After losing 2-1 to the Chicago Fire on Saturday evening at Toyota Park, the Los Angeles Galaxy have come away with one unescapable conclusion: Almost certainly, Wednesday's rematch between the teams in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final will define their season.
"If you look at the standings and look at the points total and what other teams are going in the West, it looks like it (is the season)," said Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop.
The Galaxy all but had their playoff hopes erased in Saturday's league loss. They cannot afford to drop a single point over their final three regular season games, beginning with the Super Clasico this weekend against Chivas USA -- and still hope that Chivas lose all of their remaining games, or that the Colorado Rapids also fail to win any of their three remaining matches.
But Wednesday night provides a chance for the Galaxy to come away with something from what's been a disappointing campaign, defending their U.S. Open Cup title won last year and winning the Dewar Trophy for the third time in club history, matching the Fire for the most among MLS clubs.
"Unless there's a miracle in the next three weeks with other games and other results, Wednesday is pretty much it," said Landon Donovan. "We have to approach it that way."
The Galaxy's standard of play the last several weeks has left something to desire. Two goals in three games have been converted into a grand total of one point in the standings. A win in the Open Cup Final at least will give the Galaxy some sort of validation to the turnaround from the team that started with just seven points from their first 11 games.
"The last three or four weeks haven't been very encouraging," said Donovan. "It would be nice to have something to celebrate and cheer about."
Still, the biggest question is how the team will be able to bounce back from Saturday's loss and dagger to the team's playoff hopes. According to Donovan, veteran leadership will guide them through Wednesday night's contest.
"There's a lot of guys here who have played in a lot of finals. You have to understand the importance of that," said Donovan. "Our mentality has to be right and I'm not worried about that."
The simple fact is that while the Galaxy are in an unenviable position in the MLS standings, there are 10 teams that still wish they were in the same position Wednesday as the Green-and-Gold.
"You can't dwell on what's just gone on. We must move forward and look forward to possible winning a championship," said Yallop. "When you start the season off we're all going for the same stuff, an MLS Cup and a U.S. Open Cup. We have a chance to win one of those two trophies."
Wednesday night's game will be one of the defining moments in the Galaxy's 2006 season. In a year that has been marred by the loss of Doug Hamilton, the former president and general manager of the Galaxy, a horrible start to the season, numerous player games lost to injury and World Cup duty, and a coaching change midseason, Wednesday night will be a chance to take something positive away from the season.
"Realistically we only have four games left and this one is massively important," said Donovan. "It's not like you're saving yourself, it's not like you're not going to be motivated, so we're going to be ready."
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
