Galaxy Eliminated From the U.S. Open Cup; Lose 1-0

LA Galaxy 0, Colorado Rapids 1
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Play-In Game
May 27, 2008
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
COL – Conor Casey (Terry Cooke) 82’

Misconduct Summary:
COL – Tom McManus (Yellow Card) 12’
LA – Ely Allen (Yellow Card) 41’
COL – Nick LaBrocca (Yellow Card) 49’
LA - Alan Gordon (Yellow Card) 67’
COL – Rafael Gomes (Yellow Card) 70’
COL – Terry Cooke (Yellow Card) 90’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Steve Cronin, Ante Jazic, Abel Xavier, Sean Franklin, Chris Klein, Brandon McDonald (Josh Tudela 72’), Peter Vagenas©, Ely Allen (Mike Randolph 46+), Alan Gordon, Carlos Ruiz (Israel Sesay 63’), Edson Buddle.

Subs Not Used: Josh Wicks, Troy Roberts, Greg Vanney, Bryan Jordan.

Colorado Rapids: Preston Burpo, Kosuke Kimura, Stephen Keel, Rafael Gomes, Jordan Harvey, Nick LaBrocca, Mehdi Ballouchy, Colin Clark (Ciaran O’Brien 70’), Terry Cooke© (Herculez Gomez 91’), Conor Casey (Cesar Zambrano 88’), Tom McManus (Omar Cummings 68’)

Subs Not Used: Mike Graczyk, Tim Ward, Brian Grazier.
Notes:
· With the loss, the Galaxy’s run in the U.S. Open Cup is over. This is just the third time in club history that the Galaxy did not win a game in the Open Cup. In 2004 the Galaxy were eliminated by the Minnesota Thunder (USL-1st Division) in the Fourth Round of the competition, losing 1-0. In 2007, the Galaxy won a pair of Play-In games (which do not count in official U.S. Open Cup records) but were upset by the Richmond Kickers (USL-2nd Division) in the Third Round, losing 1-0.
· Tonight’s game marked the first starts in first team competition for midfielder Ely Allen, forward Carlos Ruiz and defender Ante Jazic since coming back from various injuries. Jazic had started the friendly against Vancouver on May 13 while Allen and Ruiz each came off the bench in the 3-1 win vs. Kansas City on May 24.
· With David Beckham and Landon Donovan both away on international duty, midfielder Peter Vagenas was named captain for tonight’s match. Vagenas previously captained the Galaxy to their 2005 MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup titles.
· Ely Allen left the game just before halftime with what was diagnosed as a concussion. He was replaced by Mike Randolph.
· Israel Sesay entered the game in the 63rd minute, replacing Carlos Ruiz. This was Sesay’s first appearance with the Galaxy first team this season.
· The Galaxy have only been shut out twice this season in all competitions (regular season, reserve division and Open Cup), with both coming against the Colorado Rapids. The Galaxy lost their MLS season opener to the Rapids 4-0 on March 29.
· Following the game, Ante Jazic will fly to Seattle to join the Canadian National Team for their friendlies against Brazil on May 31 and Panama on June 4 in Fort Lauderdale.
· The attendance for tonight’s game was 9,189.
· The Galaxy are back in action on Sunday, May 31 when they take on Toronto FC at BMO Field. The match will kick off at 12:30 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on FSN West starting with ‘Galaxy Live’ at 12 p.m. It will also be available live on the radio starting at 12:30 on both AM 570 (English) and ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 KWKW (Spanish).