Knee surgery sidelines Timbers’ Brent Richards

Brent Richards’ second Major League Soccer season will be delayed.

The Camas High School graduate suffered injuries to his left knee on Jan. 26 and underwent a procedure on Tuesday to repair tears to his anterior cruciate ligament and lateral meniscus.

The injury occurred during the Timbers last training session in Portland before the team went to Tucson.

Here is the announcement from the Timbers:

The Portland Timbers today announced that forward Brent Richards underwent a successful arthroscopy of his left knee late Monday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and a lateral meniscus tear. Timbers Director of Medicine Dr. Richard Edelson performed the procedure at Sports Medicine Oregon in Tigard, Ore.

Richards, 22, is expected to be out approximately six months. He sustained the injury during training Jan. 26 in Portland.

A native of Camas, Wash., Richards was named the Timbers’ 2012 Young Player of the Year, appearing in six regular-season matches during his rookie campaign last season. In total, he played in nine matches with the first team across all competitions and was the second-leading scorer for the Timbers Reserves with four goals in 2012. Richards signed as the club’s first Homegrown Player on Jan. 4, 2012.