After an off-season that saw a lot of changes for the Timbers, and for Portland Family Entertainment, a new-look lineup will take the field tonight against the Seattle Sounders as the Timbers open up their second season in the A-League tonight at PGE Park.

During the off-season, it appeared to many observers that the success the expansion Timbers enjoyed during their first season would be short-lived, as the Timbers released all of their forwards from last season, as well as key midfielders and defenders. The Timbers signed goalkeeper Matt Napoleon and defender Gavin Wilkinson early on, who are among the league's top players at their positions, then proceeded to build a new squad around them, building the defense from last year's squad while building a brand-new attack up front.

Napoleon showed himself to be among the league's elite last year, and the reworked defense in front of him should prevent him facing the barrage of shots that he faced last year. Newcomer Chris Smith backs him up for 2002.

Playing beside Wilkinson in last year's lineup was second team all-league defender Brent Sancho, who returns to the Timbers for 2002, but will move to the outside this year. He has been playing this position for his Trinidad & Tobago national team, and which will allow him to push forward this year, something he has been showing a great ability to do in the preseason. Oregon soccer legend Scott Benedetti also returns for the 2002 season, but moves to an inside position next to Wilkinson. The move of Benedetti to inside defender should help to cut down on the defensive breakdowns which led to Napoleon facing more shots than any goalkeeper in the league last year, and frequent breakaways. Keith Costigan will be starting the season at the outside left position, and like Sancho, also has free reign to push forward in the attack. Newcomer Sean McAuley is also likely to start some games in back but will likely start the season in midfield.

Team captain Brian Winters returns for 2002 as well and will provide a solid defensive presence in midfield as he will be paired with McAuley for the season debut, and returning midfielder Vadim Tolstolutsky will also likely see starting assignments when McAuley moves to defender. One area in which the Timbers made a major upgrade was speed at the outside midfield position when they added University of Washington player Ben Somoza, who also provides outstanding free kicks and corner kicks. Taking over the right outside position is Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, who showed during the Los Angeles Galaxy exhibition that he can slice through top defenders as he provides good ball control and intelligent shot selection. Newcomers Jake Sagare, Noah Delgado, and Erik Ozimek are also likely to see action this season, with Sagare having stood out in preseason because of his excellent speed.

The Timbers raised a few eyebrows throughout the league when they acquired former Los Angeles Galaxy forward McKinley Tennyson during the off-season. Tennyson had been impressive for the Galaxy during the pre-season, and most observers expected him to be on the Galaxy roster this year. But the Galaxy only offered him a developmental contract and he chose to come to Portland instead, where he has showed amazing goal-scoring ability during the preseason, having put in twelve goals while often only playing half of each match. In addition to being a natural goal-scorer, especially from headers off set plays, Tennyson also has an outstanding ability to control the ball while allowing his teammates to push forward. Joining Tennyson at forward will be A-League veteran Chugger Adair, who like Alcaraz-Cuellar comes over from the now-defunct San Diego Flash. At 6'5", Adair will give the Timbers an advantage on corners and free kicks, and brings leadership and experience. The Timbers also acquired D3 MVP Fadi Afash during the offseason, and he is likely to see significant playing time as he showed off his goal-scoring abilities during the preseason, with only Tennyson scoring more goals. Former Seattle Sounder Rees Bettinger also joins the Timbers for 2002.

During the preseason, the Timbers have matured and gelled as a team very quickly, and dominated their preseason competition before finally resting their starters and dropping their final preseason game at Seattle. The Timbers should be much improved at defense this year, with Winters dropping back to help out when needed, but the attack will be the part of the team that will show the most improvement. The combination of Somoza to Tennyson should provide frequent and spectacular goals this season, and Alcaraz-Cuellar has already shown the ability to slice through a defense. While the 2001 Timbers relied on the counter attack, individual runs from midfield, or a defensive breakdown to get goal-scoring opportunities, the 2002 Timbers will build play forward, with Costigan and Sancho making runs from the back. Adair and Tennyson, at 6'5" and 6'2" respectively, offer a distinct advantage over most defenders in the league whenever the ball is crossed into the box.

But above all, the Timbers look more like a team this year than they did last year. Many Timbers fans were worried when the Timbers began to unload players after the 2001 season, but the new Timbers look to have upgraded in the end, and should challenge Seattle for the Pacific Division title. And most importantly, they are great fun to watch!