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Union midfielder Roger Torres told the Daily Times Tuesday that he's recovering nicely from April surgery on his left knee, and that he expects to play next week in a pair of friendlies against the Union's affiliate clubs.

"I'm training with the team," Torres said. “I think I can play against Reading, Harrisburg."

The Union will play Reading United AC June 9, and Harrisburg City Islanders June 12. They next play an MLS match June 16, at home against D.C. United. Torres said he'll "definitely" be back by then.

The 20-year-old midfielder sprained the MCL in his left knee April 9, during a win over New England in a reserve-league match. Four days later, Torres underwent what the Union termed "successful" surgery on the knee April 13. He last played against MLS competition March 24, getting 45 minutes in a loss at Chicago.

Back then, the Union said Torres was on a 6-to-8-week recovery timetable. Should he return next week, that would be during Week 7. Not bad guesswork.

Torres got around the locker room pretty good Tuesday, after the Union polished off Rochester, 3-0, in a third-round match of the U.S. Open Cup. They next play June 5, at D.C. United in a fourth-round match.

Torres said the most difficult part of the process was the recovery, and not the surgery.

“The recovery was the hardest," Torres said. "You lose everything you had in the preseason. That's what's so difficult. But I started recovering a lot of it. I'm ready for the MLS games. I'll be ready by then. I'll be back more faster, more everything, you know?

“To walk? Maybe one week it took to walk. After that, I started to jog a little bit. Now I feel so good."

OTHER ODDS AND ENDS...
***Carlos Valdes and Peter Nowak were sidelined by red-card suspensions from last season's U.S. Open Cup, which carried over to this season. Valdes, who had stitches to mend an open wound in his forehead from a draw with FC Dallas, said he feels good and wished he could have played.
***Freddy Adu, who scored twice against Rochester, said he might miss the June 5 match against D.C. with a scheduled Lasik eye surgery.
***Chandler Hoffman, the Union's first-round SuperDraft choice, got the bad-luck treatment against Rochester. He was the third and final sub...and played only three minutes of stoppage time.
***The game was delayed 58 minutes with rain and lightning.
***Josue Martinez, who scored the other goal Tuesday, got 90 minutes. He hadn't played more than 60 in any match this season, and those 60 came in the season opener. He hadn't gotten more than 35 minutes in any match since.

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On an editorial note ... thanks for checking out the blog routinely this season. I took a few days away from it to recharge the batteries over the holiday weekend. But now that I'm back, the posts will be just as regular as they were before. Again, thanks for your readership. It's appreciated.