Postgame Reaction to 2-0 Win Over Crew

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTESHEET
SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2010 – LA GALAXY 2, COLUMBUS CREW 0

LOS ANGELES HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On his team’s victory:
“Good win. They obviously pressed the game pretty hard at us in the second half. I think the exhibition we played Sunday killed us with having to be in Dallas on Thursday and playing Sunday. Obviously, we’re going to see more of that in the summer as we move on to [CONCACAF] Champions League games. It was a challenge for us physically with a thin roster and everything else, but we’re going to take the win. We spilt two real good goals tonight.”

On the physical nature of the match:
“You take whatever the game gives you and we played through a lot of issues at the end. They’re a team that’s about challenging you and to conceive 15 corners is very good and to not give up a goal is very good. They’re really physical and the fact that they had four fouls for the night is very remarkable to me… the physicality that Columbus brings is something that’s really challenging and in seconds of the game tonight they overpowered us.”

On the Western Conference vs. Eastern Conference:
“I think there are a lot of games left to play. Right now the West has a little bit of an edge, but at the end of the day, it tends to balance out. The teams in the West have gotten off to a good start, but so has Columbus. Columbus has been great this year. We’ll see as things get closer to September and we’ll see which teams are really good and which conference is better.”

On his team’s play on offense:
“Our passing was poor. We couldn’t hold the ball and we didn’t do a good job in that regard. We had to defend so much our passing wasn’t good. We knew we weren’t going to win a lot of headers and that’s were Columbus has dominated. We did a good job with our second goals tonight.”

On the Crew’s advantage statistically:
“When you have an advantage on the road and the other team doesn’t score you have a chance to win. At the end of the day that’s what it’s about. We came here to win. The only thing we were worried about was the score. We didn’t concern ourselves a whole lot at the end of the game with who had the most corner kicks or shots or fouls or all that other stuff… Our roster is a little weakened tonight; our roster is not as strong as it will be during the year. I’m not really going to scratch my head on those statistics. I’ll take the three points and I’m out of town. I’m not going to worry about all that other stuff.”

LOS ANGELES FORWARD TRISTAN BOWEN
His overall thoughts on the match:
“I thought the team was great. We worked hard for 90 minutes, which is becoming a common theme for us, and we played great road football. We sat back and we waited for our opportunities and I think the team did well.”

On scoring his first career MLS goal:
“It was good. Bruce [Arena] said to go out there and work for 90 minutes and my chances would come and whenever it comes, to actually take the opportunities, so I’m really excited about it. It’s a great step forward and it was obviously a good boost to our team and gave us some more cushion to sit on the lead.”

LOS ANGELES DEFENDER GREGG BERHALTER
On Los Angeles’ mentality in the match:
“It’s one of our best wins all year. They came out with a lot of energy and our mentality was to just absorb what they were giving us and hopefully retaliate, and we did that. Give them credit, they played with an incredible work rate and they really took the game to us.”

On his team’s defensive effort:
“It was a game that we had to dig deep tonight. There were a lot of set pieces to defend. They have probably one of the biggest teams in the league and they just kept throwing balls, throwing men forward and it was a good battle. I think as a team, collectively, we played well defensively.”

LOS ANGELES MIDFIELDER MICHAEL STEPHENS
His overall thoughts on the match:
“It was a huge win, coming here on the road against a team that’s obviously good, it shows in their record; they’re undefeated, we’re undefeated. It’s a huge result on the road and we’ve very pleased with that.”

COLUMBUS HEAD COACH ROBERT WARZYCHA
On the Crew’s advantage statistically:
“We can win the game on a stat sheet, but obviously you have to finish your chances. We played very well today and created chances, but like I’ve said in previous games, you have to defend well. They were organized and you can’t break the defense. They had luck on their side. I think we had enough chances to win the game and we created two in the second half. We were 15 to zero in corner kicks against the best team in MLS so we have to be proud.”

On numerous corner kick opportunities:
“When you have 15 corners sometimes the luck is not on your side. We had a handle on probably 50 percent of the corners and we created traffic in front of [Donovan] Ricketts, but the ball didn’t get inside the net.”

On the play of Steven Lenhart:
“The chance that he had in the first half was five yards in front of the goal. He should finish that one, maybe go with his head, but as a forward you have to finish that one. In the second half we had some momentum and I put Jason Garey in for Steven and thought maybe he’d be lucky today.”

On the Crew’s possession tonight:
“We played at home and everybody felt good. The momentum of the ball was good and there weren’t too many missed passes. When we lost the ball we were able to recover it quickly. We were able to play with high tempo and make them tired and I think that worked. They are a good possessing team and we were trying to make sure they were not staying on top of the ball as much as they wished to.”

COLUMBUS DEFENDER ANDY IRO
His overall thoughts on the match:
“You can look at it one of two ways. You can be really disappointed and just kind of sit back and feel sorry for yourself, or you can look at the positives and look at how we played, which was one of our best performances of the season. You’ve also got to look at the positives in that we’ve got a game on Wednesday and we’ve got a game on Saturday. We’re good on the road, we won important games last week on the road. So you know what, it happens; throughout the course of a season, it happens.”

COLUMBUS DEFENDER JED ZAYNER
His overall thoughts on the match:
“Sometimes luck’s got to be on your side and that’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. It’s the first game that we’ve pretty much dominated a game full out, with shots, attacking, everything and it’s a bummer that the result didn’t happen.”

On the Galaxy’s opening goal:
“I don’t think it took the wind out of our sails, I just think that was there game plan. We knew that if they got a goal, it was going to be great for them and tougher on us, so it’s a bummer that we let in that goal because then they didn’t have to attack as much.”

Galaxy Remain Unbeaten with Hard Fought Road Win 2-0

LA Galaxy 2, Columbus Crew 0
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Columbus Crew Stadium - Columbus, Ohio

Scoring Summary:
LA – Michael Stephens 1 (Chris Birchall 1, Jovan Kirovski 1) 10’
LA – Tristan Bowen 1 (Chris Klein 2) 87’

Misconduct Summary:
LA – Omar Gonzalez (Yellow Card) 25’
LA – AJ DeLaGarza (Yellow Card) 29’
CLB – Jed Zayner (Yellow Card) 35’
LA – Chris Birchall (Yellow Card) 78’
LA – Todd Dunivant (Yellow Card) 90’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts; Todd Dunivant, Gregg Berhalter©, Omar Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza; Michael Stephens, Chris Birchall (Bryan Jordan 83’), Jovan Kirovski, Sean Franklin (Chris Klein 83’); Tristan Bowen, Mike Magee (Clint Mathis 65’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Leonardo, Alex Cazumba, Eddie Lewis.

Columbus Crew: Will Hesmer; Gino Padula (Emilio Renteria 60’), Chad Marshall, Andy Iro, Jed Zayner; Robbie Rogers, Adam Moffat (Emmanuel Ekpo 69’), Brian Carroll, Eddie Gaven, Steven Lenhart (Jason Garey 74’), Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

Subs Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Eric Brunner, Duncan Oughton, Sergio Herrera.

Notes:
• With the win, the Galaxy are now 9-0-2 on the season, giving them 29 points. They remain alone in first place in the Western Conference and are now 13 points ahead of second place Houston, Real Salt Lake and San Jose who each have 16 points.
• LA is now nine points ahead of the Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew, who are 6-1-2 for 20 points this season.
• Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that played to a 1-0 win against FC Dallas on May 20 in Frisco, Texas. Jovan Kirovski and Sean Franklin return to the starting XI while Franklin will earn his first start since April 17 against Real Salt Lake. They replace Chris Klein and Juninho, who missed the game due to a death in the family and is currently in Brazil.
• In addition to Juninho, the Galaxy were without Alan Gordon and Dema Kovalenko, who all missed the game through injury and Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan who are in training camp with the U.S. National Team ahead of next month’s FIFA 2010 World Cup.
• Leonardo was back in the 18-man squad for the first time since the 2-0 win over Houston on April 10 when he suffered a right quad strain. He had missed the last seven games because of the injury.
• Tristan Bowen made the second start of his MLS career in the game. He was the first player in MLS history signed directly from a club’s Youth Academy when he joined the Galaxy late in the 2008 season.
• The Galaxy have now scored first in nine of their 11 games this season, going 9-0-0 in those contests.
• The Galaxy remain the only undefeated teams in MLS with an 9-0-2 record.
• The Galaxy are now unbeaten in their last 14 regular season games, going 11-0-3 in those contests dating back to the end of the 2009 season. This is the second longest unbeaten streak in club history, with only a 15-game streak from September 1997 until May 1998 topping that mark.
• The Galaxy have allowed just two goals during this unbeaten streak and have not trailed at any point during it.
• With the victory, Bruce Arena recorded his 100th MLS victory, improving to 100-62-27 (W-L-T) all-time in the regular season. The only other coaches to reach this milestone in League history are Sigi Schmid (128), Bob Bradley (124) and Steve Nicol (100).
• Michael Stephens scored his first career MLS goal in the 10th minute, adding to his three assist thus far in 2010. The Galaxy’s only draft pick in 2010, Stephens took a single touch before blasting a volley past the Crew’s Hesmer
• Chris Brichall and Jovan Kirovski earned their first assists of the season combining on the goal by Stephens.
• Tristan Bowen scored his first career MLS goal tonight with an assist from Chris Klein in the 87th minute to seal the win.
• Omar Gonzalez and AJ DelaGarza were each booked in the first half for LA. It was DeLaGarza’s second yellow card of the year and Gonzalez’ fourth, which will result in a one-game suspension following his next yellow card.
• In the second half, Chris Birchall and Todd Dunivant each were booked earning them their third and first cautions, respectively.
• Goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts made four saves for his eigth clean sheet in ten games this season. Ricketts now has an MLS-best 0.20 goals against average, allowing just two goals in 900 minutes of action.
• The shutout was the Galaxy’s fifth straight and ninth in 11 games this season. The Galaxy have not allowed a goal in the last 456 minutes of play dating back to May 1.
• The win was the Galaxy’s first in Columbus since a 2-1 victory on September 30, 2007 when Troy Roberts and Kyle Martino each found the back of the net.
• The attendance for today’s game was 18,139.
• The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday evening when they host the Houston Dynamo at The Home Depot Center. The game kicks off at 5 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Galavision in Spanish and tape delayed at 10 p.m. on FS West in English. Additionally, the game will be available on the radio in English on KTLK 1150 AM and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes Radio KWKW 13300 AM.
• For more about today’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

Ready for Kickoff in Columbus

Everything is ready for tonight’s match as MLS’ only two remaining unbeaten teams’ faceoff. The Galaxy will look to extend their unbeaten streak to 11 to open the season when they take on the Columbus Crew at Columbus Crew Stadium. Kickoff is just around the corner and Bruce Arena brings in two changes from last Thursday's 1-0 win against FC Dallas. Jovan Kirovski and Sean Franklin return to the starting XI while Franklin will earn his first start since April 17 against Real Salt Lake.

For the second time this season, the Galaxy will be without their forward pairing of Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan who are with the U.S. National for their 2-1 victory over Turkey earlier today in Philadelphia. While Buddle did not see any action, Donovan earned two assists in the final match before departing on Sunday for the World Cup in South Africa.

Here is the complete Galaxy lineup...

------------Magee------------Bowen---------------

Stephens-------------Kirovski------------Franklin

---------------------Birchall--------------------

Dunivant-----Berhalter-----Gonzalez-----DeLaGarza

--------------------Ricketts---------------------

Subs: Saunders, Leonardo, Alex Cazumba, Lewis, Klein, Jordan, Mathis

And here is how the host Crew lineup...
--------------Lenhart------------Schelotto-----------

Rogers---------Moffat-------Carroll-------------Gaven

Padula--------Marshall--------Iro---------------Zayner

----------------------Hesmer--------------------------

Subs: Grenebaum, Oughton, Ekpo, Renteria, Herrera, Garey

This Week Inside the Galaxy: 2010 - Episode 10

This Week Inside the Galaxy, come along as we go behind the scenes with Landon Donovan as he returns to his hometown of Redlands, Calif. for the taping of ESPN's Homecoming (which debuts on June 10) and look ahead to this weekend's battle of the final unbeatens in Columbus.

LA Prepared for Matchup of Unbeatens

On Friday, the Galaxy completed their preparations for tomorrow’s match against the Columbus Crew with a training session at Obetz Training Center. The coaching staff took the players through a long warm up and stretch to make sure that everyone was properly loose following a day of travel on Thursday.

Next, the player went through series of passing drills to further loosen up and work on their sharpness at the same time. It was then on to positional work on both the defensive and offensive sides followed by a run through of the set plays.

To wrap things up the players worked on their own for the last ten minutes. Despite the heat and humidity it was a good training session for the team.

Here are a few comments from head coach Bruce Arena, who looks ahead to the matchup including a comparison between the Crew's Robin Fraser-Chad Marshall combo from about five years ago to the Gregg Berhalter-Omar Gonzalez combo with the Galaxy. We also caught up with Clint Mathis, Mike Magee and AJ DeLaGarza to get their thoughts on tomorrow’s matchup of unbeatens.

Arena…


Mathis…


Magee…


DeLaGarza…


Below are a few more photos from today’s training session.

Enjoy!

Quiet Time

It's been a day of many flights today as the first team players flew to Columbus for Saturday's game against the Crew and the Academy players flew to Sarasota, Fla. for the Development Academy Spring Showcase.

In fact with Chivas USA playing at D.C. United this weekend and the National Team in Philadelphia (after a brief stopover at the White House), the halls of The Home Depot Center seem pretty quiet for the first time in a long time.

We'll have news from the Galaxy's training session tomorrow and be sure to make your way over to The Olde Ship in Santa Ana for the club's official viewing party for the game.

But in the meantime, be sure to head over to lagalaxy.com for all the latest news from the club, including Larry Morgan's midweek notebook, a look at David Beckham visiting U.S. troops in Afghanistan and a profile of one of the club's longest tenured employees, equipment manager Raul Vargas.

Additionally, Craig Merz at MLSsoccer.com lists the 10 best games in the history of Crew Stadium. Here's to hoping that Saturday's game between the Galaxy and Crew makes its way onto the next installment of that list thanks to another LA victory.

Finally, head over to USAtoday.com to read Kelly Whiteside's profile of Landon Donovan as well as a Q&A with the Galaxy captain.

Getting the Call

The big news today was of course the inclusion of Edson and Landon in Bob Bradley's 23-man World Cup squad. The duo were in Bristol, Conn. today for the official roster unveiling, but we were able to catch up with Edson on the phone before briefly before he boarded the plane to Washington D.C. where he (at the rest of his teammates) will be guests of President Obama and former President Clinton at the White House.

Be sure to head over to lagalaxy.com to read the latest from Larry Morgan about Buddle's inclusion in the U.S. squad.

Galaxy Raw - Week 10

Galaxy Raw is your mid-week fix for all of the sights and sounds from training served up raw and unfiltered. In this edition, we join in as media talks with Bruce Arena, Tristan Bowen, Eddie Lewis and Michael Stephens about Monday's announcement of an international friendly this summer against Inter Milan and the upcoming match against Eastern Conference table toppers the Columbus Crew this Saturday at 4:30pm at Crew Stadium.

Look Back at 1-0 Win Over Boca Juniors

Josh Saunders made the saves, Tristan Bowen scored the goal and the entire Galaxy team was able to celebrate a 1-0 win over Boca Juniors on Sunday evening.

Galaxy to Host Champions League Winners Inter Milan on August 7

The LA Galaxy announced today that the club will host newly crowned European champions Inter Milan in an international friendly at The Home Depot Center on Saturday, August 7. This is the second consecutive season in which the Galaxy will host the reigning UEFA Champions League winners. In August 2009, the club fell 2-1 to FC Barcelona in front of 93,137 fans at the Rose Bowl.

The match against the Nerazzuri (the black and blues) will kick-off at 7:30 p.m. and is included in all Galaxy full season ticket plans as Bonus Game C. A special ticket pre-sale for all full season ticket holders is underway now, with a ticket package pre-sale for all fans beginning this Thursday, May 27 at 10 a.m. Tickets will go on sale to the general public at a future date, with tickets starting at just $50.

“We have always said that it is our ambition to give our fans exciting games that further enhance the experience of being an LA Galaxy fan and bringing the champions of Europe to The Home Depot Center certainly fits that vision,” Galaxy President of Business Operations Tom Payne said. “This is the second consecutive season in which we have brought the Champions League winners to Southern California and just like last year, we are anticipating another unbelievable evening for our team and our fans.”

Inter, who have won each of the last five Serie A titles, are one of the world’s most popular and accomplished clubs. They are coming off the most successful season in club history, capturing both the Serie A and Coppa Italia championships. On Saturday, they completed the treble, becoming just the sixth team in European history to accomplish the feat, by defeating Bayern Munich 2-0 at the UEFA Champions League Final in Madrid.

Inter Milan will travel to Los Angeles with their complete squad of stars, which currently includes many World Cup-bound superstars such as Argentina’s Diego Milito, who scored both Inter goals in Saturday’s Champions League Final, and Walter Samuel, Brazil’s Julio Cesar, Lucio and Maicon, Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o, Ghana’s Sulley Muntari, Holland’s Wesley Sneijder, David Suazo of Honduras and Serbia’s Dejan Stankovic. They also feature 2006 FIFA World Cup winner Marco Materazzi, former Italian international goalkeeper Fracesco Toldo, Argentina internationals Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti, the current Inter captain, as well as a host of additional international stars.

The match against Inter will be the Galaxy’s third international friendly played The Home Depot Center this year. They played to a 0-0 draw with CD Aguila of El Salvador on March 21 and defeated Boca Juniors of Argentina 1-0 on Sunday evening. LA also defeated Puntarenas FC of Costa Rica 1-0 at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, Calif. on March 10.

Saunders Talks About Shutting Out Boca Juniors

Late Bowen Goal Gives LA 1-0 Win

LA Galaxy 1, Boca Juniors 0
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Home Depot Center — Carson, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
LA – Tristan Bowen (Michael Stephens, Mike Magee) 83’

Misconduct Summary:
BOCA – Ezequiel Munoz (Yellow Card) 14’
LA – Gregg Berhalter (Yellow Card) 52’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Josh Saunders, Alex Cazumba, Gregg Berhalter (A.J. DeLaGarza 64’), Omar Gonzalez (Yohance Marshall 46’), Sean Franklin; Chris Birchall (Bryan Jordan 64’), Eddie Lewis© (Todd Dunivant 72’), Michael Stephens, Chris Klein; Tristan Bowen, Clint Mathis (Mike Magee 80’).

Subs Not Used: Donovan Ricketts.

Boca Juniors: Javier Garcia; Luciano Fabian Monzon, Breyner Bonilla (Nicolas Blandi 86’), Ezequial Munoz, Hugo Ibarra©; Matias Gimenez (Nicolas Colazo 80’), Cristian Erbes, Gaston Rossi, Jesus Mendez (Segio Araujo 69’); Pablo Mouche (Orlando Gaona Lugo 76’), Lucas Viatri.

Subs Not Used: Josue Ayala, Sebastian D’Angelo, David Achucarro, Leandro Aguirre, Leandro Marin, Gaston Sauro.

Notes:
• With the win, LA is now 2-0-1 in international friendlies this season, defeating Puntarenas of Costa Rica 1-0 on March 10 and playing to a 0-0 draw with CD Aguila at The Home Depot Center on March 21 in the club’s final preseason game.
• This was the first-ever game between the Galaxy and Boca Juniors.
• This is the first of Boca’s three-game tour of the United States. They will play in Seattle against the Sounders on Wednesday and then complete the week with a game against the Portland Timbers on Saturday.
• Bruce Arena made five changes to the team that played to defeated FC Dallas 1-0 on Thursday night. Josh Saunders, Sean Franklin, Alex Cazumba, Eddie Lewis and Clint Mathis were all brought into the lineup. They replaced Donovan Ricketts, A.J. DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant, Juninho and Mike Magee
• Tristan Bowen’s goal was his first for the club. The 19-year-old forward made his first league start on Thursday in the win over FC Dallas and assisted on Mike Magee’s game-winning goal.
• Bowen’s goal came in the 83rd minute of the game. LA has now scored twice in three international friendlies this season, with both goals coming in the final 10 minutes of the game.
• Michael Stephens and Mike Magee recorded the assists on the goal. It was the first assist for each player in the club’s three international friendlies this season.
• Josh Saunders recorded 13 saves in the game to keep the clean sheet.
• Clint Mathis made his first start of the year for the Galaxy. He played 80 minutes before being replaced by Mike Magee.
• Eddie Lewis served as the club’s captain, making his first appearance for the club since the season opener against New England when he suffered a right foot contusion. He played 72 minutes on the left side of midfield before being replaced by Todd Dunivant.
• When Lewis left the field, he handed the captain’s armband to Chris Klein, who played the full 90 minutes of the game.
• Yohance Marshall made his first appearance of the year for the club, coming on for Omar Gonzalez at halftime. Marshall, who has spent most of the season on loan with the Austin Aztex of the USSF Division 2 Pro League, joined up with the Galaxy on Thursday in Dallas and was an unused substitute in the 1-0 win at FCD on Thursday night.
• In MLS play, the Galaxy continue to lead the Western Conference with an 8-0-2 record for 26 points, leaving them 10 points clear of second place Houston and San Jose.
• LA is now six points ahead of the Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew, who defeated Kansas City 1-0 earlier in the day for the best record in MLS. The Crew are 6-0-2 for 20 points this season.
• The attendance for today’s game was 18,267.
• The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday, May 29 when they travel to Columbus to take on the Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew. That game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Fox Sports West.
• For more about today’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

A Friendly Atmosphere

The Galaxy play their third international friendly of the year this evening when they host Boca Juniors at The Home Depot Center. The 23-time Argentine champs arrive in Carson for the first game of their two-game U.S. Tour, which will also see the club travel north to Seattle for another game on Wednesday night.

Bruce Arena is back from his analyst gig for Fox Sports at the Champions League Final in Madrid yesterday and will put this lineup in the field for today's game.


---------Mathis----------Bowen-----------

Lewis-----------Stephens-------------Klein

-----------------Birchall-------------------

Cazumba---Berhalter---Gonzalez---Franklin

------------------Saunders------------------

Subs: Ricketts, Marshall, DeLaGarza, Dunivant, Jordan, Magee.

And here is how the visiting Boca Juniors lineup...

-------------Mouche--------Viatri---------------

Gimenez--------Mendez---Erbes-----------Rossi

Monzon------Bonilla------Munoz---------Ibarra

---------------------Garcia---------------------

Subs: Ayala, D'Angelo, Achucarro, Aguirre, Marin, Sauro, Colazo, Araujo, Blandi, Gaona Lugo.

This Week Inside the Galaxy: 2010-Episode 9

In this week's episode of This Week Inside the Galaxy, look back as the club remains unbeaten with a 1-0 win at FC Dallas, cactch up with Bruce ahead of his trip to Madrid for the Champions League Final and look ahead to Sunday's friendly with Boca Juniors.

Postgame Reaction to 1-0 Win at Dallas

LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena:

Good win for sure, not the greatest game. I think the heat first time issue for both teams was a little bit overwhelming. I think guys are just shot – we certainly were. We had three guys in our line up who haven’t played much in the past couple of months and they hit the wall. It was obviously a struggle for the last 15 minutes of the game. Plus it’s a good work out.

On having players missing for national team camp:

We’ve done that before. Certainly, we would prefer to have them here. You know you have got to get on with it. We had a lot of reasons or excuses this year, the guys will hang in there and get on with it. They work hard, so I’m real pleased with our efforts. Certainly it wasn’t our best performance, but given the circumstances I’m pleased with the result.

LA Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts

On winning streak:

It’s good to have an unbeaten streak. It’s all about the next game. Coming off an injury and being precautionary affected my play today. The team was playing well and I felt good about it. Anything I can do to help I try to do, and I’m happy with a win in this game.

LA Galaxy forward Mike Magee:

We got three points, but it wasn’t pretty. We handled the game well, got a shutout and played well. It’s huge. There was a lot of pressure on this game. I think a lot of people are watching and thinking we’re going to stumble and miss the guys. We do miss the guys on national teams and injuries, but we’re going to step up.

On the goal:

I was onside; the goal counted. You know obviously the refs make mistakes but obviously it was taken and they counted it so it was onside.

Galaxy Win Again - Defeat FC Dallas 1-0

LA Galaxy 1, FC Dallas 0
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Pizza Hut Park — Frisco, Texas

Scoring Summary:
LA – Mike Magee 1 (Tristan Bowen 1, Chris Klein 1) 17’

Misconduct Summary:
FCD – Ugo Ihemelu (Yellow Card) 28’
LA – Mike Magee (Yellow Card) 31’
LA – Michael Stephens (Yellow Card) 35’
FCD – Brek Shea (Yellow Card) 42’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts; Todd Dunivant, Gregg Berhalter©, Omar Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza; Chris Birchall, Michael Stephens, Juninho, Chris Klein (Sean Franklin 70’); Tristan Bowen (Clint Mathis 65’), Mike Magee (Jovan Kirovski 74’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Alex Cazumba, Yohance Marshall, Eddie Lewis.

FC Dallas: Kevin Hartman; Jair Benitez, Ugo Ihemelu, George John, Zach Loyd (Bryan Leyva 77’); Daniel Hernandez, Dax McCarty, Brek Shea (Marvin Chavez 72’), David Ferreira, Atiba Harris; Jeff Cunningham (Eric Avila 63’).

Subs Not Used: Dario Sala, Anthony Wallace, Edson Edward, Jason Yeisley.

Notes:
• With the win, the Galaxy are now 8-0-2 on the season, giving them 26 points. They remain alone in first place in the Western Conference and are now 13 points ahead of second place Colorado, Houston, Real Salt Lake and San Jose who each have 13 points.
• LA is now nine points ahead of the Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew, who defeated New York 3-1 earlier in the night for the best record in MLS. The Crew are 5-0-3 for 18 points this season.
• Bruce Arena made five changes to the team that played to a 0-0 ddraw with Toronto FC on Saturday night. Donovan Ricketts, A.J. DeLaGarza, Chris Klein and Mike Magee all return to the starting XI while Tristan Bowen makes the first start of his MLS career. They replace Josh Saunders, Bryan Jordan, Jovan Kirovski, Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle.
• Jordan did not dress for the game because of a right hamstring strain that he suffered in the second half of Saturday’s game with Toronto FC.
• In addition to Jordan, the Galaxy were without Alan Gordon, Dema Kovalenko and Leonardo, who all missed the game through injury and Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan who are in training camp with the U.S. National Team ahead of next month’s FIFA 2010 World Cup.
• Eddie Lewis was back in the 18-man squad for the first time since the season opening win over New England on March 27 when he suffered a left foot contusion. He had missed the last eight games because of the injury.
• Second year defender Yohance Marshall was in the 18-man squad for the first time this season after being recalled from his loan with the Austin Aztex of the U.S.S.F. Division 2 Pro League. Marshall has played six games with the Aztex, who currently have a league-best 14 points through seven games this season. Marshall scored his first goal for the club on Wednesday night, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3-3 draw with Tampa Bay. He flew from Austin to Dallas on Thursday morning and will accompany the team back to Los Angeles for the friendly against Boca Juniors on Sunday.
• Tristan Bowen made the first start of his MLS career in the game. He was the first player in MLS history signed directly from a club’s Youth Academy when he joined the Galaxy late in the 2008 season.
• Mike Magee scored his first goal of the season in the 17th minute of the game. He is the eighth different player to score for LA this season.
• Tristan Bowen and Chris Klein each provided their first assist of the season on the goal.
• The assist was the first of Bowen’s MLS career.
• Bowen played 65 minutes before being replaced by Clint Mathis. This was the longest appearance of his MLS career.
• Sean Franklin made his first appearance since April 17 when he had to leave the Galaxy’s 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake with a right ankle sprain. He missed the last five games because of the injury, but was on the substitute’s bench on Saturday night against Toronto FC.
• The Galaxy have now scored first in eight of their 10 games this season, going 8-0-0 in those contests.
• The Galaxy remain one of two undefeated teams in MLS with an 8-0-2 record. Columbus is in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 5-0-2 mark.
• The Galaxy are now unbeaten in their last 13 regular season games, going 10-0-3 in those contests dating back to the end of the 2009 season. This is the second longest unbeaten streak in club history, with only a 15-game streak from September 1997 until May 1998 topping that mark.
• The Galaxy have allowed just two goals during this unbeaten streak and have not trailed at any point during it.
• Mike Magee and Michael Stephens were each booked in the first half for LA. It was Stephens’ second yellow card of the year and Magee’s first.
• Omar Gonzalez and Juninho each entered the game with three yellow cards, two away from a mandatory one game suspension, but neither was booked. Edson Buddle has four yellow cards, leaving him one card away from a one game suspension but he did not play in the game.
• Goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts made three saves for his seventh clean sheet in nine games this season. Ricketts now has an MLS-best 0.22 goals against average, allowing just two goals in 810 minutes of action.
• The shutout was the Galaxy’s fourth straight and eighth in 10 games this season. The Galaxy have not allowed a goal in the last 366 minutes of play dating back to May 1.
• The Galaxy set a new MLS record for the fewest goals allowed in the first 10 games of a season with two and tied the record set by the 2000 Kansas City Wizards for the most clean sheets in the first 10 games of the year with eight.
• The win was the Galaxy’s first in Dallas since a 5-1 victory on May 18, 2008 when Edson Buddle had a hat trick.
• FC Dallas lost at home for the first time since June 13, 2009.
• The attendance for today’s game was 10,947.
• The Galaxy are back in action on Sunday evening when they host Argentine giants Boca Juniors in a friendly at The Home Depot Center. The game kicks off at 5 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on FOX Sports West in English and Galavision in Spanish. Additionally, the game will be available on the radio in English on KTLK 1150 AM and in Spanish on KWKU 1220 AM.
• They return to MLS action on Saturday, May 29 when they travel to Columbus to take on the Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew.
• For more about today’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

Galaxy Look to Extend Unbeaten Streak at FC Dallas

For the first time this season, the Galaxy will be without their forward pairing of Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan but even without that dynamic duo, they will look to extend their unbeaten streak to 10 to open the season when they take on FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park.

Kickoff is just around the corner and Bruce Arena brings in five changes from Saturday's 0-0 draw with Toronto FC. Buddle and Donovan are each away, while Jovan Kirovski and Josh Saunders return to the bench and Bryan Jordan does not dress because of a right hamstring strain. In their place, Donovan Ricketts, A.J. DeLaGarza, Chris Klein and Mike Magee all return to the starting XI while Tristan Bowen makes the first start of his MLS career. Additionally with Jordan unable to go, Yohance Marshall has been recalled from his loan with the Austin Aztex of the USSF Division 2 Pro League and is one of Arena's seven available substitutes.

Here is the complete Galaxy lineup...

-----------------Magee------------Bowen-----------------

Stephens----------------Juninho----------------------Klein

-------------------------Birchall----------------------------

Dunivant--------Berhalter---------Gonzalez------DeLaGarza

-------------------------Ricketts---------------------------

Subs: Saunders, Marshall, Franklin, Alex Cazumba, Lewis, Kirovski, Mathis

And here is how the host FC Dallas lineup...

--------------------------Cunningham------------------------

Shea-----------------------Ferreira--------------------Harris

---------------------McCarty-----Hernandez-----------------

Benitez----------John-----------------Ihemelu-----------Loyd

----------------------------Hartman--------------------------

Sala, Edward, Wallace, Avila, Chavez, Leyva, Yeisley

Galaxy Raw - Week 9

Galaxy Raw is your mid-week fix for all of the sights and sounds from training served up raw and unfiltered. In this edition, we join in as media talk with Bruce Arena, Donovan Ricketts, Chris Klein, Mike Magee and Omar Gonzalez about tomorrow's match against FC Dallas at 5:30pm at Pizza Hut Park.

Here are two articles from Larry Morgan and Luis Bueno to prepare you even further for tomorrow night's game - Galaxy look to avoid repeat of last year and Josh Saunders is always ready when called upon.

Galaxy to Face Puerto Rico Islanders In CCL

The LA Galaxy will play the Puerto Rico Islanders in the Preliminary Round of the 2010-2011 CONCACAF Champions League when the third edition of the tournament begins in July. The Galaxy will host the first leg of their Preliminary Round match against the Islanders when the tournament begin July 27-29 and then travel to Puerto Rico a week later for the second leg. The winners will advance to the Group Stage, which is set for August 17-19.

"Puerto Rico is a team with proven success in the USSF Division-2 Pro League and we are looking forward to opening our Champions League campaign against them,” LA Galaxy General Manager and Head Coach Bruce Arena said. “They have had success in this tournament in the past and have an experienced manager in Colin Clarke, so they will present a difficult challenge for us."

The draw conducted Wednesday by deputy general secretaries Ted Howard and Italo Zanzi at the confederation’s New York headquarters set the Preliminary Round pairings and matchups for the Group Stage.

Other Preliminary Round matches will have two-time runner-up Cruz Azul of Mexico against Panama’s San Francisco, the Mexican Clausura runner-up -- either Santos or Toluca -- facing San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad, Costa Rica’s Brujas facing Joe Public of Trinidad, the Canadian champion – either Toronto FC or the Vancouver Whitecaps – against Motagua of Honduras, and Xelaju of Guatemala against a Central America club.

The Seattle Sounders will face an as yet-to-be determined Central American side in the Preliminary Round, while Marathon – a quarterfinalist this past season – will take on Tauro FC of Panama.

Two berths originally were allocated to El Salvador, but FIFA has suspended the country due to governmental interference in the federation’s affairs. The government has until June 8 to comply with FIFA’s non-intervention requirements or its teams will be barred from international competition, including the Champions League – and its berths will be reassigned.

The winner of the Galaxy-Islanders series will be placed in Group D, which will include the Mexican Clausura champ, either Santos or Toluca, Olimpia of Honduras and the Central America 11-Xelaju winner

Group A will consist of MLS champion Real Salt Lake, Arabe Unido of Panama, the Cruz Azul-San Francisco winner and the winner between the Canadian champion and Motagua.

Group B will have 2009 Supporter Shield winner Columbus Crew, Municipal of Guatemala, the winner between Jabloteh and Toluca/Santos, and either Brujas or Joe Public.

Mexican Apertura champion Monterrey will head Group C, potentially the most difficult, with Costa Rica’s Saprissa, the Seattle-Central America 12 winner and either Tauro or Marathon.

Below are the full results of today’s draw:

PRELIMINARY ROUND
(Host of first leg listed first)
Central America 11 vs. Xelaju (GUA)
Brujas (CRC) vs. Joe Public (TRI)
San Juan Jabloteh (TRI) vs. Santos-Toluca (Mexican Clausura runner-up)
San Francisco (PAN) vs. Cruz Azul (MEX)
Los Angeles Galaxy (USA) vs. Puerto Rico Islanders (PUR)
Tauro FC (PAN) vs. Marathon (HON)
Seattle Sounders (USA) vs. Central America 12
Toronto-Vancouver (Canadian champion) vs. Motagua (HON)

GROUP STAGE

Group A
Real Salt Lake (USA)
Arabe Unido (PAN)
San Francisco/Cruz Azul winner
Toronto-Vancouver/Motagua winner

Group B
Columbus Crew (USA)
Municipal (GUA)
San Juan Jabloteh/Santos-Toluca (Mexican Clausura runner-up) winner
Brujas/Joe Public winner

Group C
Monterrey (MEX)
Saprissa (CRC)
Seattle/Central America 12 winner
Tauro/Marathon winner

Group D
Santos/Toluca (Mexican Clausura champion)
Olimpia (HON)
Los Angeles Galaxy/Puerto Rico Islanders winner
Central America 11/Xelaju winner

Back in Training

The Galaxy went through a complete training session under cold and grey skies this afternoon at The Home Depot Center. Despite a growing injury list that has no fewer than eight players listed, the team went through an intense and strenuous training as they continued their preparation for Thursday's game against FC Dallas.

Eddie Lewis (above) and A.J. DeLaGarza (below) were each back out on the field as they continue to come back from their injuries. Lewis, who has been out since suffering a foot contusion early in the first half of the season opener against New England, returned to training last week while DeLaGarza on the field for the first time since missing the last two games because of back spasms.


The team played a series of small-sided games during the day's session, making sure that every player on the field got plenty of touches in various positions throughout the day. With Landon and Edson now in New Jersey with the National Team, there are at least two open spots in Bruce Arena's starting lineup and the Galaxy coach has plenty of options to chose from. Arena has already started 21 of the 25 players on the club's roster (including the injured David Beckham) at least once this season, with only Beckham, the on loan Yohance Marshall (more about him later), Tristan Bowen and Clint Mathis not making their way into the starting lineup yet this year.

That is the very definition of depth, something that Arena spoke to Jackie Pickering about for Galaxy Live, which will air at 8:30 p.m. prior to the game on Thursday night.


But that depth will be tested over the coming weeks as the Galaxy play four of their next five games on the road. LA is 3-0-1 away from The Home Depot Center this season and have yet to allow a goal, a mark that they would like to keep intact as they take on a team that put up six the last time these two sides met in September 2009.


Josh Saunders could be given the task of doing just that after he extended his streak without allowing a goal in the regular season or postseason to 397 minutes with his clean sheet against Toronto FC on Saturday. If Saunders gets the start on Thursday and plays 58 minutes without allowing a goal, he will become the 10th goalkeeper in league history to play 400 or more straight minutes in the regular season without allowing a goal. Saunders last allowed a goal in MLS competition on April 4, 2009 in a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Rapids.


Finally, we told you that we would have more for you about second year defender Yohance Marshall, he will join the Galaxy at their team hotel ahead of the game against FC Dallas on Thursday. Marshall has appeared in five games so far this season with the Austin Aztex who currently sit at the top of the USSF Division 2 standings with a 4-1-1 record for league-best 13 points. He will be in action for the Aztex at home on Wednesday night against Tampa Bay before flying to Dallas on Thursday morning. He will then accompany the team back to Los Angeles for training and Sunday's game against Boca Juniors before returning to Austin on Monday.

Send Your Favorite Galaxy Stars to Houston to Face Manchester United in 2010 MLS All-Star Game

While the Galaxy were training today under cold an grey skies here in Carson, the quest to send some of those players to Houston for the MLS All-Star Game began online at mlssoccer.com. The All-Stars will take on Manchester United at Reliant Stadium in Houston on Wednesday, July 28.

In each previous season, the Galaxy have had at least two players named to the MLS All-Star Team, with Landon Donovan and Donovan Ricketts each getting the call last season, though only Donovan played in the penalty shootout loss to Everton at Rio Tinto Stadium.

This year, 12 Galaxy players were included on the league's final ballot, with Donovan Ricketts, Omar Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza, Leonardo, Todd Dunivant, Sean Franklin, Chris Birchall, Michael Stephens, Juninho, Mike Magee, Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle all getting the nod.

So if you want to see all of your favorite Galaxy stars get the nod to take on last year's Champions League finalists click here to vote them into the game and if you want to see the game live, you can purchase your tickets here starting at the end of the month.

A Look Back at 0-0 Draw with Toronto FC - Plus Beckham Discusses Galaxy's Strong Start

Look back one last time at Saturday night's 0-0 draw with Toronto FC and get extra postgame reaction straight from the Galaxy locker room...


Additionally, before the game, lagalaxy.com's Troy Bardy caught up with David Beckham outside the Galaxy locker room to get his thoughts on the club's unbeaten start to the season and his aim to return to the field before the end of the current season.

Here is what he had to say...

Postgame Reaction from 0-0 Draw with Toronto

We caught up with Chris Birchall outside the locker room on Saturday night to get his thoughts on the 0-0 draw with Toronto FC. Here is what he had to say...


Also, be sure to scroll through to the bottom for lots more reaction to the draw from both locker rooms.

LA Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena
On tonight’s match:
“I thought Toronto did a really good job at the start of the game and threw a lot of energy and defended well for ninety minutes. I thought our second half was real good we had some chances there to get the goal. I think it was a much better second half than the first but give Toronto credit they played hard, they were very well organized and we had to make the play to make a difference in the game and we didn’t. But at the same time I felt pretty good about the way we came out in the second half.”

On playing Landon in the midfield:
“To give him a little bit more room because Toronto really pulled in tight with their backline. It was difficult to play at his feet and definitely in the air it wasn’t the best situation for him. They collapsed their team pretty tight with eight players centrally and really to get a little bit of room we had to stick Landon out in the flanks and I think he was much more effective in the second half than he was in the first.”

On the play of his defense:
“It wasn’t a tough game to get a shut out. Toronto basically attacked with one, two, three players the whole night and that was certainly their plan and give them credit I think they did a good job in that regard and at the same time our back line did a really good job.”

On playing Bryan Jordan at right back:
“Bryan did a very good job over these last three games. It hasn’t been easy. [Chris] Klein is obviously an experienced player there and we are going to be returning Sean [Franklin], Leonardo and [A.J.] DeLaGarza very shortly so that will help us in that position. We anticipate that [Mike] Magee is back, [Clint] Mathis will be back and Eddie Lewis will be back so that certainly is going to help us.”

On Josh Saunders’ performance:
“Solid. I am not sure if he had to make a save tonight. But he did a good job. He is a good goalkeeper we probably could have played Donovan [Ricketts] tonight but we wanted to be safe and keep him out that just tells you how much confidence we have in Josh.”

LA Galaxy Forward Landon Donovan
On the draw:
“Not the result we wanted. We didn’t play well in the first half, the second half I thought we played very well. Sometimes the ball goes in and sometimes it doesn’t. A goalkeeper can always be a great equalizer in our sport and he (Stefan Frei) was great tonight.”

On playing in the midfield:
“It was Bruce’s idea, it was a good idea. For whatever reason they were pretty compact and pretty tight, so there were a lot of guys around me and Edson and it made it difficult. And that was there game plan. Once we started passing the ball better, everybody played better, it didn’t matter where we were. I think in the first half that was our downfall; we just didn’t pass the ball enough.”

On the postgame ceremony:
“It was a great crowd. It’s sad to send them home a little bit disappointed like that, but it was nice. A lot of people stayed, and stayed for Edson and my send off and that was nice and we appreciated.”

LA Galaxy Defender Todd Dunivant
On the flow of the game:
“I thought that maybe we pushed a little too much. Just a little desperate to get the result and we didn’t allow the game to flow. We seemed a little tense out there. It wasn’t our normal flow. And, I think it showed a little bit. It seemed a little hectic and a little frantic. The result was a lot of balls that were misplayed, and they were countering a little bit.”

LA Galaxy Goalkeeper Josh Saunders
On his first start of the MLS season:
“I tried to treat it like another game. A little bit of jitters here and there. Just trying to be smart, and not to take any risks as much as possible, and get the result. I felt comfortable out there. I made one save early on, which kind of got me into the game a little more so. It’s always tough when you come in and you have to make that first save. I was able to do it, and it guided me through the rest of the game.”

On the team’s defensive play:
“They had their chances, but obviously with the guys in the defense and midfield in front of me—it’s great. They limit the chances. They helped to break down a lot of the plays that would be difficult for us, so it doesn’t force us to make the difficult saves. “

LA Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter
On the team’s performance:
“I think all in all we got the shutout obviously, but I wasn’t 100 percent pleased with our performance. We gave them a chance early. It was a little bit sloppy at times. It wasn’t like they were creating a lot of chances, but I still think we could have been a little bit better. We still got the shut out and Josh did well.”

LA Galaxy Forward Edson Buddle
On the draw:
“We want to win at home. It’s unfortunate that their goalie did a good job and made some good saves. I have to give credit to him.”

On the field conditions:
“The field was slick for both teams. The players were slipping and the ball was skipping, and it took a while to adjust to it. I think in the second half once we realized that we can take a second touch and got the ball and game under control we got a lot more chances.”

On Toronto’s defense:
“We have to give them credit. They didn’t make it easy. They are on the road. They held a lot of guys back, and it was hard to penetrate at times.”

Toronto FC Head Coach Preki
On tonight’s match:
“I said to the group when I arrived here three months ago that I saw a bunch of kids. They’ve shown that we’ve grown as a team, and we’re still growing but we had a bunch of men on the field who know how to fight for each other. I’m still disappointed that we didn’t win this game because in my opinion, we had the best chances. The chances that came at the end of the game for [the Galaxy]—both of them were offside. It happens. We’ve got to go on from here and go to Vancouver for the fight for the Canadian Cup. They are finally starting to understand what it means to play for each other and the results are showing right now.”

On the injuries:
“We are so depleted in numbers. We have a game on Wednesday and then on Saturday at one o’clock, and our numbers are so low. So we are trying to save everyone’s legs, but we are also showing a lot of trust in some of the young guys. They are developing nicely for us.”

On the red card:
“I was just hoping that the game doesn’t get decided on a call for either team. It could have been, but thankfully it didn’t. I knew that even after we went a man down, we were strong, we were a unit, we defended as a group. When we had some moments to go forward, we had our best chances in the game. In the end I was happy, I was proud of my group. I was really proud of my team because they are showing tremendous commitment right now.”

On his team's effort:
“We defended like men, we played like men, we were committed. Every single guy that stepped on the field left everything on it. That’s the whole idea. If we can do that all that time we’ll be a really tough team to play against and that’s coming.”

Toronto FC Goalkeeper Stefan Frei
On his game:
“There is always things I can improve in. I think my kicking was good today, but one cross maybe I can improve in. There is always stuff I can improve in. I don’t think there is one game in particular that I had a perfect game. It probably never happened. But I was fortunate to be able to make the saves in the end, and get us the point we deserved. The whole team fought exceptionally hard.”

On what impressed him most with his team:
“The way we fought for it for 90 minutes. We knew who was going to come out determined and play hard, work hard and give the effort and that’s what has been lacking on the road for us a little bit. But today we deserved that point. Over 90 minutes we worked extremely hard.”

Toronto FC forward Chad Barrett
On Toronto FC’s road form:
“Everyone has been questioning our road form. How can you question our road form anymore when we come in and win two games—win the Canadian championship—and take a point away from the best team in the league. We are really coming together, and I think the guys are starting to believe this is a team that can do some good things.”

Galaxy Remain Unbeaten with 0-0 Draw with Toronto FC

LA Galaxy 0, Toronto FC 0
Saturday, May 15, 2010
The Home Depot Center — Carson, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
None

Misconduct Summary:
LA – Omar Gonzalez (Yellow Card) 50’
TFC – Maksim Usanov (Yellow Card) 62’
TFC – Maksim Usanov (Yellow Card/Red Card) 94+

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Josh Saunders; Todd Dunivant, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Bryan Jordan (Chris Klein 69’); Chris Birchall, Jovan Kirovski (Clint Mathis 77’), Juninho (Mike Magee 73’), Michael Stephens; Landon Donovan©, Edson Buddle.

Subs Not Used: Chris Sharpe, Sean Franklin, Alex Cazumba, Tristan Bowen.

Toronto FC: Stefan Frei; Nick Garcia, Adrian Cann, Nana Attakora, Maksim Usanov; Amadou Sanyang, Martin Saric, Nick LaBrocca (Jacob Peterson 63’), Sam Cronin; Dwayne DeRosario© (Gabe Gala 70’), Chad Barrett (Joseph Nane 78’).

Subs Not Used: Jon Conway, Raivis Hscanovics, Fuad Ibrahim.

Notes:
• With the draw, the Galaxy are now 7-0-2 on the season, giving them 23 points. They remain alone in first place in the Western Conference and are now 10 points ahead of second place Houston, Real Salt Lake and San Jose who each have 13 points.
• LA is now eight points ahead of the Eastern Conference leading New York Red Bulls for the best record in MLS. The Red Bulls are 5-3-0 for 15 points after losing 1-0 at home to Seattle earlier this evening.
• The Galaxy did not get their 25th point of the 2009 season until a 3-1 win at New York on July 16.
• Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that defeated Seattle 4-0 last weekend, bringing in Josh Saunders and Juninho. Juninho replaced Chris Klein while Saunders replaced Donovan Ricketts, who missed the game with a right elbow strain.
• In addition to Ricketts, the Galaxy were without A.J. DeLaGarza, Dema Kovalenko, Leonardo and Eddie Lewis who all missed the game through injury.
• Sean Franklin was back in the 18-man squad for the first time since April 17 when he sprained his right ankle in the first half of the 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake, but did not play. He had missed the last four games because of the injury.
• With Saunders starting and Ricketts unable to play, MLS League Pool goalkeeper Chris Sharpe was brought into the team. Sharpe, who was in preseason camp with the Galaxy during the 2008 season, spent the last two seasons with the Colorado Rapids.
• Tonight’s game was the final game for both Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan before they join the U.S. National Team at their pre-World Cup training camp in New Jersey.
• For just the second time this season and the first time at home, the Galaxy did not score in the first half.
• Both times the Galaxy have been held scoreless in the first half of a game this season, the game has ended 0-0.
• The Galaxy remain one of two undefeated teams in MLS with a 7-0-2 record. Columbus is in second place in the Eastern Conference with a 4-0-2 mark.
• The Galaxy are now unbeaten in their last 12 games, going 9-0-3 in their last 12 regular season games dating back to the end of the 2009 season. This ties the second longest unbeaten streak in club history.
• Omar Gonzalez was shown his third yellow card of the season in the 50th minute. He is now two bookings away from a mandatory one-game suspension.
• Bryan Jordan was forced to leave the game in the 69th minute with a right hamstring tightness. He was replaced by Chris Klein who was playing right back for the first time this season. Klein is LA’s fourth right back this season, joining A.J. DeLaGarza, Sean Franklin and Jordan.
• Edson Buddle, who has a team-high four yellow cards this season, was not booked for the second straight game meaning that he is now one game away from having one card cleared from his record. If Buddle is booked in his first game back from the National Team, he will be forced to serve a one-game suspension.
• After scoring nine goals in the Galaxy’s first six games, Edson Buddle has now gone scoreless in each of their last three. He went closest to scoring in the 66th minute when he hit the post with a shot from close range.
• Toronto’s Maksim Usanov was sent off in the fourth minute of stoppage time after collecting his second yellow card for a foul on Landon Donovan.
• Goalkeeper Josh Saunders made one save for his first clean sheet of the season. Dating back to the April 4, 2009, Saunders has not allowed a goal in 397 consecutive minutes in both the MLS regular season and the postseason.
• The shutout was the Galaxy’s third straight and seventh in nine games this season. If LA can keep a clean sheet in their next game against FC Dallas, they will tie the MLS record for most clean sheets in the opening 10 games of the season with eight.
• The attendance for today’s game was 20,007
• The Galaxy are back in action on Thursday night when they travel to Texas to take on FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park. The game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. (PT) and can be seen on FOX Sports West on tape delay starting at 9 p.m. ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM will broadcast the game live on the radio in Spanish starting with their pregame shows at 7 p.m. while the game will be available live in English at www.lagalaxy.com.
• For more about today’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

Set For Toronto FC

All system's are go for tongihts Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle World Cup Send-Off match against Toronto FC. Only two changes from last week's lineup that beat the Seattle Sounders FC, 4-0, on the road with Josh Saunders coming in for Donovan Ricketts in goal and Juninho in for Chris Klein in midfield.

Ricketts suffered a right elbow strain during the week, putting Saunders in the lineup for the first time this season. The club has brough in former Colorado Rapid Chris Sharpe to serve as the club's backup tonight.

Here is the complete Galaxy lineup...

--------------Donovan-------Buddle-------------

Kirovski-------------Juninho------------Stephens

----------------------Birchall-----------------

Dunivant-----Berhalter------Gonzalez------Jordan

----------------------Saunders------------------

Subs: Sharpe, Franklin, Alex Cazumba, Klein, Mathis, Magee, Bowen

And here is how Toronto will line up...

--------------Barrett-------De Rosario------------

Cronin-------Sanyang--------Saric---------LaBrocca

Garcia--------Attakora-------Cann------------Usanov

-----------------------Frei----------------------

Subs: Conway, Hscanovics, Gala, Nane, Ibrahim, Peterson

Galaxy Aim to Remain Unbeaten Against Toronto FC

After you've checked out the latest episode of This Week Inside the Galaxy and read all the latest in Mark Rogondino's View from the Booth, give a listen to what Birchy, Magee and Dave Sarachan had to say about this weekend's game against Toronto FC.

Magee...

Birchall...

Dave...

This Week Inside the Galaxy: 2010 - Episode 8

This Week Inside the Galaxy, look ahead to Saturday's game against Toronto FC in the Galaxy's World Cup Send Off for Landon and Edson.

Jordan Continues to Adapt at Right Back

A forward or winger throughout his soccer career dating back to his early club soccer days, no Galaxy player has been asked to adapt to more this season than Bryan Jordan. Like former Galaxy stalwart Chris Albright, Jordan is in the process of transitioning from a forward to a right back this season. The 24-year-old Temple City native spent much of the preseason playing wide in the midfield, but early season injuries to a number of different defenders - including fellow right backs Sean Franklin and A.J. DeLaGarza - have seen Jordan speed up his transition.

He made his first start at right back in the 4-0 win at Seattle last weekend and he played a major role in stifling Steve Zakuani, the top pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft and the Sounders top scorer this season. As a result, he could hold onto his position this weekend as Franklin and DeLaGarza continue to comeback from ankle and back injuries respectively.

We caught up with BJ to see what he had to say about his transition and this weekend's game.

Toronto Test on Tap

It was a busy day at The Home Depot Center as the press gathered en masse to get some time with Landon and Edson before they head off to pre-World Cup National Team camp New Jersey. But before they can begin to think about that, they have one more game with the Galaxy to take care of.

Bruce Arena's team has taken 22 of a possible 24 points so far this season and will look to continue their winning ways against Toronto FC on Saturday night, a team that the Galaxy swept during the 2009 season.

The team went through a lively session under clear Carson skies today. Spirits were high to begin with thanks to the club's great start to the season, but they were raised even more as Sean Franklin and Eddie Lewis each took part in large portions of today's session while Dema and Leonardo each warmed up with the club before breaking off to do additional fitness training.

Just like the Galaxy last week, Saturday's game will be Toronto's third in eight days following a 4-1 home win over Chicago last weekend and a 1-0 win at Montreal in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship last night. In fact, Toronto is the third straight team to visit the Galaxy at The HDC on the heels of a midweek encounter, with RSL and Philly each falling to LA following midweek Open Cup Play-In Games.

Toronto's win over Montreal was their first road win of the season in all competitions, as they remain 0-4-0 away from BMO Field in MLS play. Since joining MLS prior to the 2007 season, the Reds are just 6-33-10 away from home in the league, including 1-5-0 at The Home Depot Center.

VIDEO: Donovan on Jimmy Kimmel Live

In case you missed it last night here are two videos from Landon Donovan's interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Enjoy!

Landon Donovan to Appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live Tonight on ABC

Be sure to stay up late tonight as Landon Donovan joins Dr. Phil and musical guest B.o.B. on tonight's Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The show airs on ABC tonight at 12:05 a.m.

And if you can't get enough of Landon, be sure to come out to The Home Depot Center on Saturday night for the club's World Cup Send Off as Landon and Edson play their final game with the club before departing for National Team camp in New Jersey ahead of this summer's World Cup in South Africa. The first 15,000 fans in attendance will receive a special commemorative poster featuring Donovan and Edson Buddle and there will be a ceremony held after the game as the Galaxy and their fans official send their heroes off to training camp ahead of the World Cup.

Galaxy Raw - Week 8

We caught up with Edson and a number of others after training yesterday to see what they thought about his inclusion on the National Team's 30-man preliminary roster.

Here's what they had to say.

Landon and Edson Get World Cup Call Up

LA Galaxy forwards Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan have been included in the U.S. National Team’s preliminary roster for this summer’s 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Both players will depart for the National Team’s training camp in Princeton, N.J. on Sunday following the Galaxy’s World Cup Send Off game against Toronto FC on Saturday night at The Home Depot Center.

Both players will miss a minimum of two games just for being named to the preliminary roster and will miss a minimum of two more if they are included in the final 23-man squad. For the first time in league history, Major League Soccer will take a two week break during the opening round of the World Cup, with the Galaxy not scheduled to play any league games between June 9 and June 26.

Click here for the complete release.

Buddle, Donovan and the rest Galaxy are back home this week to take on Toronto FC at The Home Depot Center. That game, which will be played on Saturday, May 15, kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and is the club’s final game before players depart for training camp ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup. The first 15,000 fans in attendance will receive a special commemorative poster featuring Buddle and Donovan and there will be a ceremony held after the game as the Galaxy and their fans officially send their heroes off to training camp ahead of the World Cup.

One Last Look Back at Saturday's 4-0 Win at Seattle

Look back on the clinical 4-0 win at Seattle on Saturday with all the goals and get plenty of locker room reaction from the guys, including extended interviews with the two Donovan's - Landon and Ricketts.

Landon Donovan Named MLS Player of the Week

LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 7 of the 2010 MLS season. Donovan had a hand in all five of the Galaxy’s goals in two games this week, helping the team win 1-0 at Colorado on Wednesday and then 4-0 at Seattle on Saturday, claiming four assists and adding his first goal of the season. Donovan is the second consecutive Galaxy player to be named the MLS Player of the Week after Edson Buddle won the award last week.

This is Donovan’s first Player of the Week award this season and the 11th of his MLS career, with eight of those coming while a member of the Galaxy. His 11 Player of the Week awards are the second most in MLS history behind only FC Dallas forward Jeff Cunningham.

Donovan began the week by setting up the Galaxy’s only goal in a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Wednesday night. In the 21st minute, after being fouled by Julian Baudet inside the Galaxy’s attacking third, Donovan floated a freekick to the left corner of the six-yard box for forward Alan Gordon to head home, giving LA a 1-0 lead. That turned out to be all the offense the Galaxy would need as they held on for the 1-0 victory, their first regular season win in Colorado since July 13, 2002.

On Saturday, Donovan and the Galaxy remained unbeaten on the season and picked up their second road win four days, handing Seattle a 4-0 defeat at Qwest Field. Donovan set up each of the first three goals in that game as Jovan Kirovski, Omar Gonzalez and Todd Dunivant put LA up 3-0 before Donovan rounded out the scoring with his first goal of the season.

The Galaxy captain has assisted on five of teammate Edson Buddle’s nine goals in 2010 and Buddle returned the favor Saturday by setting up Donovan for his first goal of the season. In the 67th minute, Buddle carried the ball along the right sideline, cut inside toward the 18-yard box, and sent a pass through the box for Donovan running into the area. Donovan redirected the cross just inside the right post from less than six yards out to score the Galaxy’s fourth and final goal of the match.

Donovan has consistently contributed to the LA attack throughout the 2010 season with an assist in all but two of the Galaxy’s eight matches. He currently leads the league in assists with nine, which are four shy of his career-high of 13 that he set in 2007.

The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by a panel of journalists from NASR. The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership information can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com/.

2010 MLS Player of the Week Winners
Week 1: Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake)
Week 2: Kenny Mansally (New England Revolution)
Week 3: Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union)
Week 4: Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)
Week 5: Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC)
Week 6: Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)
Week 7: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)

Donovan and the Galaxy are back home this week to take on Toronto FC at The Home Depot Center. That game, which will be played on Saturday, May 15, kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and is the club’s final game before players depart for training camp ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup. The first 15,000 fans in attendance will receive a special commemorative poster featuring any players that the Galaxy have included in the U.S. National Team and there will be a ceremony held after the game as the Galaxy and their fans official send their heroes off to training camp ahead of the World Cup. For more information about this game, or to purchase tickets to it, please visit www.lagalaxy.com or call 1-877-3GALAXY (342-5299).

Galaxy Cruise to 4-0 Win at Seattle (With Quotes)

LA Galaxy 4, Seattle Sounders FC 0
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Qwest Field — Seattle, Wash.

Scoring Summary:
LA – Jovan Kirovski 1 (Michael Stephens 3, Landon Donovan 7) 22’
LA – Omar Gonzalez 1 (Landon Donovan 8) 52’
LA – Todd Dunivant 1 (Landon Donovan 9) 57’
LA – Landon Donovan 1 (Edson Buddle 2) 67’

Misconduct Summary:
SEA – Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Yellow Card) 38’
SEA – Leo Gonzalez (Yellow Card) 48+
SEA – Tyrone Marshall (Yellow Card) 62’
LA – Tristan Bowen (Yellow Card) 64’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts; Todd Dunivant, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Bryan Jordan; Chris Birchall, Jovan Kirovski, Michael Stephens, Chris Klein (Tristan Bowen 63’); Landon Donovan© (Clint Mathis 71’), Edson Buddle (Alex Cazumba 75’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Juninho, Mike Magee, Alan Gordon.

Seattle Sounders FC: Kasey Keller; Leo Gonzalez, Tyrone Marshall, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, James Riley; Osvaldo Alonso (Nathan Sturgis 37’), Peter Vagenas, Brad Evans (Sanna Nyassi 70’); Freddie Ljungberg, Steve Zakuani, Fredy Montero.

Subs Not Used: Terry Boss, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Roger Levesque.

Notes:
• With the win, the Galaxy are now 7-0-1 on the season, giving them 22 points. They remain alone in first place in the Western Conference and are now 12 points ahead of second place Chivas USA, Colorado and Houston.
• LA is now seven points ahead of the Eastern Conference leading New York Red Bulls for the best record in MLS. The Red Bulls are 5-1-0 for 15 points.
• The Galaxy did not get their 19th point of the 2009 season until a 1-0 win over Chivas USA on July 11.
• Bruce Arena made three changes to the team that defeated Colorado 1-0 on Wednesday night, bringing in Bryan Jordan, Jovan Kirovski and Chris Klein for their first starts of the season. They replaced A.J. DeLaGarza, who missed the game because of back spasms, Juninho and Alan Gordon.
• In addition to DeLaGarza, the Galaxy were without Sean Franklin, Dema Kovalenko, Leonardo and Eddie Lewis.
• Mike Magee was back in the 18-man squad for the first time since April 24 but did not play. He had missed the last two games with a hip injury.
• All four players who scored for the Galaxy recorded their first goal of the season.
• Landon Donovan set a new career-high with three assists in the game. He also scored a goal, snapping a seven game scoreless streak.
• Jovan Kirovski scored his first goal of the season in the 22nd minute, beating Kasey Keller for his first goal since August 8, 2009.
• The Galaxy scored the game’s first goal for the seventh time this season. LA is 7-0-0 in those games.
• The Galaxy led at halftime 1-0 for their sixth halftime lead in eight games this season. They are 6-0-0 in those games.
• Omar Gonzlaez’s goal in the 52nd minute was the second of his MLS career and his first since April 4, 2009.
• Todd Dunivant’s goal in the 57th minute was the fifth of his MLS career. He last scored on June 28, 2009 in a 1-0 win over Houston. His teams are now 4-0-1 when he scores a goal and have outscored their opponents 15-3 in those games.
• Landon Donovan rounded out the scoring with his first goal of the season in the 67th minute.
• Donovan did not score until his eighth game of the season, the longest it has ever-taken him to score at the start of the season.
• Edson Buddle assisted on Donovan’s goal after Donovan had assisted on six of Buddle’s nine goals.
• Goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts made a season-high seven saves in the game for LA to keep his sixth shutout in eight games this season. Ricketts has allowed just two goals in 720 minutes for a league-best 0.25 goals against average.
• The win was the Galaxy’s first-ever win against Seattle in MLS competition after going 0-1-1 against them last season.
• Tristan Bowen was booked in the 64th minute, just one minute after entering the game. That was the first yellow card of his MLS career.
• The attendance for today’s game was 36,273.
• The Galaxy are back in action next Saturday night when they take on Toronto FC at The Home Depot Center. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live on FOX Sports West. AM 570 and ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM will broadcast the game live on the radio in English and Spanish respectively, starting with their pregame shows at 7 p.m.
• For more about today’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

Bruce Arena - Galaxy Head Coach

(On his team having a good game against Seattle . . .) "The first half was pretty even. We got an important goal. The second half our team played really well."

(On the Sounders plan to stop Edson Buddle . . .) "Edson Buddle had a great game, I thought. He doesn't need to score goals all the time as a forward. He helps create goals and scoring opportunities. He held onto the ball well tonight. Landon [Donovan] and Edson played really well tonight by any way you evaluate performances."

(On Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle playing together for the U.S. National Team...) "That is not my choice. I have a different job than that."

(On his team playing better than today . . .) "This is one of those games where everything goes your way. Hopefully we are going to play better games and we will get better. We have to get better. We are only eight games and there is a lot of season left to play."

(On his team's defense . . .) "We played very well at that end of the field. [Donovan] Ricketts is outstanding."

Landon Donovan - Galaxy Forward

(On the team improving as the season progresses . . .) "We can play better. If we were playing better later in the game we could have scored five or six goals. You never want to take your foot off the gas. If it's the other way, teams can make mistakes."

(On when the team was able to take control of the match . . .) "We know we were the better team and we wanted to be aggressive and not let them dictate the game. They had the ball in the first half and our back line did a great job. When we had chances to score, we were ruthless."

(On teams focusing on stopping Edson Buddle...) "Our team is really good. A lot of attention is being placed on him and everyone else is doing a lot of things right to put him in that position. Today, he did a lot of things to get other people in the right position."

(On Edson Buddle proving himself to gain a spot on the U.S. National Team . . .) "Yes, absolutely."

Edson Buddle - Galaxy Forward

(On creating opportunities for his teammates to score . . .) "I knew it was going to be a physical match for myself and us. We were aware of the Sounders tendencies and it was up to me to find the runners coming through."

(On having his teammates take the lead and score . . .) "I never plan it that way. It just so happened this year I have been able to get on the score sheet early. It just so happened that guys were able to score and we had a good result here in Seattle."

(On being nervous about possible call up to the National Team . . .) "Not really. My focus is on playing here on Monday."

Sigi Schmid - Sounders FC Head Coach

(General Comments . . .) "Got beat and got beat solidly. Not the kind of game you want to ever repeat again."

(On allowing four goals . . .) "The first goal you don't expect a keeper like Keller to have that happen, but sometimes it does. The second goal was a good goal. Our marking could have been better but I thought we were tight and he put it in the corner. The third goal was inexcusable. It skipped past two guys. You have to not hope that someone else will do what you're supposed to. On the fourth goal we were ducks in a shooting gallery."

(On moving forward from this loss . . .) "It's not time to panic but it's time for some people to wake up and for character to step forward. When you're down two, three or four to nothing, you have to step up. Some guys we've asked to step up and it hasn't happened so changes are forthcoming. You have to play with energy. We let them control the game. We had to speed it up and no one on our side made that happen. We got hammered on the field and they should feel hammered in the locker room. They need to go inside and find their reaction and their inner core."

(On offside calls . . .) "A couple times we got called because guys were lazy coming back. A couple offsides weren't offsides - bad calls by the linesmen. A couple of them the ball was played too late. I thought we were inches off breaking them down in the first half. Then we came out and gave up the second goal seven minutes into the second half and a horrendous third goal. It's embarrassing."

(On lack of offense . . .) "Close to creating things but not creating things. We need guys that will give up their body in the box. We don't need six playmakers. We need guys who can score. We need more movement, harder running."

(On loss of Osvaldo Alonso to injury . . .) "I thought [Nathan] Sturgis did fine. I don't think that having Ozzy would have had an impact on the second or third goal."

(On team's effort . . .) "They have to believe in themselves and learn how to transfer that belief into effort. Not pleased with the effort when we were three goals down. Have to show character and say if we're going down, go down swinging and get a couple goals. Some had that attitude and some phoned it in."

(On worst loss as Sounders FC head coach . . .) "It is the toughest loss. Remind me to never wear a sport jacket again. It was the first time I've worn one and it will be the last time. When I was with the Galaxy, we took a few shellackings along the way. Sometimes something like this is good because when you get your rear end handed to you, people are a little more attentive to what you're telling them."

(On competition for spots . . .) "We compete for spots every week. I've given some guys a longer leash than others. That leash just tore today."

Kasey Keller - Sounders FC Goalkeeper

(General comments . . .) "I made a mistake and we went a goal down and we weren't able to recover from that. It's one of the tough things about goalkeeping. I thought we were doing OK. We had a goal that was called offside and it wasn't so that added to the frustration."

(On team's effort in second half . . .) "I didn't think that heads were down. Guys were disappointed, sure, but I didn't get the vibe that we were going to come out and perform the way we did."

(On Galaxy's first goal . . .) "It swirled on me, but the ball swirls every time it comes at you so there's no excuse. It moved and I didn't react in time."

(On moving forward from this loss . . .) "I hope we wake up and get better. There are some good characters on this team and I don't see any reason why we can't bounce back. I remember a year in the Premiere League when Man U lost 5-0 and came back and won the title. So it's not the end of the world."

Freddie Ljungberg - Sounders FC Midfielder/Forward

(On mistakes . . .) "We've made mistakes and we continue to make mistakes. They were constantly under attack and we made mistakes. That's something that we have to stop doing. In soccer, most goals are made on mistakes. So that's something we have to cut out to win games."

(On team's effort . . .) "In any team that will happen when the game gets that embarrassing. If it's within one point, people will still fight. But more than that, it's hard to stay engaged."

Miguel Montaño - Sounders FC Forward

(On how he played . . .) "I feel really good. I went into the field with a lot of enthusiasm. I think it was noted. I feel really good. I try really hard. It was my first game in MLS and with the Sounders and I felt very good about it. I tried to do my best but of course the result didn't come with us so I hope that for next game we will do better. That was disappointing for me."

(On entering game down three goals . . .) "Yes, I knew that we were down but I still entered the field with a lot of enthusiasm and we needed a goal - attack, attack, attack. I was doing my best to do that. Now we know that we need to do it better. We need the wins and we are going to try for that."

(On earning more playing time . . .) "It's not just about the game that we had today. I know that I have to keep working day-by-day to keep earning my position and I 'm going to keep working in that direction."