LOS ANGELES GALAXY 2, METROSTARS 2
LOS ANGELES GALAXY HEAD COACH STEVE SAMPSON
On the game:
"We played against a very good MetroStars team. I thought they did a very good job moving the ball around. They forced us work hard in the midfield, which ended up being what I felt was the key to the game. He who won the midfield tonight was going to win the game tonight and it went back and forth. Sometimes, there are certain games you take your point and go home."
On missing so many players:
"With so many players missing tonight you could see the rhythm and understanding, especially between Kevin and our back line, was missing. Naturally, those things are going to happen when you have so many guys missing."
On Cobi Jones' performance:
"What a great effort by Cobi Jones tonight. He created the penalty that Jovan scored. It took a tremendous ball by Todd Dunivant to change the point of attack for the second goal and a great effort by Cobi to read the goalie coming off his line."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY FORWARD JOVAN KIROVSKI
On the overall result:
"Of course, being at home we expect to win every game. Especially being down 1-0, coming back to be 2-1 up, we have to able to shut teams down and not let them score. It is as simple as that, especially at home. If we're up 2-1, we have to win games by one."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY DEFENDER TODD DUNIVANT
On the match:
"New York's always a tough team to play against. Offensively, they're so dynamic; they've got guys running everywhere. They caught us a few times -- no excuses. We've got to stick to our zones and do a little bit better. It was a tough game for us. We had to win and we let it slip away. From that standpoint we're disappointed, but still a good game for us."
On the crowd:
"It's amazing. They come out every game. It's great. It helps us so much. It's the reason why we're so tough here. It's not just the field, not just playing at home, it's the crowd."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY DEFENDER TROY ROBERTS
On his MLS debut:
"It's fun to be out there, just to play and get that first game in, I think it's good. Obviously, we didn't get the result, but all in all, we held things under control for most of the game. I think I just have to look at it as an experience."
On the speed of play:
"It's a lot more intense, a lot more intense atmosphere. At this level, definitely your work rate has to be higher."
METROSTARS HEAD COACH BOB BRADLEY
On the team's overall performance:
"Very good effort. I'm disappointed to not come away with three points, but good, strong push in the second half and still a lot of good things to build on."
On the play of substitute Sergio Galvan Rey:
"Sergio gave us a lift. Obviously, he took his goal very well and it was nice to see."
On the stretch of recent road games:
"It was a tough stretch, but physically I think this team is strong at the moment. The effort every game was very good. Now, we just want to continue to push those things along."
On the team's progress through the first quarter of the season:
"I think we're making progress every game. You can see that the team spirit is very good. I think collectively there's a good understanding of how to play and now it's just fine-tuning some little things. But all-in-all, I think things are moving forward very well."
On the play of the midfield:
"The midfield really played, over the last four, five, six games, very good. They all work well together. We've been able to do a good job of winning balls in the center of the field and controlling play."
METROSTARS GOALKEEPER ZACH WELLS
On playing in front of family:
"It was really good support out there. But I was trying to do a little too much for them, and the first half it took me 45 minutes to settle down. I'm not very pleased with the way that I played, but at least with the group effort, the way we fought and the way we came back, I thought we played really well in the second half."
On the stretch of recent road games:
"I think both physically and mentally it's taxing. But at the end, we've grown as a team and we got some crucial points out of it. I think we're in a good position after the first 10, 11 games of the season."
METROSTARS MIDFIELDERS MIKE MAGEE
On the overall result:
"I thought we did pretty well. We closed a lot of plays down and created some chances. Unlucky on a few, but for the most part we played well and got a semi-decent result."
On the absence of players due to World Cup qualifiers and injuries:
"It definitely shows the depth of a team. It shows how good a team really is. You're not just 11 guys deep, you're 25. This little stretch, we might start winning some games, start stepping up, because we are 25 players deep, so I'm looking forward to it."
On coming back after being down 2-1:
"I thought we had them, then go to down 2-1, it was disappointing. But we regrouped and came out of halftime and started taking it to them. We maybe could've won that game, and we're disappointed that we didn't. But it's still a result."
