TRAVEL, LOCATION, AND A DEEP TALENT POOL LOOK TO PROPEL THE EUGENE TIMBERS IN 2022

Written By:   Sam Palmer
​              West Region Contributor

When the Eugene Timbers start its 2022 WPSL season, it won’t be worried about gas prices or traffic on Interstate 5. In fact, the Timbers won’t play outside of Eugene until its fourth match and won’t even leave the state of Oregon until the season is more than halfway over.

Its first three opponents, on the other hand, will travel an average of 222 miles before the whistle blows in its match with Eugene. Being the most southern member of the WPSL Northwest Conference has its perks. 

It isn’t just travel time that gives the Eugene Timbers a unique place in the geography of women’s soccer. It is the closest WPSL team to two Division I Pac-12 universities: the University of Oregon and Oregon State University.

It sits in a central position in Oregon, with easy links to towns from the Willamette Valley all the way down to Northern California. Although it doesn’t have exclusive access to Portland in the north, the nearest WPSL team to its south is over 450 miles away. So, while Eugene is not the largest city represented in the conference, its catchment area for players is massive.  

All this is to say that the talent pool for the Eugene Timbers is vast and deep. The club will look to call upon all that talent as it returns to competitive WPSL league play for the first time in over two years.

It all starts with the coach, Jurgen Ruckaberle. The head coach has been involved with Eugene soccer for over two decades and has achieved success with both the Eugene WPSL team and South Eugene High School. Coaching director at Eugene Timbers since 2008, Ruckaberle has guided the club through its entire tenure in the WPSL.

As the team enters its sixth league season, it will look to rebound from a disappointing campaign in 2019 to reassert itself in the upper-left corner of the national women’s soccer map. 

To do that, the Timbers will need consistent performances from key players.

One of those players is Caroline Duncan, a graduate student at Oregon State University. Duncan made a splash in the central Oregon women’s soccer scene when she announced her arrival after an illustrious career at the University of Memphis, where she helped guide the Tigers to two conference titles and four NCAA playoff appearances before capping off her final season by being named to the All-Tournament Team for the American Athletic Conference playoffs.

A defender by trade, the Timbers will hope that Duncan can provide a stable foundation on which the rest of the team can build. After all, one or two key goals not conceded might turn a loss into a draw, or a draw into a win - all of which can propel the Timbers up the table. 

Eugene takes on its arboreal Oregon rival, Portland’s Westside Timbers, to open the season on June 1, 6:00 p.m. PST in Eugene. The matchup has traditionally been quite even, with the two clubs playing out a scrappy 0-0 draw during their last competitive meeting in 2019, as well as a 2-2 draw and a 3-1 Westside win in 2021 friendlies.

Eugene found success in these matches when it was able to break through the Westside high-energy press and run at their backline, and this is exactly what needs to happen on June 1 for the southern Timbers.

There’s a new season starting in the friendly Willamette Valley. Time for the Eugene Timbers to let the Northwest Conference know who they are.