Timbers U23s Lineup (I think)
Staples
Erskine Brown Crasilneck Emory (Flunder 64)
Shergil (Hasson 56) vanSchaik (Harms 72) Kwesele (Warner 60) Guante
Ukah (Youngblood 54) Lopez (Richards 45)

Random observations

• Far and away the most dominating performance I have seen at PGE Park in a long time. Spokane is a team of community college players. The Timbers had four guys who have suited up in the USL First Division and a number of players playing high level Division One collegiate soccer. Could have been 10-0. The final shot tally, Timbers: 34 Spokane: 3. Wow.
• Ukah, who is getting a look from the senior club, didn’t impress me with his speed but his finishing is clinical. He has a strong backside and is good with his back to the goal. He clearly is not a PDL player. I think at this point he could do more for the senior club than Jallow.
• The most talented guy on the pitch was Frankie Lopez. Kid can play. I’d like to see him and Brent Richards play together. Richards set up two of the goals and has a knack for creating scoring opportunities
• The big difference between PDL and USL-1 is the pace of play. It is a lot slower.
• Guante played the full 90 coming back from a leg injury. He looks a little slower but he still is skillful on the ball. Nice to see him out there.
• Interesting watching a game at PGE Park with only a couple hundred people in the stands. Reminds me of the early years. The north end was shut off. Dan Zusman was still out there hunting his season ticket prey. Amos Magee was the public address announcer. Gavin Wilkinson watched from a luxury box. It was all a bit surreal.
• Avneet Shergill made a lot happen on the right side. Oregon State’s Tracy Hasson is a 5′4″ dynamo.
• Your U23s captain is Mutanda Kwesele.
• If Ryan Youngblood finished he would have had 7 goals. Interesting watching a guy who played defense for the Timbers years ago now playing forward.

Final Thoughts: Watching the kids play was a blast. Watching them dominate another team and do so in an entirely entertaining fashion was a bonus. We’re going to win the league.

Match Reports

• Official match statistics (USL Soccer)
• Ukah, Richards lead Timbers U-23s to 4-0 win (Portland Timbers)

Upon reflection
Thinking back to the Cleveland game on Saturday and I don’t think the Timbers should have done anything different in terms of tactics. It was clear from the get-go that they were playing for three points. The outside backs were pushed way forward, the midfield was swarming around the box, and the manager made some second half moves with the intention of getting a goal. It was a disappointing result, but I’m not sure they could have done anything differently (other than chopping off the Cleveland keeper’s arms at halftime.)

Looking ahead
Rochester comes to town on Thursday (note the 8pm kickoff) having won three straight. You’ll recall that the Rhinos blew up their roster before the beginning of last season. They began the 2008 season struggling to score and struggling to win. This year is a different story. They brought back their core players and have gotten off to a strong start. What makes this even more impressive is that they have already picked up three road wins and a road draw. Their schedule is crazy. They start the season with 8 road matches. That means they’ll be playing a ton of games at home late in the season. They have put themselves in a good position thus far.

Familiar Faces
There’s only one Sancho. One time Timbers defender Brent Sancho is starting in the Rhinos’ backline. Andrew F*ckin Gregor has featured in four of Rochester’s five games. He mainly is getting minutes off the bench. Former Portland Pilots forward Chris Sanders is on Rochester’s roster but has not played a minute yet. Rochester also has a ton of guys who have been in the USL First Division for a number of years: Johnny Menyongar (always kills the Timbers), John Ball (thug), Ze Roberto (still ambulatory!), Scott Vallow (Swallows), Tiger Fitzpatrick, and Kenny Bertz (Agnello drafted him).

Your annual Steve Reese update
After spending a couple of seasons picking up a paycheck as the third-string keeper for the Timbers, Steve Reese has returned to the much despised Cascade Surge. Judas.

US Open Cup time
One of the great disappointments of 2008 was Gavin Wilkinson’s decision to take the U.S. Open Cup less than seriously. Two words: Scott Bolkan. Hopefully Amos Magee will take a different approach with the U23s this year. The Bonzai have a pair of contests this week that will count as part of the qualifying process for PDL sides. In total, four matches in the early regular season will double as Open Cup qualifying matches with the top two sides in the Northwest division moving on in the tournament. Here’s the current standings and schedule.

The Oregonian’s lack of Sounders coverage
Terrible or a reason to have a renewed faith in the future of print journalism?

The week that was
Your weekly USL First Division review.

Photo: Allison Andrews/Soccer City USA

Bonsai!
History will be made in Tualatin on Saturday evening when the Timbers U-23 side – the Twigs, Bonsai, the Kids, the fill in the blank – play their first game against the Victoria Highlanders. Kickoff is 7pm at the Tualatin Hills Recreation Center (a venue that hosted the senior club (led by the legendary Chugger Adair) once for a preseason match if memory serves me correctly – and it does). What do we know about the PDL Timbers? Not much. The squad is managed by Amos Magee and the club’s roster currently lists Mutanda Kwelse as the lone player. The USL website has a bunch more names including Frankie Lopez who has been a standout player at the University of Portland the past few seasons. He’s joined by a number of other Pilots. Local kids playing for a local club. Good stuff.

You’ll also want to keep an eye on the University of Washington’s Brent Richards, who joins the club with rave reviews. An odd name on the list is Ryan Youngblood. He played for the Timbers a few years ago, never really earning playing time as a defender. He has stuck around the area and has scored a bunch of goals as a forward in the premier men’s league. It is a little strange that he is on the roster, since this really is supposed to be about developing young players (note that all the players listed are older than Alex Nimo), but I suppose it might be handy to have an older player or two around.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that having a youth side is simply awesome. It moves us one step closer to being a real soccer club. That is a good thing. Let’s hope that Magee can help some of the players develop into senior team members.

UPDATE: Kit sponsors are SolarWorld.

Kumbaya

“As a team, we have a lot of talent. This group is so diverse, we’re not going to take any shortcuts.” [Cleveland coach] Underwood, an Atlanta native who served as head coach of three USL teams froim (sic) 1994-98, wants to put an emphasis on winning and losing the right way in order to learn from its mistakes and become a better team.

Yes, they really are playing the game on Saturday at a place called Middlefield Cheese Stadium, and yes, I taught grammar to the staff at the Nordona Hills Sun newspaper.

Being Gavin Wilkinson
I hear that Cleveland is a lovely city. It is the Auckland of the United States or so I’ve been told. I can’t wait to get there and see my old mate, Rod Underwood. Nine goals in three games. Good thing I never let him sit in on the defensive meetings when he was my assistant. Rod, if you are reading this, here is the fearsome lineup you are going to have to contend with on Saturday.

Cronin
Thompson Knowles Danso Hayes
Farber Claesson McManus Pore
Keita Josten

If the shit don’t stink, why wear perfume. You know what I’m sayin’.

Match Previews

• Timbers set for trip to face Cleveland Saturday (Portland Timbers)
• Timbers U-23s finalize inaugural season details (Portland Timbers)
• City Stars Add Two, Host Portland On Saturday (Cleveland City Stars)
• Cameron makes the cut (Gresham Outlook)
• Updates from the road (Ax to the Road)
• USL-1 Week 5 Preview (Pasion Naranja)
• For the heck of it, here’s the Green Army’s discussion of the game (Green Army)