Photo by Jaime Valdez / USA Today Sports

By CAITLIN MURRAY

PORTLAND, Ore. — A penalty kick and the return of Diego Valeri weren’t enough to help the Portland Timbers best their Cascadia Cup rivals in a rematch Saturday.

In their second matchup against the Vancouver Whitecaps this season, the Timbers were again winless despite having the lion’s share of chances, forced to settle with a 0-0 draw at Providence Park.

The Timbers squandered a chance to take an early lead when Darlington Nagbe knocked a penalty kick off the woodwork in the 31st minute. Alvas Powell struck Pa-Modou Kah’s arm on a cross in the box, drawing the call, but Nagbe’s low rolling shot bounced off the right post, even as he had goalkeeper David Ousted diving the wrong way.

Valeri, the Timbers’ top scorer the past two seasons, made his first appearance of the year after an ACL tear in October, replacing Ishmael Yartey in the 52nd minute. He tried a volley two minutes after coming on, his first shot of the year, but it was blocked. Valeri slid into a Jorge Villafana cross in the 78th minute that rocketed just wide.

“I thought possession-wise, build-up wise, we were very good,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said. “I thought we created enough to score. You’re not going to create a ton when a team sits like they did, but we created enough to score.”

The Timbers had the better of the possession and chances on the night, putting the Whitecaps under pressure, but just as with Nagbe’s missed penalty shot, they let golden opportunities slip away. Just one of their shots landed on target.

A minute after Nagbe’s failed attempt, Maximiliano Urruti sent a sharp header just over the cross bar off a long Rodney Wallace cross from out wide.

Just before the half, Nagbe found an unmarked Liam Ridgewell in the box, who couldn’t turn to face goal and headed it wide. A Jack Jewsbury shot in the 72nd minute had the Whitecaps back line beat, but went straight to Ousted.

The Whitecaps chances were few and far between, as they were out-shot 13-7. Two of the Whitecaps shots landed on target, but both weak shots failed to test goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey.

The Whitecaps beat the Timbers in March, 2-1, in their first matchup of the year. The Cascadia Cup rivals will face off again in July for their final regular season matchup.

With Saturday’s result, the Timbers remain in eighth place in the Western Conference with 10 points while the Whitecaps sit just behind FC Dallas on the table with 17 points, four points clear of third-place Seattle Sounders.

Up next, the Timbers head to Montreal to take on the Impact while the Whitecaps host the Philadelphia Union on Saturday.

Here are the match highlights: