CARSON, Calif. --
The LA Galaxy will look to win two straight for the second time this season as they travel north to take on the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night. This is the second of three meetings between these two longtime rivals this season, with the Galaxy winning the first match, 2-0, between the two sides on April 3 behind goals from David Beckham and Landon Donovan.
The game, which starts at 7 p.m. at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel, starting with the MLS Saturday pregame show at 6:30 p.m. Fans can also listen to the game live on the radio with Joe Tutino having the call in English on AM 570 starting at 7:30 p.m. and Rolando Gonzalez and Celso Gaspar bringing you all the action in Spanish on ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM KWKW, beginning at 7 p.m.
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT - Charles Alamo (R-Knee Surgery)
DOUBTFUL - Peter Vagenas (R-Quad)
QUESTIONABLE - Edson Buddle (L-Thigh)
PROBABLE - None
Buddle is scheduled to train all week while Vagenas will be monitored throughout the week and have his situation updated later in the week. Alamo continues on the second phase of his rehabilitation process and has begun jogging and plyometrics after undergoing knee surgery in February.
The Week That Was...
LA Galaxy
Saturday, June 7; Galaxy 3 - Colorado Rapids 2
Alvaro Pires and Edson Buddle scored first half goals before Ely Allen tallied his first goal of the season, giving the Galaxy a 3-0 lead en route to a 3-2 win over the Rapids on Saturday night. Colin Clark and Herculez Gomez tallied late for the Rapids, but it was not enough as Steve Cronin and the Galaxy defense made the lead hold up, allowing LA to move back into first place in the Western Conference.
Galaxy Rios Under-20s
Sunday, June 8; Galaxy Rios 2 - Lancaster Rattlers 2
David Estrada and Kyle Nakazawa scored first half goals, but the Rattlers came back with a pair of second half tallies to earn a 2-2 draw with the Rios U-20s in Lancaster. Rios goalkeeper Pat Barton made a sensational diving save in the dying moments to preserve the draw for the visitors, which sends their record to 2-0-1, keeping them in first place in the league.
Galaxy Team Notes
BACK TO THE TOP: Following the win on Saturday night, the Galaxy are back into first place in the Western Conference with 17 points from a 5-4-2 record. The Galaxy are now tied atop the standings with the Houston Dynamo, who are unbeaten in their last three games and have a record of 4-3-5. Additionally, the Galaxy's +4 goal differential (25 goals scored, 21 goals allowed) is the best in the West, one better than Colorado's +3 mark (18 goals scored and 15 allowed) and four better than Houston who have both scored and allowed 16 goals for an even goal differential.
This is the latest in the season that the Galaxy have been in first place since the 2004 season when LA was in first place in mid-August.
FIRST TIME SCORERS: Both Ely Allen and Alvaro Pires scored the first goals of their MLS careers on Saturday night in the 3-2 win over Colorado, with Pires scoring the game's opening goal and Allen adding the eventual game-winner early in the second half.
Pires' goal was the first of his professional career while Allen had previously only scored in the preseason against Sydney FC in February.
The last time that the Galaxy had two players score their first-ever MLS goal in the same game was on April 3, 2004 when Andreas Herzog and Jovan Kirovski scored second half goals in a 3-2 win over New England Revolution at The Home Depot Center.
GETTING ON THE BOARD OFTEN: With their three-goal showing against the Rapids on Saturday night, the Galaxy have now scored two or more goals in six of their seven home games and eight of their 11 games this season. In four of the eight games that the Galaxy have scored multiple goals, they have scored three or more as they have hit for three goals in each of their last two regular season home games against Kansas City and Colorado while scoring five times in a 5-2 win over Chivas USA on April 26 and on May 18 in a 5-1 win at FC Dallas.
The Galaxy are now on pace to record 22 multi-goal games this season, which would be one more than the club record of 21 multi-goal games, which was set in 1998. That year the Galaxy scored an MLS record 85 goals in 32 games, averaging just under 2.7 goals per contest.
GORDON OUT ON SATURDAY: The Galaxy will be without forward Alan Gordon for Saturday's game against the Earthquakes following his first half red card against Colorado last weekend. Gordon was sent off just before halftime following an altercation with the Rapids' Facundo Erpen, who was also sent off by referee Kevin Stott.
Gordon, who is fourth on the club with three goals this season, will next be available for selection in two weeks time against the Columbus Crew at The Home Depot Center on Saturday, June 21.
THE CENTURY MAN: Landon Donovan collected the 100th cap of his National Team career on Sunday when he played the full 90 minutes in a 0-0 draw between the U.S. and Argentina at Giants Stadium. Donovan captained the U.S. on the night to become the fourth youngest player in history to earn 100 caps and the 11th U.S. player ever to earn that honor.
Donovan, who is the all-time leading scorer in U.S. history with 35 goals in 100 games for his country, is the second Galaxy player to collect his 100th cap this year. David Beckham collected his 100th cap for England on March 26 in a friendly against France. Prior to Donovan, the last U.S. player to collect his 100th cap was goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who was honored for his achievement prior to the game.
JORDAN PLAYS TWO FOR TIMBERS: Galaxy forward Bryan Jordan played a pair of games last week while on loan with the Portland Timbers of the USL First Division. He played the full 90 minutes on Thursday in a 0-0 draw with Minnesota before heading to Vancouver for the Timbers 3-1 loss to the Whitecaps on Saturday. Jordan again played 90 minutes in that game, setting up Scot Thompson for the Timbers' only goal, before returning to Los Angeles on Sunday.
LOOKING AT THE OPPOSITION: Saturday will mark the second of three regular season meetings between the Galaxy and Earthquakes, and the first to be played in Northern California this season. The Galaxy earned their first win of the season in their home opener on April 3 when David Beckham and Landon Donovan scored first half goals in a 2-0 win at The Home Depot Center.
With the win, the Galaxy improved their all-time record against San Jose to 22-12-5, though they have not won a game in the Bay Area since 2002. The Galaxy are also 4-3-1 against San Jose all-time in the postseason, eliminating their rivals in 1996 and 2005
The Earthquakes, who are coached by former Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop, picked up their third win of the season on Saturday, defeating Columbus 2-0, to improve to 3-6-1 for 10 points on the season, though they remain in last place in the Western Conference.
GALAXY RIOS RETURN ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON: The Galaxy Rios Under-20 team remained undefeated on the season this weekend with a 2-2 draw against the Lancaster Rattlers on Sunday afternoon. David Estrada and Kyle Nakazawa scored first half goals to give the Rios a 2-0 lead, but the Rattlers scored twice late to earn a share of the points. Lancaster nearly pulled out a win in the game's dying moments, but Rios goalkeeper Pat Barton made a diving save to keep the score tied. The Rios remain in first place in the USL Super-20 Pacific Southern California League with a 2-0-1 record for seven points, leaving them tied with the Ventura County Fusion who are 2-1-1 so far this season, with the lone loss coming at the hands of the Rios on May 11, a game which the Rios won 5-0.
GALAXY AWAY GAME TRAVEL PACKAGE SOLD OUT: Galaxy fans have purchased all of the more than 200 seats that were available for the Galaxy Away Game Travel Package. Fans who were lucky enough to secure a spot on through the Travel Package will receive a ticket to the game, as well as roundtrip transportation to and from the game, all for just $65.
All buses will leave The Home Depot Center at 9 a.m. on Saturday, arriving at McAfee Coliseum around 4 p.m., giving fans nearly three hours to party and prepare for the game, which kicks off at 7 p.m., at a special tailgate party for Galaxy fans. Approximately 90 minutes after the conclusion of the match, at 10:30 p.m., the buses will depart Oakland and are scheduled to arrive back at The Home Depot Center around 4 a.m.
GALAXY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DASH FOR THE HUNGRY: On Thursday afternoon, the Galaxy will face off against the Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers in the Dash for the Kids Supermarket Race at the Albertsons location in Carson, Calif. Edson Buddle, Steve Cronin, Alan Gordon and Julian Valentin will represent the Galaxy as they race around the supermarket in a five minute race to collect food to feed the hungry. For more information about this event, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.
SERIE DE CAMPEONES IS BACK: The second edition of Serie de Campeones, a Galaxy sponsored youth soccer tournament, will be held at the San Bernardino Soccer Complex on June 14 and 15. The first leg of the tournament was played in April with a third leg to follow later in the summer. The winners of all three tournaments will then face off against one another later in the year to earn the crown of tournament champions. For more information about this tournament, or to register for one of the last remaining spots, visit www.lagalaxy.com.
DON'T MISS GALAXY DEPORTIVO EVERY WEEKEND: Galaxy Deportivo, the Galaxy's official weekly half hour show, is back for another year and can now be seen every weekend on two different stations. The show will first air on KWHY-22 every Saturday night at 6 p.m. with a series of features and interviews that provide insight into the weekend's game. Then on Sunday morning, Galaxy Deportivo will air again, this time on Telemundo-52 with the same in depth access, as well as highlights from Saturday night's match.
For the third straight year, Alejandro Navarro and Elmer Polanco will serve as hosts for the show, giving viewers an unprecedented level of access and insight to the 2008 Galaxy team.
PURO GALAXY HITS ESPN DEPORTES RADIO: ESPN Deportes Radio KWKW 1330 AM, the Galaxy's official Spanish language radio partner, is the place for all of your Galaxy news and information. The best place to get that information is on Puro Galaxy, the network's weekly, hour-long show that can tell you all you need to know and more about the Galaxy, airs every Saturday from 2-3 p.m., just in time to get you ready for the Galaxy's game on the weekend.
Rolando Gonzalez, who serves as the play-by-play voice of the Galaxy on broadcasts on KWKW, is the host of Puro Galaxy, and he will be joined by his fellow broadcasters and a series of special guests. So tune in each and every week and stay up to date with everything that is going on in the Galaxy.
