CARSON, Calif. - The Los Angeles Galaxy have completed a successful preseason campaign and now shift their focus to the 2007 MLS regular season. Following a 9-1-2 preseason, the Galaxy have begun preparations for the club's season opener against the defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo on Sunday. Head Coach Frank Yallop and Co. will head to Houston on Friday and hold one training session at Robertson Stadium on Saturday before kicking of their 12th season on Sunday evening. You can catch all of the action starting at 4 p.m. on FSN West and Telefutura. The game is also available on the radio in both English and Spanish. Joe Tutino has the English radio call on CASH 1700 AM, starting at 3:30 p.m. while Francisco Rivera and Jose "Pepe" Mantilla have the game in Spanish on KLAA 830 AM.
Galaxy Weekly Training Schedule (All times Pacific)
Date: Time/Location
Tuesday, April 3: 9:30 a.m. - Galaxy training (Field #6); 12 p.m. - Galaxy Kickoff Luncheon (Torrance Marriott)
Wednesday, April 4: * DAY OFF
Thursday, April 5: 10:30 a.m. - Galaxy training (Field #6)
Friday, April 6: Travel To Houston
Saturday, April 7: 10 a.m. - Galaxy training (in Houston)
Sunday, April 8: 4 p.m. - Galaxy (0-0-0) at Houston Dynamo (0-0-0) at Robertson Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on FSN West (English), Telefutura (Spanish), CASH 1700 AM (English) and KLAA 830 AM (Spanish).
Monday, April 9: Return from Houston *
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT - Alan Gordon (L - Foot Stress Fracture)
DOUBTFUL - None
QUESTIONABLE - Gavin Glinton (L - Groin Strain)
PROBABLE - None
Galaxy Team Notes
SUPERLIGA SCHEDULE CHANGE: The Galaxy have announced a change to the club's SuperLiga schedule. Originally, L.A. was going to play its opening game at home against Chivas de Guadalajara on July 24 and then host Pachuca five days later on July 28. Instead, the Galaxy will now open their SuperLiga campaign on Tuesday, July 24 against Pachuca at 8 p.m. at The Home Depot Center. Then, on Saturday, July 28, the Galaxy will host Chivas de Guadalajara at 7 p.m.
The Galaxy's final SuperLiga group match, against FC Dallas on July 31 at Pizza Hut Park, remains unchanged.
GORDON SIDELINED: Galaxy forward Alan Gordon is expected to miss the next 2-3 months after having surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot. The ailment, which is officially titled a stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal, hampered Gordon for the latter part of his club's preseason, forcing him to miss L.A.'s last nine preseason games. The six-foot-three forward did not accompany the team to Puerto Rico and underwent surgery on Wednesday, March 28 to correct the problem.
Gordon had a breakout year in 2006, scoring four goals and two assists, all of which came over the final two-and-a-half months of the regular season. In addition, the 25-year old forward tallied three goals in four appearances for the Galaxy in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
ALBRIGHT TOPS THE CHARTS: Defender Chris Albright finished the preseason as the Galaxy's top scorer, scoring four goals in the nine games in which he appeared. Albright, whose career-high for goals in a season is three, a total that he reached in 2000 and 2003, scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win over Chicago on March 6 and added goals against New England (2/22), Rochester (3/22) and Puerto Rico (3/24). Seven players finished the preseason with a pair of goals, two off Albright's team-leading mark.
All totaled, L.A. scored 24 goals in 12 preseason games while allowing just eight. For a complete scoring breakdown, please see the following chart...
(4 Goals) - Chris Albright
(2 Goals) - Landon Donovan, Robbie Findley, Josh Gardner, Nate Jaqua, Cobi Jones, Kyle Martino and
John Thorrington<br>
(1 Goal) - Gavin Glinton, Alan Gordon, Tyrone Marshall, Laurent Merlin, Mike Randolph and Nathan
Sturgis
While those players were taking care of the scoring at one end of the field, the Galaxy's goalkeeping duo of Joe Cannon and Steve Cronin were stopping shots at the other end. Both goalkeepers finished the preseason with a goals against average of below 1.00 and recorded multiple shutouts. Cannon appeared in seven games allowing six goals for a 0.86 GAA and keeping three clean sheets while Cronin appeared in five games, keeping four clean sheets and allowing just two goals for a 0.40 GAA.
STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT: The Galaxy have an all-time record of 6-4-1 in season openers but have not won one since April 3, 2004 when L.A. defeated New England 3-2 at The Home Depot Center. This will be just the third time in 12 years that the Galaxy open the season on the road, with the club going 0-1-1 in the previous two contests. All-time, the Galaxy are 6-3-2 in their first road game of the season.
RANGERS ARE COMING: On Friday, the Galaxy announced that the club will play Scottish Premier League giants Rangers Football Club in a friendly on Wednesday, May 23 at The Home Depot Center. This match, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m., will give Galaxy fans the chance to see the likes of Barry Ferguson, Dado Prso, Kris Boyd and the rest of the 51-time Scottish champions. For tickets or more information on this game, please call 877-3GALAXY or visit www.lagalaxy.com.
LAGALAXY.COM NOW AVAILABLE IN SPANISH: The Galaxy's official website, www.lagalaxy.com is now available in Spanish. This new website, www.lagalaxy.com/espanol is the primary online hub of all Galaxy Spanish language news and information.
