LOS ANGELES (March 11, 2026) – The LA Galaxy defeated Jamaican Premier League side Mount Pleasant FA 3–0 in the first leg of the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. Gabriel Pec led the way for LA with a hat trick, scoring in the 6th, 89th, and 90+6th minutes to give the Galaxy an advantage headed into the second leg in Kingston, Jamaica on March 19.
To celebrate Gabriel Pec's first hat trick of his professional career, the LA Galaxy are running a flash sale that celebrates the three goals by giving fans the next three home games for as low as $15 per ticket. The next three home matches include the team's Women's History Month celebration against Sporting Kansas City this Saturday, March 14, the Landon Donovan celebration against Minnesota United FC on April 4, and the Cobi Jones Statue Unveil match against Real Salt Lake on April 26.
Goalscoring Plays
LA – Gabriel Pec (Mauricio Cuevas), 6th minute: Cuevas burst down the right wing, slipped past a defender with a stepover, and pulled back a low cross to Pec, who took one touch before finishing with a left‑footed shot into the back of the net.
LA – Gabriel Pec (Miki Yamane) 89th minute: Isaiah Parente hit a long diagonal ball in behind the Mount Pleasant FA back line, finding Yamane, who brought it down before laying it off to Pec. Pec struck his shot off the bottom of the crossbar and in, doubling the Galaxy’s lead to 2–0.
LA – Gabriel Pec (João Klauss) 90+6th minute: Harbor Miller worked the ball to the left side of the box for Klauss, who squared a pass into the middle, finding Pec for his hat‑trick finish to make it 3–0 for LA.
Postgame Notes
- LA Galaxy players wore black armbands in tonight’s match at their own request in support of Eduard Löwen of St. Louis City SC.
- In the first match since his newly-signed contract extension, defender Jakob Glesnes donned the captain’s armband for the first time in his LA Galaxy career.
- After making his season debut as a second half substitute over the weekend, midfielder Erik Thommy earned his first official start for the LA Galaxy in his home debut at Dignity Health Sports Park.
- Forward Gabriel Pec recorded the first hat trick of his professional career in the match with goals in the 6th and 89th minutes before adding an exclamation point on the night with a third in final moments of stoppage time.
- Mauricio Cuevas and Miki Yamane each recorded their first assists of the 2026 campaign for the Galaxy, setting up Gabriel Pec for scores in the 6th and 89th minutes respectively.
- João Klauss recorded his 6th goal contribution of the season, setting up Pec for his third and final goal of the contest. Now averaging one goal contribution per match, Klauss has found his way onto the score sheet in five of the club’s six games so far in the campaign (four goals, two assists).
- Isaiah Parente made his 2026 debut for the Galaxy as a substitute in the 88th minute.
Next Up
The LA Galaxy remain home for a return to league play at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, March 14 against Sporting Kansas City, presented by Sherwin-Williams (6:30 p.m. PT, Apple TV). The club will celebrate Women’s History Month at the match with all-women entertainers, up to 40% off discounts on select women’s merchandise at the Team Store, and additional in-stadium activations highlighting women shaping the sport and the community. In addition, the Women’s Coaching Alliance will be honored as the Community Partner of the Match.
Match Information
Match: LA Galaxy vs Mount Pleasant FA
Date: March 11, 2026
Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park; Carson, California
Weather: Clear and 68°F
Scoring Summary
|
1
|
2
|
F
|
LA Galaxy
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Mount Pleasant FA
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
LA: Gabriel Pec (Mauricio Cuevas), 6’
LA: Gabriel Pec (Miki Yamane), 89’
LA: Gabriel Pec (João Klauss), 90+6’
Lineups
LA Galaxy: GK JT Marcinkowski; D John Nelson, D Justin Haak, D Jakob Glesnes, D Mauricio Cuevas (Miki Yamane, 88’); M Edwin Cerrillo (Isaiah Parente, 88), M Elijah Wynder; M Gabriel Pec, M Lucas Sanabria (Ruben Ramos Jr. 70’), M Erik Thommy (Harbor Miller, 62’); F João Klauss
Substitutes not used: Brady Scott, Novak Mićović, Maya Yoshida, Julián Aude, Tucker Lepley, Julian Placias
Mount Pleasant FA: GK Tafari Chambers; D Kimoni Bailey, D Shaquille Dyer, D Kyle Ming, D Gadail Irving; M Demario Phillips, M Owen Jumpp (Shaqueil Bradford, 58’), M Jabarie Howell; F Daniel Green (Devonte Campbell, 76’), F Alex Marshall, F Raheem Edwards (Warner Brown, 75’)
Substitutes not used: Shaquan Davis, Earl Dennis, Claver Nugent, Jaheem Douglas
Stats Summary
|
LA
|
MTP
|
Shots
|
31
|
6
|
Shots on Goal
|
11
|
2
|
Saves
|
2
|
8
|
Corner Kicks
|
8
|
0
|
Fouls
|
15
|
7
|
Offsides
|
1
|
1
|
Possession
|
75.3%
|
24.7%
|
Misconduct Summary
LA: John Nelson (caution) 26’
MTP: Demario Phillips (caution) 36’
LA: João Klauss (caution) 53’
MTP: Tafari Chambers (caution) 64’
Officials
Referee: Reon Radix
Assistant Referees: Zachari Zeegelaar, Clinton Hayward
Fourth Official: Jose Torres
VAR: Benjamin Whitty
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
LA Galaxy Postgame Top Quotes
LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney
On having empathy for Mount Pleasant FA’s circumstances:
“Because of the nature of the competition, I think I'm not allowed to feel empathy for them yet; maybe after we see how it goes, but yeah, I think it's just super difficult circumstances, and I understand that from their perspective. I feel like they came and they put on, you know, however many guys are missing, and they remained disciplined. They were organized. They made it difficult for us to create many chances; I was impressed again with some of the individual capability and some of the duels and their ability to protect the ball and get out of spaces and just make things difficult there. Their discipline and the defensive side, so obviously they're well coached and obviously they have good leadership over there on that side because those guys were doing what they were asked to do. They were a few minutes away from probably achieving something that they would have been pretty happy with going home and now I think, you know, I don't know, maybe they're happy or not, but I think they see a little more of an uphill battle just because the last few minutes we were able to grab those last two goals.”
On how this result will shape the approach for the second leg:
“I learned in Concacaf again to not take anything too much for granted. We've got a group that we've been rotating a lot. We've been using a lot of guys, so I think we'll stay within some version of our rotation. But again, seeing Harbor and Ruben and these guys come out tonight and be impactful, they obviously get in, put their names into the mix. So, I think we have to strongly consider what the rotation will look like. We have a busy 5 games in 16 days. We're obviously missing some guys tonight, some of whom will be back, some won't, so yeah, I think we'll look at it. I haven't honestly thought about the next game just yet. We have to play on Saturday, and I've got to figure out what that group's going to look and then we can start to approach next week. The one thing about playing on Saturday and then not playing again until Thursday is there's a reasonable amount of rest between those two games. The challenge becomes the game after Mount Pleasant as you have to travel all the way back to Portland to play a game. So, lots of things to consider. I don't have a specific plan in mind yet for sure.”
On the LA Galaxy Brazilian duo in attack:
“I think it's kind of coincided here in the last few games when we've been able to get Gabe [Pec} on the move and working from outside, inside, and João [Klauss] being the strong target post-up player that he's able to be when Gabe gets moving. He knows he can look into him and play off of him, and keep moving. I think as we get to the end lines, João is just as clever at moving and finding spaces in the box so that they can connect and others can connect in these little crossing situations. João had a few chances in those situations over the course of the game. So, obviously they've developed a relationship and a rapport off the field and they've got good chemistry and banter amongst them, and I think sometimes just those little things carry over onto the field too, and I'm sure they talk with each other on the sides of how to find each other in the game and how to connect, and so those are how, you know, how relationships build, but I think again I think, João is clever about his positioning and he's strong and he's a nice target. Gabe is continuing to grow and find those ways to slip in and play off of a striker. We haven't always had the striker that you could play off of in that type of way that that João does it and so, I think it gives us something a little different and gives Gabe a different piece to work with.”
