CARSON, Calif. (Monday, June 27, 2011) – The LA Galaxy will close out the month of June and move on to a busy July this week with a pair of games in two different competitions. The Galaxy will close out their June schedule on Tuesday night with a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round game against the USL Pro League’s Los Angeles Blues. The two sides will meet for the first time-ever at Titan Stadium with the game scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. Joe Tutino will have the call of the game live on lagalaxy.com/gamedaylive.
The Galaxy will then return to training on Thursday in preparation for their return to MLS action on Monday, July 4 when they host Seattle Sounders FC at The Home Depot Center. Always one of the season’s most anticipated games, the Galaxy will play at home on the Fourth of July for the 16th consecutive season. Last year, the Galaxy beat Seattle 3-1 in their annual Fourth of July game, a game that saw the return of Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan from the World Cup in South Africa. In front of a capacity crowd, that duo combined for the Galaxy’s first goal en route to one of their most dominant performances of the season. Including that game, the Galaxy have won their last five games against the Sounders in MLS competition, including a 1-0 win at Qwest Field in MLS First Kick on March 15.
Monday’s game between the Galaxy and Sounders, which is presented by adidas, kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will be shown live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN3.com. Following the game, the Galaxy will host the largest fireworks show in Southern California, powered by 102.7 KIIS FM.
INJURY REPORT
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT – Sean Alvarado (Right Knee – Surgery), Leonardo (Right Knee – Surgery), Donovan Ricketts (Left Ulna – Fracture)
DOUBTFUL – None
QUESTIONABLE – David Beckham (Back Spasms), Frankie Hejduk (Right Ankle – Inflammation)
PROBABLE – None
TEAM NOTES
MAGEE NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Mike Magee was named the MLS Player of the Week on Monday morning, becoming the second Galaxy player to win the award this season. Magee, who started Saturday’s 0-0 draw with San Jose on the left side of the Galaxy midfield, was forced to play the final 47 minutes of the game in goal after an injury to Donovan Ricketts and a red card to Josh Saunders. Playing in goal for the first time in his MLS career, Magee made four saves and helped the Galaxy extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games.
Magee was forced to make three of his four saves in the game’s final 10 minutes as the Earthquakes increased their pressure on the Galaxy goal. Following saves on shots from Ramiro Corrales and Simon Dawkins, Magee saved his best for last, diving at the feet of Lenhart in the 89th minute to save his close range effort with his leg, keeping the game scoreless and earning a share of the points for the Galaxy.
RICKETTS SUFFERS BROKEN ULNA: LA Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts suffered a fractured left ulna in the first half of the Galaxy’s 0-0 draw with San Jose on Saturday. Ricketts was injured when he collided with the Earthquakes’ Khari Stephenson in the 21st minute after punching away a Ryan Johnson cross. He was replaced by Josh Saunders and taken to the locker room to be examined. Earlier today he underwent x-rays, which revealed the extent of his injury.
Ricketts will undergo surgery on Tuesday at the Surgery Center of the Pacific in Santa Monica. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks of action.
The 33-year-old Jamaican international is having an All-Star caliber season in 2011, leading MLS with a 0.53 goals against average in the 12 games that he has played in. The reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, Ricketts has a 6-1-4 record this season, keeping six clean sheets and allowing just six goals in 1,014 minutes of play. Since joining the Galaxy prior to the start of the 2009 season, Ricketts has appeared in 67 regular season games, keeping 26 clean sheets and recording a 0.89 goals against average, which is the best in MLS history amongst goalkeepers that have played more than 1,500 minutes. The Galaxy’s Defender of the Year in 2009, Ricketts was named to the MLS All-Star Team in both 2009 and 2010
With Ricketts injured and Josh Saunders forced to serve a one game suspension after being sent off in the first half of Saturday’s game against the Earthquakes, Brian Perk is now in line to make his MLS debut on Monday against the Sounders. Claimed off waivers from Philadelphia last August, Perk has played in three Reserve League games, recording a 1-2-0 record with a 1.67 goals against average.
UNBEATEN STREAK HITS DOUBLE FIGURES: The Galaxy became the first MLS team this season to record a 10 game unbeaten streak, earning a 0-0 draw with San Jose on Saturday. That draw improved the Galaxy’s record to 5-0-5 in their last 10 games. They have not lost since a 2-1 defeat at Pizza Hut Park on May 1 and have recorded 20 of their league-best 35 points during this streak in which they are outscoring opponents14-6.
Landon Donovan leads the team with five goals during the streak while Juan Pablo Angel and Chad Barrett each have two and David Beckham, Juninho and Miguel Lopez each scoring once with another goal coming from a Drew Moor own goal.
This is the Galaxy’s MLS record sixth unbeaten streak of 10 games or more. No other MLS team has more than four unbeaten streaks of 10 games or more since the start of MLS in 1996. The Galaxy last had an unbeaten streak of 10 games or more last season when they tied a club record by going 15 straight games without a loss a streak that began in October 2009 before finally being snapped with a loss at Real Salt Lake in June 2010.
DONOVAN RETURNS: The Galaxy welcomed Landon Donovan back to training on Monday following the conclusion of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Saturday. Donovan appeared in all six games that the U.S. played in at the tournament, making four starts including in the Gold Cup Final against Mexico at the Rose Bowl. Donovan scored the second goal of the game for the U.S., giving his team a 2-0 lead in the 23rd minute. He also had a pair of assists in the tournament. He now has 46 goals and 47 assists in 136 career appearances for the National Team.
Donovan has appeared in 11 of the Galaxy’s 19 games this season, missing five because of international duty and three because of injury, with the Galaxy compiling a 2-1-5 record in those matches. He is currently tied with Charlie Davies and Thierry Henry for the MLS lead in goals with eight. He scored all eight of his goals in a seven-game stretch between April 23 and May 25.
After returning from the FIFA World Cup last July, Donovan had six goals and seven assists in 15 regular season games with the Galaxy, including an assist in his first game back, a 3-1 win over Seattle on July 4.
ANOTHER NEW CAPTAIN: For the third consecutive game, the Galaxy had a new captain as Gregg Berhalter wore the captain’s armband on Saturday in San Jose. Making his first start of the season, Berhalter, who made his season debut a week earlier as a second half substitute in Colorado, played the full 90 minutes alongside Omar Gonzalez as the Galaxy held on for a 0-0 draw at Buck Shaw Stadium. Berhalter replaced Todd Dunivant, who had been the captain for the win in Colorado. Dunivant was given the armband after David Beckham, who had been the Galaxy captain in the first two games on June, was forced to miss the game with back spasms.
Berhalter is the fifth different player to start a game as captain for the Galaxy this season, joining Beckham, Dunivant, Landon Donovan and Donovan Ricketts. Prior to this season, the Galaxy had never had more than four different captains in a single season. The previous club record was four, which was set in 2004 when Danny Califf, Kevin Hartman, Cobi Jones and Pete Vagenas all captained the club, and then matched in 2007 when David Beckham, Joe Cannon, Landon Donovan and Jones all wore the armband in regular season games. The Galaxy also had four captains in 2008 with Beckham, Donovan, Vagenas and Chris Klein all captaining the side.
ENTERING THE OPEN CUP: The Galaxy will begin their quest for a third Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship on Tuesday night when they host the Los Angeles Blues at Titan Stadium in Fullerton. (BUY TICKETS) This will be the first-ever meeting between the Galaxy and the first year USL Pro League club, who reached the Third Round of the Open Cup with a 1-0 win over the Ventura County Fusion last week behind a goal from former Galaxy forward Israel Sesay. Sesay is one of four former Galaxy players that now represent the Blues, joining Leonard Griffin, Mike Randolph and Josh Tudela.
The Galaxy are 23-9-2 all-time in the Open Cup, including a 1-1-0 mark last season when they defeated AC St. Louis of the USSF Division 2 Pro League 2-0 in the Third Round before falling to the eventual Open Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC in the Quarterfinals. Against non-MLS teams, the Galaxy are 11-2-0 all-time in the Open Cup. In their first game of the tournament, LA are 9-2-1, while they are 5-1-0 in the Third Round, with the only loss coming in 2007.
Landon Donovan, who is tied with Herculez Gomez and Carlos Ruiz as the club’s all-time leader in Open Cup goals, is one of just two current Galaxy players to have scored for the club in the Open Cup, joining Juninho who scored his first-ever goal for the club in the win over St. Louis last year. Josh Saunders, who is eligible to play on Tuesday despite being sent off in league play on Saturday, is the only one of the Galaxy’s three goalkeepers to have appeared for the club in the Open Cup, going 1-1-1 with a 0.60 goals against average in his three appearances, shutting out Colorado in 2009 and AC St. Louis last year.
FUN ON THE FOURTH: This is the 16th straight season in which the Galaxy have played at home on the Fourth of July. In their previous 15 games on Independence Day, the Galaxy are 9-4-2, including a 5-1-2 mark at The Home Depot Center. In those games, the Galaxy have outscored their opponents 21-13.
This is the second consecutive season in which the Galaxy will face the Sounders after defeating them 3-1 last season. Edson Buddle and Juninho each scored for the Galaxy in that game with the third goal coming courtesy of a James Riley own goal. The Galaxy’s three goals scored in that game were the most goals the club has ever scored on the July 4. They had scored once on the day six times and twice six more times while getting shutout twice.
This will be the fourth time that the Galaxy have played the same team in consecutive seasons on July 4. They played New England in 1996 and 1997, Columbus in 2000 and 2001 and then New England again in 2008 and 2009, going 1-1-0 in each of those three series.
MCBEAN IN MEXICO: While Donovan has returned, the Galaxy are still without the services of Jack McBean, who is in Mexico with the U.S. Under-17 National Team. The Galaxy’s Home Grown signing is representing the U.S. at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Mexico.
McBean was an unused substitute for all three of the Group Stage games that the U.S. played in, recording a 1-1-1 record for four points. The U.S. finished second in Group D and will now face Group E winner Germany in the Round of 16 on Thursday, June 30 at 1 p.m. (PT) in Queretaro, Mexico. The winner of that game will advance to the Quarterfinals where they will face the winner of the game between Argentina and England on Monday, July 4.
GALAXY ACADEMY
GALAXY U-16’S NEAR DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY FINALS: The LA Galaxy U-16’s are on the verge of qualifying for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Finals, which will be held in Milwaukee, Wis. from July 9-16. The Galaxy currently sit atop Group 3 at the Development Academy Playoffs in Frisco, Texas with a perfect 2-0-0 record for six points with a +4 goal differential. That leaves them three points ahead of both the Houston Dynamo, who the Galaxy will play on Tuesday morning, and the IMG Soccer Academy.
The Galaxy opened group play with a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday before making it two wins in as many days with a 4-1 win over IMG on Sunday. If the Galaxy can win or draw against Houston, they will advance to the Academy Finals for the first time in club history. They can also win the group with a loss, as long as they maintain a better goal difference then the Dynamo and IMG, who could each match the Galaxy with six points.
The Galaxy U-18’s were also in action in Texas this weekend, participating in the Development Academy Showcase. In three games at Pizza Hut Park, the Galaxy U-18’s went 1-2-0, opening the Showcase with a 2-1 loss to Cosmos Academy East on Friday before beating the Houston Dynamo 3-0 on Saturday. They rounded out their season earlier today with a 3-1 defeat to Texas Rush AJ Auxerre.
IN THE COMMUNITY
GALAXY TO HOST FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND KICK OFF PARTY:The LA Galaxy will be kicking off the Fourth of July Weekend in style by hosting an exclusive Weekend Kick-Off Party on the Target Terrace at L.A. Live on Friday, July 1 from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Highlighting this event will be the official unveiling of the club’s new adidas third jersey, which will be worn for the first time on July 4.
The Fourth of July Weekend Kick-Off Party will give everyone in attendance the first opportunity to view and purchase the jersey from the Team LA store while mixing and mingling with Galaxy players. The party will feature music by 102.7 KIIS FM, hors d'oeuvres by Wolfgang Puck Catering and a complimentary vodka bar courtesy of VeeV Spirits. The Team LA store will be donating $5 from every third jersey sold at the party and during the month of July to the Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation.
The Weekend Kick-Off Party is open to fans ages 21 and up, and there are a limited number of tickets on sale now for purchase through this link. Tickets are available for $125 as part of the Party Pack, which consists of one ticket to the Weekend Kick-Off Party on July 1 and one ticket to the Galaxy’s game against Seattle Sounders FC on July 4 that includes the opportunity to watch the postgame fireworks show from the field. Fans already attending the game may buy a Weekend Kick-Off Party ticket for $75. By purchasing a ticket, attendees will be automatically entered into a random drawing to participate in the jersey unveiling. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation. For more details go to lagalaxy.com.
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. The Galaxy can also be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lagalaxy and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lagalaxy.
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