Weekly update: MLS Cup approacheth
LA Galaxy set for record sixth league title game appearance
Sunday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN and Galavision, starting at 5:30 p.m. (PT). The game will also be available live locally on the radio in English on KTLK 1150 AM and in Spanish on KWKU 1220 AM.
The Galaxy went 0-1-1 against Real Salt Lake this season. Landon Donovan and Mike Magee scored in second half stoppage time to help the Galaxy earn a 2-2 draw at Rio Tinto Stadium on May 6, while Real Salt Lake ended the Galaxy's 10-game unbeaten streak with a 2-0 win over LA at The Home Depot Center on June 13.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Friday, November 13LA Galaxy 2 - Houston Dynamo 0 - After Extratime - The Home Depot Center - Attendance 25,373
Saturday, November 14
LA Galaxy U-16's 1 - Chivas USA U-16's 1 - Cerritos College
LA Galaxy U-18's 4 - Chivas USA U-18's 1 - Cerritos College
INJURY REPORT
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT - Alecko Eskandarian (Head - Disabled List), Julian Valentin (Right Foot - Disabled List)
DOUBTFUL - None
QUESTIONABLE -Stefani Miglioranzi (Left Groin - Strain)
PROBABLE - None
TEAM NOTES
SIX IS SWEET: With their 2-0 win in extratime over the Houston Dynamo on Friday night, the Galaxy have now qualified for the MLS Cup an MLS record six times. The Galaxy are 2-3 in their first five visits to MLS Cup, winning the league championship in 2002 and 2005, while falling one step short in the league's inaugural season, 1996, as well as in 1999 and 2001. The Galaxy had been tied with D.C. United for the most Cup appearances in league history with five heading into this season.Sunday's MLS Cup final against Real Salt Lake will be the Galaxy's first MLS Cup played in the Pacific time zone. In 1996, 1999 and 2002, MLS Cup was played in Foxboro, Mass., which is in the Eastern time zone, as is Columbus, Ohio, where the Galaxy met San Jose in MLS Cup 2001. The only time the Galaxy played in an MLS Cup that was not in the Eastern time zone was MLS Cup 2005, which was played at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, which is in the Central time zone.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Gregg Berhalter's game-winning goal in the 103rd minute against the Dynamo on Friday night was the first goal of his MLS and Galaxy careers. The 36-year-old defender signed with the Galaxy in April and immediately stepped into starting lineup, starting all 26 of the games in which he appeared in and playing 2,298 minutes on the season, which were the second most on the team, though he did not score a goal.
Prior to Berhalter, the last Galaxy player to score his first-ever goal for the club in a postseason game was McKinley Tennyson, who never played in a regular season game for the Galaxy, but came on as a second half substitute and scored late in LA's 5-2 win over Kansas City in Game #3 of their MLS Quarterfinal Series.
RECORD SETTER: Landon Donovan's 109th minute penalty kick on Friday night was the 17th postseason goal of his MLS career, making him the all-time leader in MLS postseason goals. Donovan had been tied with Carlos Ruiz as the leading scorer in playoff history with 16 goals before breaking the deadlock with his penalty in the second half of extratime.
Donovan now has 17 goals in 21 career postseason games, including seven in seven games with the Galaxy. He is now tied with Mauricio Cienfuegos as the second leading scorer in Galaxy postseason history with seven goals, four less than Ruiz, who is the Galaxy's all-time leader in postseason goals with 11 in 11 playoff games with the club.
FOLLOW THE LEADER: In addition to be the all-time leading scorer in MLS postseason history, Landon Donovan is also the leading scorer in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs, scoring three goals so far in the postseason. Donovan has scored a goal in all three of the Galaxy's postseason games this season, giving him one goal more than Real Salt Lake's Robbie Findley and Columbus Crew's Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
Additionally, Donovan is the MLS all-time leader in goals scored in the MLS Cup, tallying three goals in his three previous appearance in MLS Cup, scoring once as a member of the San Jose Earthquakes in MLS Cup 2001, helping his team to a 2-1 win over the Galaxy and then scoring twice in MLS Cup 2003, becoming the first player to score twice in an MLS Cup final, as the Earthquakes beat Chicago 4-2 at The Home Depot Center.
MULTIPLE MEN: In addition to Donovan, the only other player in MLS history to score more than one goal in an MLS Cup Final is Alecko Eskandarian, who scored twice to lead D.C. United to a 3-2 win over Kansas City in MLS Cup 2004.
In the history of MLS Cup, only five players have scored in multiple MLS Cups, with two of those players currently playing for the Galaxy. Landon Donovan scored in the 2001 and 2003 Final's, while Tony Sanneh scored in both MLS Cup 1996 and 1997, helping D.C. United win each of the first two championships in league history.
LOOKING AT THE OPPONENT: The Galaxy and Real Salt Lake have met twice this season with the two sides playing to a 2-2 draw in Utah on May 6 and RSL snapping the Galaxy's 10-game unbeaten streak with a 2-0 win at The Home Depot Center on June 13.
Sunday's game will be the first-ever postseason meeting between the two sides, who have met 15 times in the regular season. In those 15 games, the Galaxy are 5-5-5 against Salt Lake, though they are winless in the last six meetings. Salt Lake has scored two goals in each of their last seven meetings against the Galaxy and have outscored LA 24-23 in their all-time series.
FAMILIAR FACES: Three current Galaxy players formerly played for Real Salt Lake while three current RSL players were formerly members of the Galaxy.
For the Galaxy, Chris Klein spent the most time in Salt Lake, playing 43 games for the club from 2006-07 before being traded to LA in June 2007. Alecko Eskandarian also played for Real Salt Lake in 2007, joining the club in May 2007 from Toronto FC and remaining there through the end of the season, scoring one goal and adding three assists in 17 games. Dema Kovalenko is the third Galaxy player to play for Real Salt Lake, tallying one goal and two assists in 22 regular season games with the club while adding a postseason goal as well.
For Real Salt Lake, Clint Mathis had two spells with LA, playing for the club from 1998-May 2000 when he was traded to the MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls) as part of the Galaxy's signing of forward Luis Hernandez. After seven years in MLS and in Europe, Mathis briefly returned to LA in November 2007, when he was acquired from New York, only to sign with Ergotelis of the Greek League in January. In August 2008, the Galaxy traded Mathis' MLS rights to RSL.
Robbie Findley and Ned Grabavoy also played for the Galaxy before joining RSL, with Findley scoring twice in nine games with LA in 2007 before being traded to Salt Lake as part of the trade that brought Chris Klein to Los Angeles. Finally, RSL midfielder Ned Grabavoy played for the Galaxy from 2004-06, winning an MLS Cup with the club in 2005 before being traded to Columbus in May 2006.
YOUTH ACADEMY
DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY BACK IN ACTION ON SATURDAY: One week after ending Chivas USA's season at The Home Depot Center, the LA Galaxy Youth Academy achieved similar results with a win and a draw against the Chivas USA youth teams this weekend.The Galaxy U-18's defeated the Chivas USA U-18's 4-1 at Cerritos College on Saturday afternoon to improve their record to 3-2-1 on the season. Christian Alvarez, Miles Byass, Ruben Valencia and Reed Williams scored for the Galaxy, who are now 2-1-0 all-time against Chivas USA at the U-18 level.
Prior to that game, the Galaxy U-16's earned a 1-1 draw with Chivas USA's U-16's. The Galaxy have never lost to Chivas USA at the U-16 level, tallying a 2-0-1 record against them since they began competing last season.
The Galaxy Youth Academy teams are back in action on Saturday, when they travel South to take on the San Diego Surf.
NEED TO KNOW
PURO GALAXY HITS ESPN DEPORTES RADIO: ESPN Deportes Radio KWKW 1330 AM, the Galaxy's official Spanish language radio partner, is the place for all of your Galaxy news and information en español. The best place to get that information is on Puro Galaxy, the network's weekly, hour-long show that airs every Saturday from noon-1 p.m.Galaxy color analyst Armando Aguayo and Galaxy sideline reporter Mario Amaya are joined on a weekly basis by the players, coaches and a series of special guests that allow the fan to get excited for match day. So tune in each and every week and stay up to date with everything that is going on in the Galaxy.
Fans can also listen to free podcasts of previous episodes at www.LAGalaxyFutbol.com.
LOOKING FOR MORE UPDATES?: If you are looking for continuous updates from the Galaxy all week long, be sure to visit the club's official websites www.lagalaxy.com and www.lagalaxyfutbol.com, or the club's official blog at www.thelagalaxy.blogspot.com for all the latest news from the club.
