CARSON, Calif. - With their 1-0 win over Chicago on Friday night and Chivas USA's 2-0 win at D.C. United on Saturday, the LA Galaxy have clinched a spot in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs. The Galaxy join the Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo as the only three teams to have sealed their spot in the postseason heading into the final three weeks of the season. For the Galaxy, it is their 11th trip to the postseason in 14 years but their first since winning the 2005 MLS Cup.
The Galaxy are not in action this week but will hold four training sessions in advance of their all-important showdown with the Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium on Sunday, October 18. The Galaxy and Dynamo are tied at the top of the Western Conference standings with 44 points each heading into their final two games of the season. A Galaxy win in that game would eliminate the Dynamo from contention for the regular season Western Conference championship.
That game will be shown live in English on FS West and in Spanish on Telefutura, starting at 12 p.m.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Friday, October 2
LA Galaxy 1 - Chicago Fire 0 - The Home Depot Center - Attendance: 20,966
Saturday, October 3
LA Galaxy U-16's 1 - Washington Premier FC U-16's 3 - WPFC Field Complex
LA Galaxy U-18's 4 - Washington Premier FC U-18's 1 - WPFC Field Complex
Sunday, October 4
LA Galaxy U-16's 0 - Crossfire Premier U-16's 5 - 60 Acres
LA Galaxy U-18's 0 - Crossfire Premier U-18's 2 - 60 Acres
INJURY REPORT OUT - Alecko Eskandarian (Head - Disabled List), Julian Valentin (Right Foot - Disabled List) DOUBTFUL - None QUESTIONABLE - Dema Kovalenko (Right Achilles - Tendonitis), Stefani Miglioranzi (Left Groin - Strain) PROBABLE - None
TEAM NOTES
DONOVAN NAMED MLS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the first time this season, Galaxy captain Landon Donovan has been named the MLS Player of the Week. Donovan scored his 11th goal of the season on Friday night against Chicago, collecting a long pass from Chris Klein and lobbing the ball over Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch for the game's only goal. That goal was Donovan's first for the club since August 19, breaking a stretch of five straight games without a goal.
This is the 10th time in his MLS career that Donovan has been named the league's Player of the Week, joining Jeff Cunningham as the only two players in league history to win the award 10 or more times.
GAME-WINNER UP FOR GOAL OF THE WEEK: Landon Donovan's first half goal against the Fire has been nominated for the MLS Goal of the Week award. Donovan is the only Galaxy player to win the award so far this season, taking it for his goal at New England on August 8. Fans wishing to watch Donovan's goal and to vote for the Goal of the Week can click here.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE: Donovan Ricketts made four saves on Friday night to help the Galaxy earn a 1-0 win over the Fire. That was the Galaxy's sixth 1-0 win of the season, with all six of them coming at The Home Depot Center. Additionally, the shutout was the Galaxy's 10th of the season, leaving the club just one clean sheet away from tying the club record of 11 shutouts in a season, a mark that was set in the 1999 campaign.
Ricketts is now sixth in MLS with a 1.12 goals against average, while his nine wins and seven clean sheets are each tied for the fifth most in the league. If the Galaxy's 6-3 loss to FC Dallas was removed from Ricketts' statistics, his goals against average would be 0.22 goals a game lower, leaving him in third place in MLS with a 0.90 GAA and on pace to set the Galaxy single season record for lowest GAA. In 1999, Kevin Hartman recorded a 0.91 GAA, the lowest figure in club history and the second lowest in MLS history. If Ricketts can keep a clean sheet in each of the final two games of the season, he will finish with a 1.03 GAA, which would be the third-lowest GAA in LA history.
FINISHED WITH THE EAST: Friday night's 1-0 win over Chicago was the Galaxy's 14th and final regular season game of the year against the Eastern Conference. With the win, the Galaxy finished the season with an 8-1-5 record against the East, including a 4-0-3 mark at home. LA outscored Eastern Conference opponents 19-10 this season, with Landon Donovan scoring eight of those 19 goals. Additionally, Donovan Ricketts and Josh Saunders combined to keep six clean sheets against the Eastern Conference, and only allowed multiple goals in two of those games.
TWO AWAY ON INTERNATIONAL DUTY: Following Friday night's win over the Fire, David Beckham and Landon Donovan joined up with their respective national teams ahead of this weekend's World Cup qualifiers. Beckham and the English National Team have already qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and will look to close out a perfect qualifying campaign with a pair of wins at Ukraine on Saturday and at home against Belarus on the following Wednesday.
Donovan and the U.S. currently sit in first place in CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying with a game at Honduras on Saturday before closing out the campaign against Costa Rica at RFK Stadium on the following Wednesday. A win in either of those games will see the U.S. clinch a trip to South Africa and their sixth consecutive FIFA World Cup.
Both players are expected to return to Los Angeles on Thursday before rejoining the Galaxy at training on Friday ahead of Sunday afternoon's game against the Dynamo in Houston.
IN THE COMMUNITY
GALAXY PLAYERS IN THE COMMUNITY THIS WEEK: Leonard Griffin and Stefani Miglioranzi will each make separate community appearances this week as the Galaxy continue to be an active member of the Southern California community. On Tuesday, Griffin will be a guest of the Chino Hills AYSO at their team practices in the Chino Hills Community Park. Griffin will be at the practice from 6-7:30 p.m., with the defender meeting with all of the young players and running through some drills with the kids while also signing autographs, taking pictures and answering questions from the participants.
Then, on Friday evening, Galaxy fans will have the opportunity to meet Stefani Miglioranzi at the La Curacao store on Van Nuys Blvd. in Panorama City. Miglioranzi will be there from 4:30-6 p.m., signing autographs and taking pictures with the customers.
YOUTH ACADEMY
DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY SEASON OPENS THIS WEEKEND: The LA Galaxy U-16 and U-18 teams opened the 2009-10 U.S. Soccer Development Academy season in Washington last weekend with a pair of games. The U-18's went 1-1-0 in their two matches, while the U-16's dropped both matches to begin the season 0-2-0.
The season began for both teams on Saturday; with the U-16's suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Washington Premier FC and the U-18's beating the same club 4-1. The two teams each lost a day later against Crossfire Premier, with the U-16's losing 5-0 and the U-18's falling 2-0.
Both teams are off this weekend before returning to action in two weeks time when they play their first two home games of the season, taking on Santa Cruz County Breakers at 1 and 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, October 17 and then taking on Mustang SC at the same times on the following day, with all games being played on Field #7 at The Home Depot Center.
NEED TO KNOW
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 en español. The best place to get that information is on Puro Galaxy, the network's weekly, hour-long show that airs every Saturday from noon-1 p.m.
Galaxy color analyst Armando Aguayo and Galaxy sideline reporter Mario Amaya are joined on a weekly basis by the players, coaches and a series of special guests that allow the fan to get excited for match day. So tune in each and every week and stay up to date with everything that is going on in the Galaxy.
Fans can also listen to free podcasts of previous episodes at www.LAGalaxyFutbol.com.
LOOKING FOR MORE UPDATES?: If you are looking for continuous updates from the Galaxy all week long, be sure to visit the club's official websites www.lagalaxy.com and www.lagalaxyfutbol.com, or the club's official blog at www.thelagalaxy.blogspot.com for all the latest news from the club.
