MONTREAL – Brian Rowe had one thought on his mind after his miscue led to the LA Galaxy’s 3-2 defeat to the Montreal Impact.
It’s time to move on.
The typically reliable Rowe made an uncharacteristic mistake in the dying moments of the Galaxy’s defeat at Stade Saputo when a Didier Drogba free kick spilled through the goalkeeper’s hands and into the back of the net. Immediately consoled by teammates after the final whistle, Rowe took full responsibility for the error after the game.
“I knew his capabilities for free kicks. I knew that he was just going to try to make it knuckle and put something on frame,” Rowe said. “Trying to track it, I just lost it for a sec as it moved a little much. I just wanted to try to get as much as I could behind it and clear it out.”
Drogba’s goal was a rare mistake on the night for Rowe, who put in a strong performance, making four saves on the evening.
“It’s definitely a frustrating one,” Rowe admitted. “As a goalie, you don’t want to have that type of influence on a game one way or the other. You just want to do your job and not get any of the credit, either bad or good.
“It’s definitely a difficult one to swallow.”
Despite the game’s unfortunate ending, Rowe’s teammates were quick to offer their backing to the goalkeeper.
“We just show him support and try to help him. It’s unique because Brian doesn’t make many mistakes,” Galaxy captain Steven Gerrard said. “I’m surprised, but as I told him in the dressing room, I showed him support. We make mistakes, but we win, lose and draw together. We move on.”
With the Galaxy on a quick turnaround with a match against Sporting Kansas City next Thursday, the ‘keeper pledged to put Saturday behind him as he turns his focus to the future.
“You just move on from it. It’s one of those things that happens in sports. It sucks when you’re on the end of it,” Rowe said. “Definitely, it’s one of those where you give yourself the night to think about it and beat yourself up on it, but when we get back to LA and prepare for next week, you just have to forget about it and move on.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atLAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
