Zodiac Comes Back to Tie Galaxy in Exhibition Debut
If Saturday night was any indication, the Zodiac and its fans are in for an exciting season. In front of a crowd of 4,359 at Santa Ana Stadium, Orange County’s newest professional soccer team played to a 1-1 tie with the Galaxy in its debut exhibition game.
The Zodiac, the A-League affiliate of the Major League Soccer Galaxy, fell behind, 1-0, in the first half, then tied it in the 90th minute on a goal by Gustavo Leal. Former Galaxy player Jose Vasquez, who played at Santa Ana High and Orange Coast College, assisted on Leal’s goal.
The Galaxy was playing without two of its top players, goalkeeper Jorge Campos, who is in Mexico, and Cobi Jones, who is with the U.S. national team. But the Galaxy had enough of its front-line players to give the Zodiac a reason to believe it will have a competitive team in the United System of Independent Soccer Leagues (USISL).
John O’Brien, another former Galaxy player, said his former teammates might not have been giving it their all but they played hard enough to make things interesting.
“These guys are competitive,” O’Brien said. “They don’t like to lose. Sometimes, the feistiness comes out.”
According to Galaxy Coach Lothar Osiander, however, there wasn’t enough feistiness from his players.
“We got a little embarrassed,” Osiander said. “That will help us next time around. We saw the weaknesses we have.”
Vasquez said he was surprised his new team played the Galaxy, the MLS Western Conference champions, so tough.
“We’ve been together a couple weeks,” he said. “They’ve been together a whole year. We’re just trying to make this fun for the fans.”
The fans had fun late in the game. A ball was kicked up into the stands and for five minutes, it stayed there. Finally, the ball came flying out of the stands and the game resumed.
“People around here are not as accustomed to seeing soccer as they are in Los Angeles and Pasadena,” Vasquez said. “I’m just glad to see soccer arrive in Santa Ana. I think if there had been more notice, we could have filled both sides. Hopefully, they’ll keep coming out.”
The Zodiac begins its home regular season April 20 against the El Paso Patriots.
