Lalas Saves His Best For Last
Never say that Alexi Lalas lacks a flair for the dramatic.
Less than two weeks after propelling the Galaxy into the U.S. Open Cup finals with a golden goal and then celebrating the score with a run up an ivy-covered hill, Lalas put in another game-winner in overtime.
This time, the defender’s goal gave the Galaxy a 3-2 sudden death victory Saturday over the last-place Colorado Rapids in front of 17,379.
After the ball hit the net just as the overtime clock struck 10 minutes (another second and the game would have ended as a draw), Lalas sprinted from the field, went behind the Galaxy bench and into the Rose Bowl stands to celebrate with adoring fans.
“Obviously, it was a neat way to end the game,” said Lalas, starting in place of Greg Vanney, who, along with forward Cobi Jones, was in Washington, D.C. with the U.S. national team.
“And to be able to celebrate it with the fans makes it even better. We could have played a whole lot better but we’ll take the three points [that come with the win]. Sometimes you’ve got to find ways to win when things aren’t going so great.”
With the victory, the Galaxy (13-7-5, 44 points) remained one point behind the first-place San Jose Earthquakes (13-6-6, 45 points) in Major League Soccer’s Western Division. With three regular-season games remaining, the Galaxy also solidified its hold on the No. 4 seed, which would give the Galaxy home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Lalas’ game-winner came off a kick from the right corner by Luis Hernandez. Lalas charged the middle of the box and converted past Colorado goalkeeper Scott Garlick.
“That ending, what can you say?” mused Galaxy assistant coach Ralph Perez, acting as Galaxy Coach while Sigi Schmid had to sit out after receiving a red card in the Galaxy’s previous game.
Marvin Quijano, starting in Jones’ absence, found Mauricio Cienfuegos on the right side and hit him with a left-footed cross pass. Cienfuegos needed all of his 5 feet 6 inches to leap and head the ball into the net in the 11th minute.
Colorado tied it in the 28th minute, however, when Rapid forward Paul Bravo blasted a shot past Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
The Galaxy broke a 1-1 tie in the 69th minute.
After a long pass into the middle of the box from Cienfuegos, Ezra Hendrickon headed the ball to the right side to Lalas, who set up Danny Califf’s header into the net. But the Galaxy defense collapsed again in the 85th minute when Bravo scored his second goal, setting the stage for Lalas.
In other MLS games:
Chicago 1, New York-New Jersey 0--Dema Kovalenko scored in the final seconds and the undermanned Fire (16-6-4) won the Central Division title by defeating the MetroStars before 15,102 at East Rutherford, N.J. The MetroStars’ loss also allowed Miami to wrap up the Eastern Division title.
D.C. United 5, Tampa Bay 1--Abdul Thompson Conteh scored two goals and Jose Alegria got his first MLS goal in a victory before 54,282 at Washington.
San Jose 3, Kansas City 0--Ronald Cerritos scored two second-half goals for the first-place Earthquakes before 6,927 at San Jose.
Columbus 4, New England 1--Jeff Cunningham scored twice and added an assist as the Crew (12-7-6) eliminated the Revolution (7-13-6) from playoff contention before 24,033 at Columbus, Ohio.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
