CARSON, Calif. – Brian Rowe admittedly didn’t have the best of games in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes that lifted the LA Galaxy into the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.
But the 26-year-old has never lacked confidence since he signed with the defending MLS Cup champions in July of 2012. In fact, he has come through with a number of solid performances, including the latest one in Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Toronto FC in front of a sellout crowd of 27,000 at StubHub Center.
Rowe, making his fifth start of the season, finished with three saves in earning his second shutout of the year. He made a couple of nice stops on Toronto striker Sebastian Giovinco, including one early in the second half when he came out of his net to deny the fleet-footed Italian inside the penalty area, and looked poised throughout the contest.
“I thought he had a good, solid game tonight,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “Tonight he looked pretty composed.”
Arena and the Galaxy hope nothing changes for Rowe, considering he’ll be between the pipes while regular starter Jaime Penedo is with Panama for the Gold Cup, which begins on Tuesday and ends with the final July 26 in Philadelphia.
Panama has Group A games against Haiti on July 7, Honduras on July 10 and the United States on July 13. Throw in other Galaxy games like those against Club America on July 11, Real Salt Lake in the U.S. Open Cup on July 14 and FC Barcelona on July 21 at the Rose Bowl, along with MLS games against San Jose and Houston, and Rowe figures to be a busy man this month.
But he said he feels ready for the heavy duty.
“I always feel ready,” he said. “Jaime’s done a great job this year. I always try to push him and make him better and make it a hard decision on the coaches.
“I’m looking forward to getting how many games I get here, and I’m hoping Panama does well in the Gold Cup and I can keep going. I just try to take each game as it comes.”
His teammates said they will be in good hands with Rowe anchoring the back line.
“I think we all feel really confident in him,” midfielder Baggio Husidic said. “His feet are really good and that’s something that definitely helps us with possession and keeping the ball. He showed today he’s not a step below Jaime. Everything’s been pretty competitive for both of them, and we feel confident he can do the job.
“We all know how good he is and he’s shown in previous games he’s a really good goalkeeper. He shows it day and day out in training. It’s not a surprise whatsoever.”
