On Friday night, the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers played to a 1-1 draw, so Portland can no longer overtake Victoria for the division title.

Now the game against Portland tonight at Royal Athletic Park, starting at 7:30 p.m., is a warm-up for the playoffs. The men’s game, the final of the regular season for the Highlanders, follows a women’s Pacific Coast Soccer League match between the Peninsula Co-op Higlanders (10-1-2) and Okanagan FC (7-4-3) set for 5 p.m.

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The Highlanders (8-1-4) came tantanlizingly close to wrapping up the top spot last weekend in PDL play, when a victory over either the Washington Crossfire or Seattle Sounders U-23 would have clinched it. Instead, the Highlanders fought to tough draws of 2-2 and 1-1, respectively, and remained undefeated through a gruelling schedule of six straight road games.

Including the Charity Shield exhibition game, Victoria played seven games in 17 days.

“To come out of that road trip with three wins and three ties is pretty impressive,” Highlanders coach Steve Simonson said at practice earlier this week. “We’re inching toward the division title.”

As the standings shaped up heading into this weekend’s action, which two teams will join the Highlanders in the playoffs is anybody’s guess. North Sound was the only one of the seven clubs not still in the running in the Northwest Division, and they had the opportunity to knock Washington out on Friday.

“To me, this year’s been such a challenge,” Simonson said. “Top to bottom, teams have taken points off each other.

“There are no easy games.”

And regardless of the standings, neither Victoria or Portland is expecting an easy game tonight. The Highlanders downed Portland 2-0 during one of their road trips, but the Timbers U-23 are regularly among the league leaders, and won the PDL championship in 2010, capping an undefeated season.

“Since I’ve been in the league, they’ve always been one of the top teams, and we always have good games against them,” Highlanders captain Tyler Hughes said. “It’s going to be a tough game, for sure.”

Portland coach Jim Rilatt agreed with that assessment. Rilatt described the Highlanders as playing organized, intelligent soccer, and he loves to watch them. He also loves coming to Victoria to shake hands and have an “old home week” moment with veterans such as Hughes.

“It’s great to see these guys influence the young guys. I’d have [Hughes] on any team I ever coached, because he keeps the guys around him right,” Rilatt said. “It’s enjoyable to watch him play.”

Rilatt was anticipating a tight game, and felt it would be tough to rebound if his team got down early.

“It could be a comedy trying to get the lead back.”

sepp@timescolonist.com

Twitter.com/tc_vicsports