HOUSTON – LA Galaxy II players David Romney and Ariel Lassiter made club history by becoming the first players from Los Dos to suit up for the first team
During the 3-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo, neither Galaxy II player looked out of his depth in Major League Soccer.
Romney started at left back, going 90 minutes in the defeat while Lassiter made a brief second-half cameo as the Galaxy chased the game.
Following the match, Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena was admittedly pleased with the showing of the youngsters.
“Romney did a good job,” Arena said. “Lassiter, he’s a young kid but Romney, on the night could have been our best player.”
It’s easy to see why Romney earned such plaudits, as the defender was arguably the Galaxy’s most consistent player on the night.
In the first half, the 22-year-old played more defensively than normal Galaxy left back Robbie Rogers. As the match wore on, Romney began to grow into the match, making several darting runs into the attacking third.
When told of Arena’s compliment postgame, Romney couldn’t help but flash a smile, and ask, ‘really?’
“I was kind of thrown into the fire right there,” Romney told reporters after the game. “Especially playing in the heat; I’m not really used to that. I actually cramped in the 49th minute so I just had to muscle it out and just play as hard as I could. I played pretty conservative, in my eyes, in the first half. Just played as simple as I could so that I could find my feet [early] and then started to make more risky moves in the 2nd half which was far more fun.”
And the fact that he was the first Galaxy II player to appear for the first team was not lost on the young defender.
“It means a lot. Growing up in Irvine, this being my favorite team, my favorite club, it’s an honor to play for this team,” Romney said. “Regarding the call-up, they’ve had a lot of injuries, Robbie [Rogers] is obviously on suspension, so a lot of things had to happen for me to get this opportunity but I think I’ve been playing well enough to deserve it. I played good minutes against Club América and against Barcelona.”
Like Romney, Lassiter is hopeful that his brief appearance will turn into more minutes for the first team.
Stationed in a left midfield role for the entirety of his 19-minute shift, Lassiter displayed the same speed and eye for goal that has helped him become Galaxy II’s leading goal scorer. In the closing minutes, the young forward nearly found the back of the net, when he launched a shot from the left flank that narrowly missed curling into the Houston goal.
“For the amount of the time that I was on the field, I thought that I could be on the ball a little bit more on the left side,” Lassiter said. “I think I could have created a bit more, but I got a shot on goal and for the 20 minutes that I played, I think I had a decent showing.
“MLS is definitely faster and definitely stronger. You can’t take a break, you have to be on 100 percent, but I think that I’m ready for it, I just need to keep working with Galaxy II and hopefully I’ll be here soon.”
As players return from injury, suspension and international duty, the chances may start to dry up for Romney and Lassiter this year, but the SoCal products are confident that if they continue to perform, the opportunities with the first team will come.
“I just have to be ready when Bruce needs me or when [Los Dos head coach Curt Onalfo] needs me with Galaxy II, the important thing is that wherever I’m at to work hard and do the most that I can,” Lassiter said. “It doesn’t stop here; I have to keep stepping up my game both offensively and defensively so that if I do get the opportunity, I’m ready.”
Added Romney, “That’s all up to them. I’m just going to keep working hard and hopefully things will come.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
