All good things must come to an end. On Saturday night, the Los Angeles Galaxy's hopes of making the 2006 MLS Cup Playoffs -- though slim -- came to an end with a 2-1 loss to Western Conference-leading FC Dallas.
The Galaxy, the reigning MLS Cup champions, surrendered goals to FCD's Carlos Ruiz in the 30th and Kenny Cooper in the 47th minutes before Landon Donovan cut their lead to one with a tally of his own in the 71st minute.
In the end, it wasn't enough and the Galaxy were forced to consider what might have been and begin thinking about next year.
"We're obviously disappointed since we're not in the playoffs," said Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop. "In the overall season, we weren't good enough to make it because we didn't get enough points. We're disappointed. The effort was there but our defensive play was poor again. We had a few chances to score. Overall, it felt like a reflection of our season. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good enough."
Ruiz's goal in the 30th minute came courtesy of a set piece. FCD midfielder Richard Mulrooney sent a high, arcing ball to the far post and Ruiz, who played for L.A. from 2002 until 2004, headed it past Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman to make it 1-0.
The Galaxy had a few good chances in the first half, but truly laid siege to the Dallas goal over the final half hour. In the 60th minute, Herculez Gomez, who had entered the match just one minute previous as a second-half substitute, got a nice look at the FCD net, but goalkeeper Shaka Hislop was there for the save.
Donovan's goal, his team-leading 10th of the season, was truly a thing of beauty. The U.S. men's national team veteran got a ball from another U.S. international in Chris Albright, trapped it and then beat Hislop far post.
L.A.'s goal seemed to spark them as they had two great chances in the next few minutes. In the 75th, Galaxy midfielder Peter Vagenas had a chance for the equalizer, but his effort sailed over the FCD crossbar. Then, in the 76th, Gomez had another chance at his fifth goal of the season but his shot went to the left of the FCD goal.
"It's disappointing. We didn't start the game well. We needed to play better, to want it more," Donovan said. "We didn't start the game good and we didn't start the second half good either. So, two goals on two errors and that was the difference."
In the end, the Galaxy put up a valiant effort but fell, eliminating them from playoff contention. It was the first time in their 11-year history that they had failed to make the playoffs. They also became just the second defending MLS Cup champion to fail to qualify for the postseason, after D.C. United in 2000.
"We knew we had 45 minutes left to salvage our season and keep our (playoff) hopes alive," said defender Ante Jazic. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to get it done. Dallas played well and scored goals in crucial moments in the game and we weren't able to respond."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
