CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy extended their unbeaten streak to seven games on Friday night battling to a 0-0 draw with D.C. United at The Home Depot Center. The Galaxy were outshot in the game, but Josh Saunders made three saves to maintain the shutout and give the Galaxy their 30th point of the season from an 8-2-6 record. The Galaxy are now 4-0-3 during their current unbeaten streak, which began on May 7 with a 1-1 home draw against New York.
They will now look to make it eight in a row without a loss on Saturday night when they host Toronto FC at The Home Depot Center. That game, which is presented by MLS COPA Budweiser, kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will be shown live on Prime Ticket, followed by a special postgame edition of Galaxy Live.
This is the second and final meeting of the regular season between the Galaxy and Toronto FC, who held LA to a 0-0 draw at BMO Field on April 13. Featuring former Galaxy players Alan Gordon, Ty Harden and Nathan Sturgis, TFC were the only team to shutout the Galaxy this season before United did on Friday.
INJURY REPORT
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT – Sean Alvarado (Right Knee – Surgery), Leonardo (Right Knee – Surgery)
DOUBTFUL – None
QUESTIONABLE – Juan Pablo Angel (Right Calf – Strain), Juninho (Left Ankle – Sprain)
PROBABLE – None
TEAM NOTES
HALFWAY HOME: The LA Galaxy will officially reach the midway point of their regular season on Saturday night as they play their 17th game of the year. With an 8-2-6 record to this point of the season, the Galaxy sit in first place in the Western Conference with a league-best 30 points. This is the second consecutive season in which the Galaxy have recorded 30 points or more at the midway point of the year, going 11-1-3 for 36 points in the first 15 games of their 30 game season in 2010.
The Galaxy had a record 40 points at the midway point of the 1998 season and 32 points in 1996.
All MLS teams will play 34 games this season, making this the longest regular season in league history. All teams played 32 games from 1996-2000 and again in 2005 and 2006, while 30 games were played in 2003 and 2004 as well as from 2007-2010 and 28 games were scheduled for 2001 and 2002.
SHUTOUT STREAK CONTINUES: Starting in place of Donovan Ricketts, who is away on international duty, Josh Saunders made three saves for his second clean sheet of the season in Friday’s 0-0 draw with D.C. United. That shutout was the Galaxy’s fourth straight, extending the club’s shutout streak to 411 minutes. The Galaxy last conceded a goal on May 14 when Omar Gonzalez scored an own goal in the 39th minute of LA’s 4-1 win over Sporting Kansas City.
The Galaxy’s current 411 minutes streak is the third longest in MLS this season and the third longest in club history. If LA do not allow a goal in the first 52 minutes of Saturday’s game against Toronto, they will have the second longest shutout streak in club history, bested only by a 521 minute streak that began late in the 2009 season and ran until the fourth game of 2010. FC Dallas have the longest shutout streak in MLS this season at 531 minutes, meaning that the Galaxy would need to shutout Toronto FC and then keep Colorado off the scoreboard in the first 30 minutes of their game on June 18 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in order to eclipse that mark.
UNBEATEN AGAINST THE EAST: Saturday night’s game against Toronto FC will be the Galaxy’s fourth straight against Eastern Conference opposition and their seventh in the last eight games. During that stretch, the Galaxy are 3-0-3 against the East, while also claiming a 1-0 win over Chivas USA in their only game against a Western Conference team since May 1.
For the season, the Galaxy are 5-0-6 against Eastern Conference teams, including a 3-0-3 mark at home. Since the start of the 2009 season, the Galaxy have a 21-5-15 record against the East, going 8-1-5 in 2009 and 8-4-4 in 2010.
Following Saturday’s game against Toronto, the Galaxy will not play another Eastern Conference team until July 9 when they host Chicago at The Home Depot Center.
BOUNCING BACK AFTER A SHUTOUT: The Galaxy’s 0-0 draw with D.C. United was just the second time that the team had been shutout this season and the 16th time that they have been shutout since the start of the 2009 season. Six of those 16 games have been 0-0 draws, compared to 10 losses, but the club has bounced back well from a shutout over that time. In the game immediately following a shutout, the Galaxy are 10-2-3 and outscoring opponents 20-11. After being shutout for the first time earlier this season at Toronto FC, the Galaxy responded with a 2-1 road win in Chicago behind goals from Chad Barrett and Omar Gonzalez.
Only twice in that time have the Galaxy been shutout in consecutive games, with those stretches happening in June 2010 and August 2010 and LA tallying a combine 0-3-1 record in those four games.
The Galaxy have played two 0-0 draws in each of the past three seasons, drawing at home against Chivas USA and at D.C. United in 2009, away to Kansas City and Toronto last season and away to Toronto and at home against United this season.
Saturday’s game against Toronto will be the Galaxy’s 12th of 18 regular season games against the East this year. They have faced 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.
RESERVES DROP THIRD STRAIGHT: The LA Galaxy fell to 0-3-0 in Reserve League play on Monday with a 3-0 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes at the Nutrilite Training Facility in San Jose. Turkish trialist Sercan Güvenisik scored twice to give the Earthquakes a 2-0 halftime lead before Ellis McLoughlin added a third in second half stoppage time to complete the scoring.
Brian Perk made his Reserve League debut in goal for the Galaxy in the game, as did defender Kyle Davies, who was forced to come off after 17 minutes because of an injury.
The Galaxy will be back in Reserve League action at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 13 when they take on the Seattle Sounders FC at the Starfire Complex in Tukwila, Wash.
LA GALAXY YOUTH ACADEMY
ACADEMY U-16’S ON THE VERGE OF DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY PLAYOFFS: The LA Galaxy Academy U-16 team moved to the verge of a postseason berth with a pair of wins at The Home Depot Center last weekend. Four different players scored on Saturday to lead the Galaxy to a 4-0 win over Nomads SC. One day later, the Galaxy completed a sweep of the San Diego-area teams with a 1-0 victory over San Diego Surf. With the wins, the Galaxy are now 9-5-2 in the Division and sit in second place, two points ahead of both Irvine Strikers and Real So Cal, who each have one game left this year, compared to two for the Galaxy.
The Galaxy will take on Real So Cal on Saturday evening before closing their season with a road game against Cosmos Academy West at Pasadena High School on Sunday. With a win in either of those two games, the Galaxy U-16’s will qualify for the Development Academy Playoffs. If they slip to third or fourth in the group, they will have to earn one of 12 wild card berths, which go to the 12 best teams that did not finish first or second in their group based on their average points per game in all competitions. The Development Academy Playoffs begin on June 24 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.
The Galaxy U-18’s also hosted the Nomads and Surf last weekend, losing 3-2 to Nomads on Saturday and drawing 2-2 on Sunday against the Surf. They will round out their season this weekend, taking on Real So Cal on Saturday and Cosmos Academy West on Sunday.
ACADEMY TEAMS SUCCEED AT LEGENDS CLASSIC: The LA Galaxy Academy’s four youngest teams, their U-12, U-13, U-14 and U-15 teams were all in action as well last weekend, participating in the Legends Classic, which was held in Chino and Ontario, Calif. The Galaxy U-12 and U-14 teams were each crowned tournament champions in their age groups, while the U-13’s went close, falling on penalties in the tournament final. The U-15’s also reached the tournament semifinals before being upset.
The four teams combined for a 14-1-4 record at the tournament while outscoring their opponents 73-14. Only once did the Galaxy allow more than two goals in a game at the tournament while they scored three or more goals 13 times.
NEED TO KNOW
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