The Portland Timbers conceded two goals in the opening four minutes and never recovered, losing to Olimpia 3-1 on the road to end their CONCACAF Champions League run.
Both teams finished on nine points in Group 5, but the first tiebreaker is head-to-head away goals, and because Olimpia scored twice in a 4-2 Portland win in the United States, the Honduran club advances to the knockout stage.
The opener came inside three minutes, and was an absolute stunner from Romell Quioto as the 23-year-old finagled an overhead kick out of nothing that struck the inside of the crossbar and caromed in to give Olimpia a 1-0 lead.
21-year-old Anthony “Choco” Lozano then scored their second ticks later when the Portland defense broke down and allowed Lozano to cut through their defense on a back-post run and connect to the Omar Guerra cross.
Ben Zemanski scored early in the second half, but Olimpia wasted no time restoring their lead two minutes later and that was all she wrote for the Timbers.
Timbers manager Caleb Porter rested both Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe for the match, although Nagbe came on in the 71st minute in a last-ditch effort to pick up a goal. Portland would have needed just one to progress, as it would have leveled them with Olimpia on two away goals meaning the next tiebreaker up was head-to-head goal differential, in which the MLS side would have had the advantage.
Porter also sat Donovan Ricketts, Diego Chara, and Jack Jewsbury for the match, with none of them even named to the squad.
Portland becomes the second MLS team knocked out of the competition in the group stage, joining New York Red Bulls. Both Sporting KC and DC United advanced to the knockout stage by winning its group.