Despite Being Short-Handed, Galaxy Romps Over San Jose
Bad back, bad knee, bad luck?
Not for the Galaxy.
Sigi Schmid has lost both his starting forwards, Clint Mathis and Carlos Hermosillo, to injury, but the Galaxy coach continues to find ways to win.
He did it again Saturday night as the Galaxy rolled over the San Jose Clash, 4-1, in front of 15,648 chilled fans at Spartan Stadium.
Improvisation is the name of Schmid’s game these days as he shuffles his starting lineup twice a week while keeping the Galaxy in the running the Major League Soccer championship.
Saturday’s absentees were his two main offensive weapons. Mathis had knee surgery Friday to repair a torn ligament and will be sidelined for at least three weeks. Hermosillo’s back strain flared up and he didn’t make the trip. His status is day to day.
So Schmid improvised.
He listed Cobi Jones as his only striker, but then played midfielder Roy Myers and defender Zak Ibsen in forward roles.
So what happened? The “defender” scored a stunning opening goal and the “midfielder” cleared the ball off the goal line to prevent a Clash goal.
And in the second half, the floodgates opened as the Galaxy (13-8) scored three goals in an eight-minute span, rediscovering its Showtime style of last year.
But first Ibsen’s goal.
It came in the 14th minute, the result of yet another UCLA connection. Former Bruin Paul Caligiuri sent a high ball from midfield over the heads of the San Jose defenders and Ibsen, also a Westwood product, ran beneath it and headed it over San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon, who was off his line and barely got his fingertips on the ball.
In the final minute of the half, the Clash came close to tying the score, but a header by John Doyle was cleared off the Galaxy goal line by Myers.
In the second half, the Galaxy dominated.
* In the 74th minute, Danny Pena lofted another ball over the Clash defense and this time it was Jones who ran onto it, drew Cannon out and then steered the ball into the empty net.
* In the 79th minute, Mauricio Cienfuegos completed a remarkable sequence with a flying header to make the score 3-0. Jones again got loose, lured Cannon out to the edge of the penalty area and then passed to Ibsen.
Ibsen floated a cross that looked about to be going over the end line when Galaxy midfielder Simon Elliott stuck out a leg and redirected the ball into the path of the flying Cienfuegos.
* In the 82nd minuted, Cienfuegos passed the ball wide to Elliott on the right flank, the New Zealander crossed it into the center and Seth George fired it past Cannon.
That made the score 4-0.
The Clash (11-10) ended Kevin Hartman’s shutout bid when Brandon Cloutier scored form close range in the 84th minute after cutting inside Robin Fraser, who, like Jones, was in his first game back after playing in the Confederations Cup in Mexico.
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