loss to the Pirates on Thursday. X-rays on Cains bruised forearm were negative. He was hit when Sanchez led off the fourth with a groundout.DENVER - Patrick Roy returned to the Colorado Avalanche to restore the glory years he helped forge, and hes enjoying the ride with a young team playing at a high level. Nick Holden scored two goals, Ryan OReilly had a goal and an assist and the Avalanche rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 on Sunday night. Semyon Varlamov stopped 31 shots and Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie also scored for the Avalanche, who have won two straight. Roy helped lead Colorado to two Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001 as the goaltender with a dynamic offence in front of him. Now as the coach, hes bringing back memories of that era. "You ask me what reminds me of the Avalanche of the past, thats the type of hockey we were playing," he said. "And thats the way were playing right now." Those championship teams also featured goal-scoring defencemen, something lacking from last years squad. Colorados blue-liners had just five goals in 48 games a year ago. The Avalanche got four goals from its defence Sunday, including Johnsons first in his return from a two-game suspension for a slash on New York Islanders centre Frans Nielsen three weeks ago. "Its tough sitting out, and to be able to come back and contribute and help the team win is fun," he said. Johnson scored the go-ahead goal at 16:05 of the third when he pinched in to steal the puck and then sent a low shot past 6-foot-7 goalie Ben Bishop from along the boards. "I know (Bishop) from St. Louis, and I shot at him a lot," Johnson said. "Hes obviously a big guy and he doesnt give you a lot of room. Sometimes, big guys like that, you throw it at their feet and they dont see it." Nate Thompson had two goals, Tom Pyatt also scored and Bishop finished with 29 saves for the Lightning, who had four penalties in the last 21:28 of the game. "The penalties killed us," centre Alex Killorn said. "Six minutes where we didnt play in their zone." Holden tied it with a power-playy goal at 5:12 of the third.dddddddddddd It was Colorados sixth power-play goal in the past three games. Holden notched his second two-goal game when he scored into an empty net with 53 seconds remaining. Paul Stastny added another with 6.3 seconds left. "This is a tough one," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Tied game with under five minutes to go. I thought we were getting points from this one. We let them slip out of our hands." Thompson has eight goals, and four of them have come in a pair of two-goal games. He got his first one Sunday when he beat Varlamov on the short side 6:40 into the second period to tie it at 2. Later in the period, he sent a wrister at Varlamov that settled in the crease, and then he skated through to knock it in at 17:37. The Lightning missed an opportunity to move into second place in the Atlantic Division and third in the Eastern Conference after Colorados late-game eruption. "I think were going through a little bit of a rough patch," Thompson said. "A couple breakdowns there at the end and they end up in the back of the net, unfortunately." Colorado stayed within three points of St. Louis in the Central Division with the win. The Blues beat Phoenix on Sunday. The game was scoreless for most of the first period despite plenty of chances. Lightning centre Vladislav Namestnikov had two of them and Colorado centre Matt Duchene was stopped on a breakaway. Tampa Bay finally cashed in when Pyatt scored at 16:49 of the first. Barrie tied it 30 seconds later with a shot between Bishops legs, and OReilly gave Colorado a 2-1 lead with his 23rd of the season 1:42 later. NOTES: Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon finished with two assists. ... Tampa Bay C Valtteri Filppula missed his fourth straight game with a non-displaced fracture in his right ankle. ... MacKinnon extended his points streak to 11 games. Its the longest streak by a rookie since Stastny had one of 20 games during the 2006-07 season. ' ' '