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T2 open USL Championship regular season play against the Tulsa Roughnecks FC later today, Saturday, March 9, at ONEOK Field. You can stream the 5 p.m. (Pacific) match on ESPN+.
2018 at a glance
2018 was far and away T2’s best season. It’s not even close: In 2018, T2 set team records in nearly every meaningful statistical category, making the postseason for the first time in its four-year existence.
2018 record: 17-13-4, +9 GD, 55 points, sixth in the West
2018 attendance: 2,015, 27th, a nearly 20% decrease from 2017
How to keep up with Timbers 2
USL matches will be shown on ESPN+. You can follow their schedule here.
T2 play four of their first five matches away. While the finishing touches are put on the newly renovated Providence Park, T2 will play at least four matches at Merlo Field.
T2’s first scheduled game at Providence Park is set for Sunday, June 16. It’s worth noting that the team’s schedule (as of March 9, 2019) says TBD for home matches on May 25 and May 29. If things break right, T2 may be able to sneak in a match ahead of the Timbers June home opener.
What’s new?
Technically, the USL, or “United Soccer League,” for long, is no more, as the league has been rebranded in 2019 as the USL Championship. Four teams have left the league, most notably FC Cincinnati, who are now in MLS. Six expansion teams will begin play in the Championship, for a grand total of 36 teams.
The 34-game regular season will conclude over the course of 33 weeks. The playoffs are set to begin in the final weekend of October.
In other news, the Sounders 2 have rebranded themselves as the Tacoma Defiance for ... reasons.
Fondest memory of 2018
Believe it or not, T2 did in fact have to come back to defeat Los Dos 7-3 in the league’s highest scoring affair in 2018. At the center of it all was competing heroics between Portland’s homegrown player Foster Langsdorf and LA Galaxy II’s 15-year-old Efrain Alvarez. Alvarez made his first team debut with the LA Galaxy last week.
What are your expectations for T2 this year? Leave your comment below.