PORTLAND — That long stretches of fine work can be undone in the blink of an eye makes soccer both intoxicating and infuriating for a team’s fans.

The Portland Timbers and their followers were reminded of that truth on Sunday at the University of Portland’s Merlo Field. The Timbers did a lot of nice work in front of 4,884 fans. And the record book will show that they won their final match as a second-division club, 1-0 over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

But the Timbers needed at least two goals to cancel Thursday’s 2-0 loss in British Columbia. Vancouver won the two-game series, 2-1, and advances to the semifinals in search of its third championship in five years.

The Timbers will immediately turn their attention to building their Major League Soccer squad, which is scheduled to begin play in five months as a member of the top professional league in North America.

Their decade-long run in second tier professional soccer ended in familiar fashion — with a playoff series loss to the rival Whitecaps, and without a championship.