Galaxy Advances in U.S. Cup
The Galaxy made hard work of it Wednesday night but managed to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup with a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over the Seattle Sounders Select.
Seattle, a third-division team from the Premier Development League, was well-organized and played the Galaxy on even terms for the first hour before 2,450 at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium.
It was the amateur team that took the lead in the 58th minute. After a cross from Zach Kingsley, Sy Reeves scored from close range.
The Galaxy response was prompt, and goals by defenders Craig Waibel and Alexi Lalas 90 seconds apart put Los Angeles ahead to stay.
The first, in the 61st minute, came when Ezra Hendrickson headed Greg Vanney’s corner kick into a Seattle defender. The ball rebounded to Waibel, who cracked a shot that crossed the line.
In the 63rd minute, a Lalas header bounced over the line between two defenders.
The third Galaxy goal was by Isaias Bardales Jr., who broke through the defense and fired a low shot beneath goalkeeper Carlos Castellanos.
“A lot of these kids have played together for a lot of years now,” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said of the Seattle team. “A lot of them are from the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific and they’ve played together as a university team, a state team and as a PDL team.
“For them, there was a little extra incentive against us because quite a few of them have trained with us over the summer.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see four or five of these kids eventually play in MLS.”
The Galaxy, losing semifinalist to the Cup-winning Chicago Fire last season, will play the San Jose Earthquakes in the quarterfinals on July 24 at a site to be determined. The Earthquakes were tied, 0-0, by the Milwaukee Rampage of the A-League in Milwaukee but advanced on penalty kicks, 7-6.
Colombians got what they wanted--a peaceful opening of Copa America, capped by a victory by the host country. There were no problems as Colombia defeated Venezuela, 2-0, and Chile downed Ecuador, 4-1. . . . Tony DiCicco, former U.S. women’s national team coach and now chief operating officer of the Women’s United Soccer Assn., announced Wednesday that the league’s inaugural championship game will be played Aug. 25 at Foxboro Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., and will be televised on TNT.
