Just over a month since the end of the USL First Division season, midfielder
Brian Farber
already has his indoor shoes ready. The reigning PASL-Pro MVP is set for another professional indoor season with the California Cougars which starts Friday.
The Cougars begin the defense of their Professional Arena Soccer League championship with a two-game road trip starting on Friday. Their season opens against the San Diego Sockers and then it is a quick hop to Mexico to face Revolucion Tijuana on Saturday.
Farber, who played 29 games during the Timbers’ Commissioner’s Cup-winning season in 2009, re-signed with California earlier this month and begins his fifth season in the indoor circuit. He started his indoor career in 2005, and has played in each of the last four seasons with the Cougars.
With a highly productive season in 2008-09, Farber garnered the league’s MVP honors and led the Cougars to the league championship. Last season, he scored a team-high 49 goals in 21 matches, logging 14 multi-goal games. Farber also set a team record scoring five goals in single game last January – a feat he repeated less than a month later.
Farber currently ranks third on the Cougars’ all-time scoring list with 150 points from 79 goals and 36 assists. He has played in 90 career games for California.
On Nov. 8, the Cougars played a pre-season exhibition against the “Stars of Mexico”, which featured Mexican soccer legend Luis Hernandez. Farber tallied a goal and an assist as the Cougars pulled out a 9-8 victory in a tightly-played contest.
The 2009-10 PASL-Pro season features a 16-game regular-season schedule, with California’s regular-season finale slated for Feb. 25.
Indoor south of the boarder …
South of the boarder in Mexico, a pair of former Timbers players are helping the Monterrey La Raza get off to a good start in the revamped Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), formerly known as the National Indoor Soccer Leaugue (NISL).
Forward
Byron Alvarez
, the Timbers’ modern-franchise all-time leading scorer, scored twice in La Raza’s 15-13 season-opening win over the visiting Philadelphia Kixx. Alvarez, who played for the Timbers from 2003-06 and a handful of games in 2008, led the NISL in scoring last season with 56 points from 22 total goals and 11 assists. The 2009-10 season marks his third with the club.
Also on Monterrey’s roster is goalkeeper
Steve Reese
, a native of Salem, Ore., who served as a backup for the Timbers during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Reese enters his second season in Monterrey. He played in five games for the club last season and was selected to the NISL 2008-09 All-Rookie Team with an unblemished 3-0 record.
The MISL consists of five teams, and each club plays a 20-game regular-season slate scheduled to end in late March. The MISL has established a working relationship with United Soccer Leagues.
