SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014) – LA Galaxy II fell to Sacramento Republic FC on the road at Bonney Field Saturday night in the USL PRO Semifinal game as two first-half goals from Charlie Rugg were answered with a hat trick from Sacramento’s Rodrigo Lopez. With the loss, Los Dos were eliminated from the 2014 USL PRO Playoffs.
LA Galaxy II took the lead in the 24th minute on a header from forward Charlie Rugg. One week after scoring the game winner in the USL PRO quarterfinal match, Rugg gave Los Dos the opening lead in Sacramento. Captain Dragan Stojkov found space on the right side before whipping in a cross that Rugg redirected into the far post.
Rugg doubled the score minutes before halftime, finishing a pass from LA Galaxy Homegrown Player Bradford Jamieson IV. Jamieson IV created room on the left side and passed to Rugg inside the box, who took a touch to lift the ball before tapping it into the net.
Rodrigo Lopez pulled one back for Sacramento in the second half off of a penalty kick. Ivan Mirkovik was judged to be fouled inside the box, and Lopez stepped up to the spot and slotted it into the left side of the net. Goalkeeper Brian Perk dove to get a hand on the ball, but it trickled into the net to bring Republic FC to within one.
Lopez leveled with just minutes left in the second half on another penalty kick. The referee blew the whistle after he judged the ball to come off the hand of Joe Franco inside the box, whose arms were tucked into his side. Lopez stepped up and shot it down the middle as Perk dove to his left.
Lopez then gave Republic FC the lead in stoppage time with a bending free-kick from just outside the box past an outstretched Brian Perk as LA Galaxy II’s season ended in Sacramento.
Led by head coach Curt Onalfo in their inaugural season, Los Dos finished in third place in the USL PRO Regular Season standings with a 15-7-6 record, good enough for 51 points. Forward Chandler Hoffman finished the year with a team-leading 13 goals for Galaxy II, the third most in USL PRO, and LA Galaxy Homegrown Player Raul Mendiola led in assists for Los Dos with eight.
Follow Los Dos through the LA Galaxy II Twitter account.
The complete LA Galaxy II’s 2014 USL PRO schedule can be found here.
