The LA Galaxy will look to continue their best start in more than a decade on Saturday night when they take on the Kansas City Wizards at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The game, which pits the two best defenses in MLS against one another, kicks off at 5:30 p.m. and can be seen live on FS West beginning with the “Galaxy Live” pregame show at 5 p.m. Additionally, the game can be heard locally in English on AM 570 and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM. Both broadcasts start at 5 p.m. with their respective pregame shows.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Saturday, April 17, 2010; Galaxy 2 – Real Salt Lake 1 – The Home Depot Center – Attendance: 20,344
Edson Buddle continued his strong form with another two goals as the Galaxy defeated Real Salt Lake 2-1 at The Home Depot Center. Buddle scored once on either side of halftime to help the Galaxy move to a perfect 4-0-0 on the season. Buddle gave the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute when he headed home a Landon Donovan corner kick for his sixth goal of the season. Kyle Beckerman equalized for RSL late in the first half but Buddle was able to tally his fourth game-winning goal in as many games when he beat Nick Rimando from 18 yards out in the 76th minute to give the Galaxy a 2-1 win and a five point lead at the top of the Western Conference standings.
Sunday, April 18, 2010; Galaxy U-16’s 1 – Real So Cal U-16’s 2 – Calabasas High School: Dyllan Stevens scored the Galaxy only goal and goalkeeper Josh McNeely had a fine outing, but Real So Cal was too much.
Sunday, April 18, 2010; Galaxy U-18’s 3 – Real So Cal U-18’s 1 – Calabasas High School: Goalkeeper Omar Zeenni had another excellent performance Riley Wolfe, Mark Sanchez and Alan Rovira all scored goal to lead the Galaxy to victory.
INJURY REPORT
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT – None
DOUBTFUL – None
QUESTIONABLE – Gregg Berhalter (Left Knee – Soreness), Dema Kovalenko (Right Hamstring – Strain), Eddie Lewis (Left Foot – Contusion), Clint Mathis (Left Knee – Surgery); Sean Franklin (Left Ankle – Sprain)
TEAM NOTES
GALAXY LOOKING FOR FIFTH CONSECUTIVE WIN: On Saturday night, the LA Galaxy will look to capture their fifth consecutive win to start the season as the club travel to CommunityAmerica Ballpark to face the Kansas City Wizards. LA is a perfect 4-0-0 for the first time since the 1998 season, when the club won nine straight to begin the year. The club’s longest winning streak to start a season is 12, set during the inaugural season of 1996. However, both of those winning streaks included shootout wins.
The last time the Galaxy had five consecutive wins was in late in the 2007 season, when the club won five straight as part of a seven-game unbeaten run that nearly saw the club reach the postseason.
FIRST TO 200: With their win on Saturday night, the Galaxy became the first team in MLS history to win 200 games. The Galaxy entered the 2010 season one victory behind D.C. United in the race for 200, but with the Galaxy winning their first four games of the season and D.C. United losing their first four games, the Galaxy have achieved the feat. LA was also the first MLS team to 100 wins, achieving the feat during the 2001 season.
NEW RECORD FOR BUDDLE: With his game-winning goal in the second half of Saturday night’s win over Real Salt Lake, Edson Buddle became the first player in MLS history to score each of his team’s first seven goals at the start of a season. Buddle broke the record of Carlos Ruiz, who had scored each of the Galaxy’s first six goals in 2002.
BUDDLE MOVES INTO THE TOP TEN: Buddle moved into sole possession of 10th place in MLS history in goals scored. Buddle’s first goal on Saturday night was the 79th of his 10-year MLS career, tying him with current Toronto FC head coach Preki, who played in the league from 1996-2005 for 10th place. His second goal made him the 10th player in league history to score 80 or more goals in league history.
Buddle is now two goals shy of Raul Diaz Arce and Carlos Ruiz, who each scored 82 career MLS goals, for eighth place in league history.
BUDDLE IS NAMED POW: Following his third multi-goal effort of the season, and the 15th of his career, Buddle was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 4 of the 2010 MLS season. This is Buddle’s eighth career Player of the Week award: 2003 – Week 1; 2004 – Week 18 & 25, 2005 – Week 1; 2006 – Week 22; 2008 – Week 8 & 12, 2010 – Week 4.
SCORELESS STREAK SNAPPED: Kyle Beckerman’s goal for Real Salt Lake just before halftime the Galaxy’s win on Saturday night was the first goal allowed by LA this season. Up until that goal, the Galaxy had played 311 minutes to open the 2010 season without allowing a goal, making it the fourth longest scoreless streak to open a season. Only the Bruce Arena coached 2007 New York Red Bulls (421 minutes), the 2009 Seattle Sounders FC (350 minutes) and the 1999 Dallas Burn (344 minutes) had longer shutout streaks to open a season.
Additionally, the Beckerman goal was the first goal that LA had allowed in a regular season game since a 2-0 loss at Columbus on October 26. Between Steven Lenhart’s goal in the 59th minute of that game and Beckerman’s goal on Saturday, LA kept six consecutive clean sheets and had gone 612 minutes without allowing a goal, making it the third longest shutout streak in league history. In 2007, the Houston Dynamo played 727 minutes without allowing a goal, for the longest streak in MLS history. The Kansas City Wizards have the second longest shutout streak in MLS history, going 681 minutes without allowing a goal early in the 2000 season.
Donovan Ricketts was in goal during the entirety of the Galaxy’s 612 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal, giving him the second longest streak by a single goalkeeper in MLS history. Only Kansas City’s Tony Meola had a longer streak at 681 minutes.
STEPHENS MAKES FIRST START: Rookie midfielder Michael Stephens made the first start of his MLS career on Saturday night, playing the full 90 minutes on the right side of midfield. The Galaxy’s first round (16th overall) pick out of UCLA, Stephens is the only rookie on the Galaxy roster this season. He has appeared in all four of the club’s games this season, entering as a second half substitute in each of the first three games before starting against Real Salt Lake.
In 2009, the Galaxy roster featured four rookies, A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Yohance Marshall and Kyle Patterson, who combined to make 53 starts, with Gonzalez making 30, DeLaGarza 21 and Patterson two. The previous season, the Galaxy received 49 starts from their rookies, led by 26 from Sean Franklin, who won the MLS Rookie of the Year award that season.
JORDAN MAKES 2010 DEBUT: Bryan Jordan made his 2010 debut for the Galaxy on Saturday night, playing the final 47 minutes at right back in place of the injured Sean Franklin. Typically a forward, Jordan had been an unused substitute in each of the previous two games before making his debut in defense, a position that he had only previously played on October 26, 2009 in a 2-0 loss at Columbus.
TODD DUNIVANT SITS DOWN FOR CUP OF JOE: Tune-in to the Galaxy's weekly live web show, Cup of Joe, with radio play-by-play announcer Joe Tutino every week. On Wednesday, Tutino will be interviewing defender Todd Dunivant at 12:15 p.m. Fans can participate asking by questions either beforehand or live during the chat. Start submitting questions for Todd now to socialmedia@lagalaxy.com.
YOUTH ACADEMY
GALAXY U-18 SQUAD MOVES UP IN TABLE: Following its 3-1 win over division leaders Real So Cal on Sunday, the Galaxy’s U-18 Youth Academy team is now in third place in the SoCal Division standings with a record of 4-2-2, four points behind Real’s 18.
Riley Wolfe, Mark Sanchez and Alan Rovira were the goal scorers for the Galaxy.
The Galaxy’s U-16 was not as fortunate as they lost 2-1 to their Real So Cal counterparts. Dyllan Stevens had the Galaxy’s only goal.
Next week, both squads host the Nomads at The Home Depot Center’s Field # 7. Kick off for the U-16 is at 1 p.m., while the U-18’s will start at 3:15 p.m.
IN THE COMMUNITY
LA GALAXY TO VISIT STEPHEN C. FOSTER ELEMENTARY: The Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation, The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation and The Home Depot announced last week that Stephen C. Foster Elementary School in Compton, Calif., is the winner of the 2010 Reading Garden Challenge and as a result will have a Reading Garden built on the campus of their school this week.
There will be four days of activities at Stephen C. Foster Elementary School with preparations beginning on Monday, April 19 with an Earth Day Planting clinic for students with seeds donated by the America the Beautiful Fund. On Tuesday, April 20, there will be a clinic for students to paint pots and build birdhouses to be displayed in the Reading Garden. Meanwhile, on Wednesday April 21, supplies and materials will be delivered and the final preparations completed for the Reading Garden build.
The week will culminate, on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, with forwards Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle and defenders Todd Dunivant and Omar Gonzalez, and more than 80 volunteers from the LA Galaxy, Home Depot stores throughout the area, The Home Depot Center, and the NEA along with Stephen C. Foster Elementary School students building planters, installing arches and benches and planting flowers.
GALAXY FOUNDATION SHOT OF THE WEEK: At each LA Galaxy home game, fans are invited to visit the Galaxy Foundation Booth to place your bid on the Galaxy Foundation's Shot of the Week presented by MoraPhotography.com. Each photo will be signed by the player or players featured. All proceeds benefit the Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation.
1GOAL EDUCATION FOR ALL: The LA Galaxy and the National Education Association are supporting the 1Goal Project - a global campaign for education that strives to make education a reality for the millions of boys and girls who remain out of school all over the world. The Galaxy and the NEA will be conducting a launch event at Leapwood Avenue Elementary School in Carson, CA on April 21 in support of Global Action Week.
LOS ANGELES GALAXY FOUNDATION JOINS GOODSEARCH: The Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation has joined GoodSearch, which means that the Galaxy Foundation will earn a donation every time you search the Internet and receive a percentage of every purchase you make online through GoodShop.com.
Download the GoodSearch – Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation toolbar, and the club’s foundation will earn money every time you shop and search online - even if you forget to go to GoodShop or GoodSearch first. Add the Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation toolbar at http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/los-angeles-galaxy-foundation.
NEED TO KNOW
LOOKING FOR MORE UPDATES?: If you are looking for continuous updates from the Galaxy all week long, be sure to visit the club’s official websites www.lagalaxy.com and www.lagalaxyfutbol.com, or the club’s official blog at www.thelagalaxy.blogspot.com for all the latest news from the club. The Galaxy can also be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lagalaxy and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lagalaxy.
