Over the last four years, the Portland Timbers fans who track the team’s Academy products have had to marvel from a distance, with the miles between the Rose and Emerald Cities serving as arms’ length between Blake Bodily and his hometown. But after a career at the University of Washington that culminated with Pac-12 Player of the Year honors and a trip to College Cup, the Timbers product is back, with his club having announced his signing to a Homegrown Player contract.
“Blake will start with T2 with an opportunity to earn first-team minutes,” the team’s president of soccer, Gavin Wilkinson, said in its Friday announcement.