Fire lose academy director to Portland

The Fire’s offseason of change will extend beyond the first team.

The Portland Timbers announced Tuesday that Fire academy director Larry Sunderland has joined Portland to be its youth technical director. Sunderland was also the technical director of the Fire’s team in the Premier Development League and was well-regarded for his work with the franchise, which included the development of Homegrown players Harry Shipp and Patrick Doody.

“The Portland Timbers have an unparalleled passion for excellence on and off the field and I look forward to bringing my passion for player development to the Timbers Academy and becoming a part of this championship organization,” Sunderland said in a news release. “The opportunity to work with quality people in a high performance environment is rare.

“Couple that with an incredible soccer environment in Portland and you have a winning mix that I am very excited to be a part of.”

Dates coming

As expected, CONCACAF announced Wednesday that MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey will host the June 26 final of the Copa America Centenario. The full schedule of the tournament, including the games and dates at Soldier Field, is expected to be announced Thursday.

Most of the 10 sites will get at least three games in the 16-team tournament between countries from both North and South America.

Blue-line offense

The Wolves are getting a lot of their offense from the blue line, and the most of it from defenseman Andre Benoit.

Entering Thursday’s game against Texas, Benoit’s 21 points lead the team. He has 18 assists, and has at least a point in six of his last seven games. Before play Wednesday, he was also third among all AHL defensemen in scoring, one point behind leaders T.J Brennan of Toronto and San Diego’s Brandon Montou.