Cascadia Cup foes set for new year after 2015 loaded with storylines

There was no shortage of storylines in 2015 for Major League Soccer’s three Cascadia franchises, fierce rivals who combined to enjoy their best collective season in five years on the MLS map.

Sounders FC reached the postseason for the seventh consecutive year and set a new single-season MLS attendance record. Vancouver Whitecaps FC enjoyed their most impressive MLS season to date and hosted their first-ever postseason game at a raucous BC Place.

And the Portland Timbers, at one point last fall perilously close to missing the postseason for the second straight year, ultimately put together a comprehensive and historic run through the playoffs en route to winning MLS Cup in December. The win gave Cascadia its first-ever MLS Cup, thrilling the Rose City’s fan base and equally motivating their contemporaries to the north, with all eyes focused on who will emerge as the best team from Cascadia in 2016.

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MLS released the regular-season schedules for all three Cascadia clubs on Thursday, giving teams and fans a look at how things will shake out in the new year. As in years past, each team will play its Cascadia foes three times, with Seattle hosting Vancouver twice, Portland hosting Seattle twice and Vancouver hosting Portland twice.

Here’s a look at the six Cascadia Cup matches in 2016:
Mar. 19
– Sounders vs. Whitecaps at CenturyLink Field (7 p.m. PT)
May 7
– Whitecaps vs. Timbers at BC Place (Kickoff TBD)
May 22
– Timbers vs. Whitecaps at Providence Park (1:30 p.m. PT, ESPN)
July 17
– Timbers vs. Sounders at Providence Park (12:00 p.m. PT, FOX)
Aug. 21
– Sounders vs. Timbers at CenturyLink Field (6:30 p.m. PT, FS1)
Aug. 28
– Timbers vs. Sounders at Providence Park (2:00 p.m. PT, ESPN)
Sept. 17
– Sounders vs. Whitecaps at BC Place (1:00 p.m. PT)
Oct. 2
– Whitecaps vs. Sounders at CenturyLink Field (5:00 p.m. PT, FS1)
Oct. 23
– Whitecaps vs. Timbers at BC Place (1:00 p.m. PT)
Previous Cascadia Cup Winners – MLS Era

2015 – Seattle Sounders
2014 – Vancouver Whitecaps
2013 – Vancouver Whitecaps
2012 – Portland Timbers
2011 – Seattle Sounders