Galaxy Offense Burns Bright
Sometimes, it’s not the goals that matter.
Sometimes, there’s a human element to the game that leaves a far more lasting imprint than the statistical one.
Such was the case Thursday night at the Rose Bowl, where the Galaxy swamped the hapless Dallas Burn, 6-1, in the first game of a best-of-three Major League Soccer playoff series.
The statistics will show that Danny Pena and Carlos Hermosillo scored twice, and that Welton and Maurico Cienfuegos also were among the goal getters.
But you would either have had to be there or had to look very closely at the game chart to spot the really telling moment.
It came with little more than 12 minutes to play, not long after Pena had headed in the Galaxy’s sixth goal off a pass from Martin Machon.
It came when Dan Calichman stepped back onto a soccer field for the first time in almost five months, for the first time since May 6, in fact, when his right leg was shattered by a hard tackle.
With the game safely in hand, Galaxy Coach Octavio Zambrano took Cienfuegos out and sent Calichman in. The Rose Bowl crowd of 10,047 stood to applaud the return of the team’s most inspirational defender.
Galaxy teammate Robin Fraser, smiling broadly, handed over the captain’s armband he has worn since May.
“It was a very symbolic gesture by the coach, and that’s awfully nice,” Calichman said. “Obviously I’m not back. I know I’m not back and they know I’m not back, but even though it’s symbolic, I’ve worked awfully hard just to try to get back on the field again.
“It was just absolutely wonderful. Honestly. There were tears in my eyes when I ran out there. It was just a great experience to be out there again and then Robin gives me the armband. We’re good friends, but again it was a very nice gesture. It’s something never to be forgotten.
“It’s nice to know I had a lot of fan backing throughout this whole thing. It’s nice that running out onto the field subbing Cien [Cienfuegos] I don’t get hissed and booed and have things thrown at me. It was just a wonderful night.”
For Calichman and the Galaxy, certainly, but not for Dallas.
Burn goalkeeper Mark Dodd was as helpless as a slow-flying bird on the first day of duck season. Abandoned by a defense that seemed to have no clue how to cope with Los Angeles’ speed and movement, Dodd was peppered by shots from all angles.
It was Welton, wearing a new pair of red boots, who tested him first with a ninth-minute shot from the left that Dodd did well to deflect over the bar with his outstretched left hand. But a bit of interplay between Machon and Cienfuegos off the resulting corner kick saw Machon cross the ball into the goal area for Pena to score his first goal of the season.
It knocked the air out of the Burn, which collapsed like a spent balloon.
Hermosillo made the score 2-0 in the 16th minute, scoring off a header by Steve Jolley after another pin-point cross by Machon. There was worse to come for Dallas.
Four minutes later, Cienfuegos broke through on the right, sprinting past U.S. national team defender Chad Deering, who was about as mobile as a statue. Dodd blocked Cienfuegos’ shot, only to see the ball rebound to the Galaxy midfielder, who made no mistake with his second effort.
Trailing by three goals with only 20 minutes played, Dallas could not stop the onslaught. Hermosillo scored his second goal of the night in the 32nd minute, Welton setting him up from close range.
The Mexican striker returned the favor nine minutes later, forcing Dodd into a foot-save, with the ball rolling free for Welton to bury in the back of an already bulging Dallas net.
The five goals scored by the Galaxy in the first 45 minutes set an MLS playoff record for goals in one half.
Still, Pena wasn’t satisfied.,
“I can enjoy this tonight when I get home,” he said after his first-ever two-goal game, “but when I wake up tomorrow I just have to realize that I’ve got to come to work and get prepared for Sunday.
“This is only going to last for a couple of hours. It’s only one step in what we’re trying to achieve, and that’s win the MLS championship.”
Game 2, whether the Burn likes it or not, is Sunday at the Cotton Bowl.
