LA Galaxy beat Seattle Sounders FC, 1-0, in an MLS Reserve League game at The Home Depot Center on Monday.
CARSON, Calif. - With a goal in the 90th minute from midfielder Rafael Garcia, the LA Galaxy beat Seattle Sounders FC, 1-0, in an MLS Reserve League game at The Home Depot Center on Monday. The Galaxy improved their Reserve League record to 1-1-0, while Seattle fell to 0-2-1 with the loss.
Seattle was forced to play the final 20 minutes of the game down a man after Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek was given a straight red card in the 69th minute for a hard tackle on rookie defender Bryan Gaul.
The Galaxy, who had the better of the play following Sivebaek's red card, finally made took advantage in the 90th minute when Garcia, a rookie drafted out of Cal State Northridge in the second round of the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft, scored his first goal for the club. Galaxy Academy midfielder Raul Mendiola was credited with an assist on the goal.
The goal scoring sequence began on right wing touchline with Hector Jimenez, who spotted Mendiola open across the field on the opposite sideline. Mendiola received the pass from Jimenez, quickly gave it to an open Garcia and made a run into the box. Garcia played it back to Mendiola and then made a timely run into the box. Mendiola spotted Garcia and lofted a pass that Garcia crushed with his head into the back of the net.
Before the Sounders were cut down to 10-men, both teams struggled to break down the opposition's defense.
Seattle's two best chances came a minute apart just before the hour mark. In the 58th minute, rookie midfielder Andy Rose drove a powerful long-range shot that forced goalkeeper Bill Gaudette to parry his save around the post for a corner. On the ensuing corner kick, Marc Burch found Roger Levesque at the back post, only for his close range shot to be blocked. A scramble inside the box ensued before LA was eventually able to clear the ball away from danger.
The Galaxy are back in Reserve League action on Tuesday, May 8 when they host the San Jose Earthquakes at The Home Depot Center. Sounders FC returns to The Home Depot Center next week for their next Reserve League game against Chivas USA on Monday, April 23. Both games are scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. PT.
Scoring Summary:
LA - Rafael Garcia 1 (Raul Mendiola 1) 90'
Misconduct Summary:
LA - Marcelo Sarvas (caution) 45'
SEA - Andy Rose (caution) 59'
LA - Bryan Gaul (caution) 63'
SEAÂ - Marc Burch (caution) 68'
SEA - Christian Sivebaek (ejection) 69'
LA - Kenney Walker (caution) 88'
Lineups:
LA Galaxy:Â Bill Gaudette; Bryan Jordan (Oscar Sorto^ 87'), Andrew Boyens, Dan Keat, Bryan Gaul; Hector Jimenez, Kenney Walker, Marcelo Sarvas (Rafael Garcia 60'), Kyle Nakazawa (Raul Mendiola^ 77'); Pat Noonan (Jose Villarreal 77'), Adam Cristman.
Substitutes Not Used:Â Jordan King.
^ - Galaxy Academy Players
Seattle Sounders FC:Â Bryan Meredith; Roger Levesque, John Kennedy Hurtado, Andrew Duran, Marc Burch; Cordell Cato, Servando Carrasco, Andy Rose, Christian Sivebaek; Sammy Ochoa (Alex Caskey 87'), Mike Seamon.
Substitutes Not Used: Brian Rowe, Jonathan Prieto, Armando Ochoa, Sean Morris.
Referee:Â Juan Guzman
Referee's Assistants:Â Luis Gutierrez and Bernhard Hosu
4th Official: Shahin Torosian
POSTGAME QUOTES
Ezra Hendrickson - Sounders FC Assistant Coach
(On the game...) "The second half, we had a better effort than we did in the first half. In the first half, we didn't create much at all. Even with a man down we were able to get some good chances, but it was not enough. It's hard to play that long with a man down."
(On the effort...) "I can't fault the boys for effort. They played really hard, especially when we went a man down. But it was just too much pressure to withstand for so long."
(On Roger Levesque's chance in the 58th minute...) "If we score that, we go up 1-0 and then the pressure is on them. But it wasn't meant to be. We have to see games out and it's kind of disheartening that we couldn't. But the boys will rebound next week and go back to the drawing board and fight even harder."
