SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy left Avaya Stadium with a "bad taste" in their mouth on Friday but they've got no plans to allow the defeat to start an Autumn fall in the standings.
The Galaxy's five game winning streak came to a screeching halt thanks to two pivotal plays in each half of their 1-0 defeat to the San Jose Earthquakes.
First, the Galaxy conceded an early goal to Shea Salinas after a defensive breakdown down the right side put San Jose in perfect position to pull ahead then the match was truly changed just two minutes into the second half when Leonardo was sent off for a questionable red card on an apparent foul on Quincy Amarikwa. Forced to play down with a man, the Galaxy tried to find their equalizer but were ultimately unsuccessful.
After the defeat, Ricketts admitted that the Galaxy were "out-hustled on every play" by a hungrier Earthquakes squad.
"I think we were a little bit sloppy because we didn't deal with the first ball and the follow up he was free also, so I think we fell asleep on that play," Ricketts said of the Earthquakes' early goal. "As the goalie I have to see things before they happens and I have to communicate better with the back four and we have to do a better job on the training field and work hard to fix our mistakes."
The Galaxy will have two weeks to stew over the events in San Jose, and according to the Jamaican goalkeeper, they'll be back to full strength when they host the Montreal Impact on Sept. 12.
"You get these things out of your system pretty quickly," Ricketts said. "It happens in the game of soccer. You win some, you lose some obviously we don’t want to lose but we just write this off and move on."
