Injury Updates

The 2009 MLS season is officially upon us as we have had to submit our first official injury report of the year this afternoon.

And as it appears that we don't have a lot of basketball fans in our midst, on to the report (exactly as we submitted it to the league).

Galaxy Injury Report

OUT –Todd Dunivant (Right Ankle – Post Surgery), Leonard Griffin (Left Abdominal – Strain)
DOUBTFUL – None
QUESTIONABLE – Edson Buddle (Right Quad – Strain), Donovan Ricketts (Right – Groin Strain)
PROBABLE – Alan Gordon (Right Hamstring – Strain), Eddie Lewis (Left Hamstring – Strain), Stefani Miglioranzi (Right Knee – Bone Bruise)

Selection Sunday

The team travelled back from Arizona this morning and had the rest of today and Monday off, their final two days off before the season opener on Sunday.

Seven players today did get some good news as their alma maters earned spots in the NCAA Tournament.

The Galaxy's two UCLA Bruins (Leonard Griffin and Eddie Lewis) were celebrating their team's #6 seed in the East Region which means a First Round matchup with Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday.

Additionally, Wake Forest graduate Julian Valentin will be cheering on the Demon Deacons, the #4 seed in the Midwest, in their First Round game against Cleveland State on Friday.

But the real drama will come in the West Region where Josh Saunders' Cal Bears (the #7 seed) host the A.J. DeLaGarza and Omar Gonzalez's Maryland Terrapins (the #10 seed) on Thursday in the first round.

Whoever wins that game could potentially take on Sean Franklin's Cal-State Northridge Matadors (the #15 seed) two days later, but only if the Matadors can upset Memphis in the opening round.

LA-CHI Post-Game Highlights and Audio

The Galaxy's final match of the 2009 preseason is in the books. Here are the highlights:

We checked in on the post-game press conference and heard from Bruce Arena and goalscorer Josh Tudela.


For those of you concerned about Donovan Ricketts, check out what he had to say after the match:


As a bonus, we also got a little sound from Landon Donovan in both english and spanish after the match.


Also, we would like to give a shout out to all of the Angel City Brigade, LA Riot Squad and Galaxians on hand for tonight's match at Sun Devil Stadium. It was a small but very dedicated and vocal group. Well done!

FINAL: LA 1 - CHI 1

03.14.2009: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ
Attendance: 8,614

LA GALAXY-CHICAGO FIRE – 1:1

The LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire played to a 1-1 draw on Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, AZ. The match marked the final preseason game for both club’s prior to next week’s start of the 2009 MLS season. Galaxy midfielder Josh Tudela opened the scoring with an impressive strike from distance, but the goal would not hold up as Fire midfielder Marco Pappa netted the equalizer late in the first half.

Just four minutes into the game the Galaxy went ahead on a long range strike from midfielder Josh Tudela. A Landon Donovan corner kick start the play as he sent the ball in to the box where a Chicago defender attempted to clear the ball only to see it fall for Tudela at the top of the box. Hitting it first time, Tudela crushed a low shot through traffice in the box and found the inside of the right post to put LA up 1-0.

In the 30th minute, Chicago responded with a goal by midfielder Marco Pappa with the assist to Patrick Nyarko. On the right wing, Nyarko used to two cut moves against A.J. DeLaGarza, who got tripped up on Nyarko's foot on the play and went to the turf, before cutting a pass back to the top of the box. Pappa first touch caused the ball to bounce up but he hit a left footed volley to slot it inside the upper left corner past Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

In the second half, the Galaxy were much improved and continued to pressure the Fire, but were unable to gain the match winner. Next, LA will host Eastern Conference rival D.C. United in the season opener on Sunday, March 22 at 12pm in The Home Depot Center. For more information go to www.lagalaxy.com

SCORING:
LA: Tudela (Unassisted) ‘4
CHI: Pappa (Nyarko) ‘30

LINEUPS:
LA: 1- Donovan Ricketts (12-Josh Saunders ’63), 28-Sean Franklin (5-Yohance Marshall ’86), 4-Omar Gonzalez, 22-Tony Sanneh, 20-A.J. DeLaGarza, 7-Chris Klein, 8-Dema Kovalenko, 19-Josh Tudela, 18-Mike Magee (30-Kyle Patterson ’64), 9-Jovan Kirovski (27-Bryan Jordan ’75), 10-Landon Donovan.

DNP: 24-Julian Valentin, 17-Tristan Bowen, 21-Alan Gordon.

Head Coach: Bruce Arena
CHI: 1-Jon Busch (28-Nick Noble ’61), 25-Gonzalo Segares, 32-Dasan Robinson, 4-Bakary Soumare, 5-Tim Ward, 21-Justin Mapp (10-Cuauhtemoc Blanco ’61), 22-Wilman Conde, 7-Logan Pause, 16-Marco Pappa (18-Mike Banner ’76), 20-Brian McBride, 14-Patrick Nyarko (23-Stefan Dimitrov ’86)

DNP: 2-C.J. Brown, 11-John Thorrington, 24-Daniel Woolard, 9-Baggio Husidic, 34-Austin Washington, 40-Andrew Dykstra

Head Coach: Denis Hamlett

Booked:
CHI: 25-Gonzalo Segares ‘84
LA: NONE

Statistics LA CHI
Shots 4(2) 7(3)
Saves 2(2) 4(2)
Fouls 10(5) 7(3)
Corners 4(3) 6(3)
Offsides 3(2) 4(3)

R: Abbey Okulaja
A1: Corey Rockwell
A2: Richard Mackey
FO: Allen Chapman

On the Field and Ready for Chicago

The lineups are in, and the Galaxy's starting XI is set. Bruce and Co. will use this as final preparation for next week’s home opener against D.C. United.

Here's who the Galaxy will go with against the Fire.

----------Donovan------Kirovski--------

Magee----Tudela-----Kovalenko-----Klein

DeLaGarza---Sanneh---Gonzalez---Franklin

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

Subs: Saunders, Valentin, Marshall, Patterson, Bowen, Jordan and Gordon.

Chicago Fire

----------McBride------Nyarko--------

Mapp--------Conde----Pause-------Pappa

Segares-----Soumare---Robinson----Ward

--------------Busch------------------

Subs: Noble, Dykstra, Woolard, Washinton, Brown, Thorrington, Banner, Husidic, Dimitrov, Blanco.

MATCHTRACKER:
FINAL: LA 1 - CHI 1
90 - SHOT: Klein played in nearly scores game-winner but is called for offsides.
87 - CORNERKICK: Chicago's send in a cross to the center of the box. Saunders comes out and gets a fist to it. Two deflected shots and then a follow by Chicago. LA freekick ends the attack by Chicago.
86 - CORNERKICK: Donovan sends a low cross into the near post looking for Gonzalez. Defender attempts to clear but Gonzalez deflects for goalkick.
85 - SUB: CHI: Dimitrov in for Nyarko. LA: Marshall in for Franklin.
81 - CORNERKICK: Banner send the ball into the box, it bounce around as several Fire players try to get it on frame but are denied. But, the Galaxy defense clears the ball.
79 - FREEKICK: LA's Donovan earns the follow 25 yards out. Donovan's service finds Gonzalez in the box, but as he battles for position his header just missing the far post.
76 - SUBS: CHI: Banner in for Pappa, LA: Jordon in for Kirovski.
72 - FREEKICK: Donovan chips a 40 yard ball into the box. Sanneh wins the ariel battle but his header floats over the bar for a goalkick.
68 - CROSS: McBride chips a pass from the left wing into Blanco who appears to be in alone on Saunders, but a streaking DeLaGarza flies in to clear the ball over the endline.
63 - LA SUBS: Saunders in for Ricketts, Patterson in for Magee.
62 - PLAYER DOWN - LA's Trainer comes on to check on Ricketts. Looks like he will come off.
60 - CHI SUBS: Blanco in for Mapp, Noble in for Busch.
HALFTIME (No Substitutions by either team)
41 - FREEKICK - From wide left just outside the box, Donovan sends into near post, easily cleared by defense.
39 - CORNERKICK - Mapp send it near to McBride, who kicks it back out. Mapp sends in again. Nyarko, falling, tries to tuck it in but Ricketts clears.
37 - SHOT - Pappa fires a long range shot just missing the right post, but Ricketts shadowed the shot wide.
36 - SHOT - Donovan cut in from the right wing, tries a low shot but Busch has no trouble with the save.
32 - GOAL - Chicago's Marco Pappa with a nice volley from the top of the box into the upper right corner, no chance for Ricketts. Nyarko took on DeLaGarza on the right wing, two cut later DeLaGarza slipped as Nyarko cut to the endline. His cross to the top of the box found Pappa, whose first touch forced the ball up for him to volley. LA 1 - CHI 1
22 - Cross - Cleared by DeLaGarza for cornerkick. Chicago send corner all the way across for a throwin.
16 - SHOT - Chicago's Justin Mapp his a hit shot to the right post, diving save by Ricketts. On the corner, deflection wide for goalkick.
4 - GOAL - Josh Tudela. Landon Donovan cornerkick into the box, clearance by Chicago defender falls to Josh Tudela at the top of the box. Tudela's low shot slips through traffice and finds the inside of the right post. LA 1 - CHI 0

Kickoff - And we are underway at Sun Devil Stadium.

Final Preparations Part II

With just four hours until kickoff, we have one last preview with footage from yesterday's final training session to prepare you for tonight's match. Following training, we caught up with Mike Magee and Kyle Patterson to get their thoughts on the match and Sun Devil Stadium. Enjoy!

Final Preparations at Sun Devil

The Galaxy headed over to Sun Devil Stadium for the final training session before tomorrow’s match against the Fire. The field is in great condition, but is cut very short so the ball will be running pretty fast tomorrow. Overall, the players are excited to get on the field in front of a crowd.

Here are a few notes from training:
• The team’s strength and conditioning coach Ben Yauss took the players through an extensive warm-up which last about 10-15 minutes. Following the morning flight he did not want to take any chances getting the guys going.
• With the keepers working at one end on their own, the team went into an 8v8 game with various numbers of touches being allowed and points being tracked for consecutive passes. Despite, the short flight things morning the players looks sharp.


• Freekick – Set pieces are always an important part of preparations before a game so Bruce and Dave took the players through a variety of set plays to make sure everyone was on the same. Look for Landon to be on the ball much of the time for these tomorrow.

• The guys rounded out training with finishing drill while a few others player soccer horseshoe.

Here Jovan talks about the final preparations:


An Arizona native, Alan touches on having an MLS game in his hometown state. He also reveals that he won’t see the field tomorrow:


All in all, it was a good training session that went just over an hour. After the players got back on the bus for a VIP autograph session and a meet and greet with team presenting sponsor Herbalife.

Check back tomorrow for footage from training.