CARSON, Calif. – Veteran goalkeeper Dan Kennedy likely will be unavailable Saturday when the LA Galaxy take on the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. (4 p.m., Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Time Warner Cable Deportes). But the Galaxy needn’t worry.
Kennedy left last Saturday’s MLS season-opening, 4-1 victory over D.C. United with a leg injury and head coach Bruce Arena said his status will be evaluated week to week. Such uncertainty in a key position on his defense might cause a sleepless night or two for Arena and his staff, but the Galaxy are in more than capable hands with backup Brian Rowe waiting in the wings.
The 27-year-old was impressive in last weekend’s win – “It’s never easy to bring a goalkeeper into a game under those conditions,” Arena said -- and figures to get the start on Saturday.
“Brian should be positioned now to be successful and do the job,” Arena went on. “He’s been here long enough, he’s had enough experience in the league and played in enough games where there’s no reason to believe he can’t be placed in these situations and be successful.”
Rowe originally was a Supplemental Draft pick of now-defunct Chivas USA in 2012 and later signed a contract as a MLS pool goalkeeper. He briefly trained with the Galaxy early that May and then signed with the club two months later.
The former UCLA standout is no stranger to stepping up for the five-time MLS Cup champions. In 2014, for example, he filled in for Jaime Penedo, who was away on international duty and was unbeaten in three starts. And last year, with the position in a state of constant flux with Penedo leaving the club and Donovan Ricketts struggling, he wound up playing in a career-high 14 games across all competitions and finished with a 7-4-3 record, four shutouts and a 1.00 goals-against average.
Rowe understandably feels more than ready to do the job again if it comes to that.
“I feel confident and comfortable,” he said. “This is my fifth year in the league and I think I’ve gotten to the point where I know my way around and played enough games to perform. Once you kind of settle in you feel confident out there.
“I’ve come a long way these last couple of years.”
Rowe said his mental game has improved the most.
“Just reading the plays and making sure you’re in good spots,” he said. “Goalkeeping is all about positioning and giving yourself the best angle or best position to make a play. The speed is pretty quick, and it took me about a year to kind of catch up to it.
“Each year you get more relaxed and more mentally in tune with the game. Now I feel I’m at that spot where I can read the game fluidly and I can make the saves when I need to.”
Galaxy goalkeeper coach Matt Reis said Rowe has improved in “a little bit of everything.”
“His game is strong,” Reis said. “He just needed to get sharper in a bunch of little spots, and he’s done that. He’s ready to take on this opportunity, and you never know what can happen.”
