CARSON, Calif. – Following a 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution during the Memorial Day weekend, the Galaxy return home riding a four-game winning streak to host D.C. United on Military Appreciation Night at The Home Depot Center. The Galaxy will look to re-kindle one of the best rivalries in MLS on Friday night as they host D.C. United in their final meeting of the 2011 regular season.
Friday’s game will be broadcast live nationally in Spanish on FOX Deportes and in English on FOX Soccer, starting with the Soccer Night in America live pregame show at 7:30 p.m. ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM will also carry the game live on the radio locally in Spanish, with the English broadcast of the game available online at lagalaxy.com.
Unbeaten against the East this season and in their last six games overall; the Galaxy will be looking to avenge a last minute draw against United on a Charlie Davies penalty kick in extra time on April 9 at RFK Stadium. LA are 3-0-3 against United in their last six meetings and are 3-1-4 all-time in regular season games at The Home Depot Center.
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT – Sean Alvarado (Right Knee – Surgery), Leonardo (Right Knee – Surgery)
DOUBTFUL – None
QUESTIONABLE – Adam Cristman (Left Knee – Surgery Recovery)
PROBABLE – None
TEAM NOTES
GALAXY TO HOST MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT: The LA Galaxy will host Military Appreciation Night on June 3, when the club takes on D.C. United at The Home Depot Center. As a way of showing the Galaxy’s appreciation for the military, the club is donating 1,000 tickets to various regional branches of the Armed Forces.
On top of the 1,000 tickets the club has already committed to donate, the Galaxy are also pledging to match the amount of tickets fans purchase through the “buy one, give one” option on the lagalaxy.com/military-appreciation-night. In addition, Season Ticket Holders who would like to donate their tickets to local military personnel can do so through the same page.
LOPEZ OPENS ACCOUNT: LA Galaxy forward Miguel Lopez scored the first goal in his MLS career Saturday night, helping the club to a 1-0 win over the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Lopez, who was acquired on loan from Quilmes in Argentina over the offseason, is the ninth different player to score for the Galaxy this season. So far this season, the 5-foot-9 attacker has also registered two assists and logged 597 minutes in 12 games, seven as a starter, including the game this weekend in New England.
DONOVAN AND RICKETTS ON GOLD CUP DUTY: Landon Donovan and Donovan Ricketts reported to their respective national teams this week to begin preparations for the 2011 Gold Cup. Beginning with this week’s game on Friday night, Donovan and Ricketts will not be available for selection against D.C. United.
If either player reaches the Gold Cup Final, they will miss all four games that the Galaxy are scheduled to play during the month of June.
DELAGARZA AND DONOVAN TEAM UP FOR SAVE OF THE WEEK: A.J. DeLaGarza and Landon Donovan are nominated for MLS Save of the Week this week for their incredible goal-line defending against New England on Saturday, May 28. DeLaGarza and Donovan teamed up to clear the ball off the line, not once, but twice, in an incredible sequence in the dying minutes of the game to preserve the win.
Fans can vote for the Save of the Week award here until 11:59 p.m. (PT) on Thursday, June 2, with the winner being announced the following day.
UNBEATEN AGAINST THE EAST: After beating two Eastern Conference rivals last week, Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution, 1-0, the Galaxy face another Eastern Conference rival this Friday at The Home Depot Center, D.C. United. So far this season the Galaxy are 5-0-5 against the East, going 3-0-2 at home, including a 1-0 win over Houston last Wednesday. After playing United this week, the Galaxy, who will play 18 of their 34 regular season games against the East this year, will have played every Eastern Conference team at least once with the exception of the Columbus Crew, who they host on July 20 and visit on September 24.
Since the start of the 2009 season, the Galaxy have a 21-5-14 record against the East, going 8-1-5 in 2009 and 8-4-4 in 2010.
SEASON SERIES COMPLETE: Friday’s game against D.C. Untied, will be the second and final game of the year between the two sides. The Galaxy traveled to D.C. to take on United at RFK Stadium on April 9, playing to a 1-1 draw in a game highlighted by a controversial penalty kick that was awarded late in the game to forward Charlie Davies.
The Galaxy are 17-13-7 all-time against United in the regular season, including 8-5-4 at home.
The only other teams that the Galaxy have completed their season series against are Philadelphia, who the Galaxy beat 1-0 at home on April 2 before drawing 1-1 at PPL Park on May 11, and New England, who the Galaxy beat 1-0 at Gillette Stadium this past weekend and played to a 1-1 draw in the Home Opener on May 20.
GALAXY-MAN CITY TICKETS ON SALE NOW: Individual Tickets are now on sale for the LA Galaxy’s international friendly against FA Cup winners Manchester City of the Premier League at The Home Depot Center. The game, which is part of the 2011 Herbalife World Football Challenge, kicks off at 1 p.m. on Sunday, July 24 in Carson, Calif.
Individual tickets will start at just $30, giving fans the chance to see the Galaxy match up against a club that has seen their status as one of the top clubs in England grow exponentially in recent years, culminating in qualifying for the current format of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history. In addition, City defeated Stoke City, 1-0, on May 14 to win the FA Cup and capture their first trophy since the League Cup in 1976. City will be bringing with them to The Home Depot Center the FA Cup trophy, which will have a role during the pre-game festivities.
Fans wishing to purchase individual tickets can do so now by calling 1-877-3GALAXY (342-5299) or visiting www.lagalaxy.com/world-football-challenge. Tickets are also available at www.ticketmaster.com and through all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information about the 2011 Herbalife World Football Challenge, visit www.WorldFootballChallenge.com.
IN THE COMMUNITY
10th ANNUAL COPA LA WINNERS: The LA Galaxy proudly announced today the 12 winners of the 10th annual Copa LA Youth Soccer Tournament, presented by La Curacao, which was competed for over the Memorial Day weekend at the Ab Brown Soccer Complex in Riverside, Calif.
The Copa LA tournament finals were held on Monday, May 30 with winners in 12 different age groups ranging from Under-8 all the way up to Under-19 being crowned as champions. Teams traveled from as far away as Bakersfield, Fresno, Porterville, Oxnard, Calexico, Las Vegas, Arizona and Mexicali, Mexico.
The winners were: Pumas UNAM (BU-8), FC Golden State (BU-9), OC Dynamo (BU-10), Panthers (BU-11), Thundercats (BU-12), Royal Puma FC Blue (BU-13), La Piedad (BU-14), Chivas USA Academy (BU-15), Riverside FC (BU-16), Long Beach Avengers (BU-17), Colton America (BU-18), Ermitaños (BU-19).
For more information about the 10th Annual Copa LA tournament, please visit www.lagalaxy.com for results and photos. In addition to La Curacao, adidas, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Chevrolet, Farmer John, Herbalife and Wild Rivers sponsored Copa LA 2011.
LA GALAXY YOUTH ACADEMY
TWO WEEKS LEFT IN GALAXY ACADEMY SEASON: The LA Galaxy Academy programs will play their final home games of the regular season this weekend at The Home Depot Center. The U-16 and U-18 teams both will square off against Nomads SC and San Diego Surf on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
After beating Arsenal FC, 2-1, but losing to Real Salt Lake Arizona, 2-0, over the weekend, the U-16’s (16-5-3 Overall, 7-5-2 SoCal Division) will look to keep their playoff hopes alive this weekend. On Saturday, they’ll host Nomads at 3:30 p.m. on Field 7 at The Home Depot Center. The next day, they’ll return to The Home Depot Center to take on the San Diego Surf at 3:30 p.m. on Field 5, this is a game with plenty of playoff implications as both teams are currently third and fourth in standing and vying for two Wild Card playoffs spots in the division.
The U-18’s will also be at home this weekend, hosting Nomads on Field 7 at The Home Depot Center on Saturday at 1 p.m. and the Surf on Field 5 at The Home Depot Center on Sunday at 1 p.m. The U-18’s (10-10-4 Overall, 3-7-4 SoCal Division) drop both of their games over the Memorial Day Weekend, losing 5-1 to Arsenal FC on Saturday and 2-1 to Real Salt Lake Arizona on Sunday.
Heading into this weekend, both teams have four games left in the regular season, which ends in two weeks on Sunday, June 12.
NEED TO KNOW
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. The Galaxy can also be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lagalaxy and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lagalaxy.
