VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – There’s plenty in store for the local sports fan this weekend.
MLS
Fresh off their opening-leg draw in Montreal in the Amway Canadian Championship, the Vancouver Whitecaps return to Major League Soccer play when they host the Portland Timbers tomorrow (4 p.m., aired on City).
Portland (4-1-6) sits second in the MLS Western Conference, and are 4-0-1 against Vancouver including a 1-0 win last season in the Whitecaps’ BC Place opener. The Whitecaps have not had great success against their Cascadia rivals, going 0-6-4 combined against Portland and Seattle.
Portland is also the second-highest scoring team in Major League Soccer, with 18 goals. Only the New York Red Bulls with 19 have more. The Whitecaps are not expected to have Kenny Miller (hamstring) and Daigo Kobayashi (ankle) for Saturday’s game and defender Johnny Leveron is serving a one-game suspension for a dangerous play in last Saturday’s victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy.
RBC Cup
The Surrey Eagles will host Summerside in the semifinals at the RBC Cup Canadian Junior “A” hockey championship in Prince Edward Island on Saturday (2 p.m.). The winner will meet the winner of the Brooks Bandits/Minnesota Wilderness semifinal in Sunday’s championship game (3 p.m.). Minnesota is the first US team in history to play in the event.
RODEO
It’s rodeo weekend in Cloverdale with the 125th Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair. The top 22 rodeo contestants in Bareback, Saddlebronc, Bull Riding and Ladies Barrel racing are competing this weekend at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. Action begins at 7:30 p.m.
HORSE RACING
There are seven races Saturday at Hastings Racecourse with first post-time at 1:50 p.m. Railbird tells News1130 Sports that his best bet is “Our Last Call” in the fifth race. Railbird’s longshot is “High End Man” in the seventh.
