CARSON, Calif. (Thursday, March 27, 2014) – The LA Galaxy II will host Sacramento Republic FC in USL PRO Week 2 at the StubHub Center Track and Field Stadium on Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. PT. The match will be shown live on lagalaxy.com with play-by-play commentary from LA Galaxy broadcast veteran Joe Tutino.
Saturday’s match will mark the first time that LA Galaxy II will play the Sacramento Republic FC, who will be kicking off their inaugural USL PRO season on the road against LA. The two clubs are scheduled to play each other four times during the USL PRO regular season. The LA Galaxy II’s 2014 USL PRO schedule can be found here.
LA Galaxy II defeated the Orange County Blues in their inaugural match at the StubHub Center Track and Field Stadium as midfielder and USL PRO Player of the Week award winner Kenney Walker scored a goal and recorded an assist to propel the team to a 3-1 victory over the Blues. Galaxy II forward Charlie Rugg and defender Daniel Steres also found the back of the net in the team’s inaugural victor. Both players joined Walker on the USL PRO Team of the Week for Week 1 of the 2014 season.
Sacramento, which has been busy fine-tuning its roster over the last several weeks, features a number of familiar faces. Among them is forward Justin Braun, formerly of Chivas USA. There is also goalkeeper Jake Gleeson, who is on loan from the Portland Timbers.
Perhaps the one member of the team certain to stir fond memories in these parts is Sacramento coach Pedrag Radosavljevic, otherwise known as Preki. The U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame member was Major League Soccer Coach of the Year in 2007, when he coached Chivas USA to first place in the Western Conference, and figures to bring his combative playing style to Sacramento, which just broke ground on an 8,000-seat, $3 million stadium that will be constructed at Cal Expo inside the state fairgrounds.
The Galaxy II Head Coach Curt Onalfo can expect a physical, hard-nosed opponent.
“Preki’s a really good coach,” Onalfo said. “They’re going to be well-organized and they’re going to look to play.
“I think it’s going to certainly be a tough challenge.”
Galaxy II forward Charlie Rugg said he expects Sacramento to offer quality competition.
“From what I hear, they’re going to be a good team, a lot better than what we’ve seen so far,” Rugg said. “I think we’re all aware of that and prepared.
“We’re going to play our game and try not to be too concerned with them. I think if we focus on our game we’ll be OK.”
Onalfo said he was generally pleased with his team in its debut last weekend. Now it’s just a matter of moving it ahead.
“From a performance standpoint I was pleased with a lot of aspects with how we played,” he said. “Getting that first game under our belt was important.
“We wanted to win, but it’s still all about moving these guys forward and progressing them in their careers. We’ve had a good week of training and it’s only going to get better.
“We know we’re going to have a very difficult opponent in Sacramento on Saturday, and it’s just a matter of getting the guys acclimated and ready for a tough challenge.”
Tune in to watch all the action live on lagalaxy.com and youtube.com/lagalaxy.
Throughout the 2014 USL PRO season, live games and on-demand content will be available for free on each team’s YouTube channel, with archived games available shortly after each game’s completion.
LA Galaxy II Season Ticket Memberships begin at just $6 per game. For more information on LA Galaxy, LA Galaxy II memberships, or group and single tickets, visit www.lagalaxy.com or call 877-3GALAXY (342-5299).
