The LA Galaxy Under-18’s were unable to overcome a pair of early defensive breakdowns on Tuesday as they lost 2-0 to the Dallas Texans in their second game of the Development Academy Playoffs.
Dallas scored a pair of first half goals with strikes from Broady Hickey off a penalty and Christian Soldat, who exploited a Galaxy breakdown in defense to beat LA goalkeeper Daniil Slepukhin. Following the Texans early first half goals, the Galaxy controlled the run of play throughout the second half, but were unable to cut the lead to one.
“We were a little bit unlucky not to finish the chances that we created for ourselves. We put ourselves in a tough spot in the first half. In the second half, you’re playing catch up and Dallas Texans, to their credit, were really disciplined and got the job done,” Yi told LAGalaxy.com. “But having said that, we created a lot of great scoring opportunities at the end and they just didn’t find the net.”
At the outset of the second half, Yi inserted forward Steve Martinez into the game in order to add another scoring threat to his attack. The Galaxy dominated possession in the second half and peppered the Texans net, but could not find the back of the net. Early in the second half, Raul Mendiola fired a shot that rattled the crossbar, and several other chances went begging.
Although LA were unable to get on the scoreboard, Yi has already flipped the page to the New England Revolution match on Thursday.
“I get the feeling from these guys that I don’t have to say much. They know what they have to do. I strongly believe that we should have gotten something out of this game with the amount of possession and clear chances that we created for ourselves in the second half,” Yi said. “No one likes to lose, but you have different reactions to a loss and I’m pretty upbeat going into (the) New England (game). The effort that these guys put in besides two plays was outstanding.”
READ: LA Galaxy U-18’s overcame adversity to reach U.S. Soccer playoffs
Heading into the final match day, Group 8 remains wide open as the Texans lead the way with four points, the Galaxy are in second with three, New England Revolution with two, and San Jose Earthquakes with one.
The Galaxy can assure a place in Finals Week with a victory over New England and a Texans loss or tie to the Earthquakes on Thursday. If Dallas defeats San Jose then they will qualify for Finals Week regardless of the Galaxy result.
Although LA need some help to lock down a spot in Finals Week, Yi remains focused on the task at hand and that’s beating the Revolution.
“We can’t dwell on the ‘what if’s,’” Yi said. “Looking ahead, who really cares what San Jose does because if they do win and we don’t get the result that we need then it doesn’t matter. We just have to concentrate on ourselves, the boys will do that and maybe I’ll do a little praying on the side.”
LA Galaxy U-18’s 0, Dallas Texans U-18’s 2
Tuesday, June 24, 2013
FC Dallas Park – Field #11 – Frisco, Texas.
Scoring Summary:
DAL – Broady Hickey 17’
DAL – Christian Soldat 24‘
Misconduct Summary:
Raul Mendiola (Yellow Card)
Steve Martinez (Yellow Card)
Lineups
LA Galaxy: Daniil Slepukhin; Manny Padilla (Aaron Lombardi 75’), Vincent Reyes, (Bryan Guzman 46’), Ivan Vasquez, Juan Reyna; Jamie Villarreal (Hugo Gutierrez 65’), Willlie Raygoza, Brian Iloski (Steve Martinez 46’); Raul Mendiola, Justin Dhillon, Sebastian Velasquez.
Subs Not Used: Abraham Romero, Jorge Miranda, Lucas Da Silva
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
