Galaxy’s Gomez Keeps Giving Dallas Trouble

After scoring the only goal in a victory over FC Dallas on Wednesday night that earned the Galaxy its second U.S. Open Cup title, Herculez Gomez was left with only one question: What to do for an encore?

The answer was not long in coming.

On Saturday night, with Dallas again the opponent, Gomez scored twice in the first half and the Galaxy went on to win, 2-1, at the Home Depot Center to move ahead of Dallas and into second place in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference.

The two goals brought Gomez’s tally to 11 for the season, tying him with Landon Donovan for the team lead and making him the joint third-leading scorer in MLS overall. Gomez also scored six times -- compared with twice for Donovan -- during the Galaxy’s run to the Open Cup title.

Not bad for a 23-year-old who began the season making the MLS minimum $16,500 a year as a developmental player compared with Donovan’s $900,000-plus as the league’s highest-paid player.

Gomez’s salary almost doubled when he was moved to the full roster after Jovan Kirovski was traded to Colorado last month, and it probably will jump considerably before next season if he and his agent have anything to say about it.

In the meantime, the goals keep coming.

“It’s a good feeling,” Gomez said. “I don’t care how I do it as long as the ball goes in the net. I don’t care if I tap it in with my stomach or if I bike it in from 50. It doesn’t matter to me.”

With Dallas playing without Carlos Ruiz and Eddie Johnson up top and Ronnie O’Brien in midfield -- all because of injuries -- the visitors were ripe for the plucking, and Gomez obliged early on.

A mere 11 minutes 21 seconds into the game, Ned Grabavoy, playing in place of Donovan, who was sidelined because of a left ankle sprain, sent a well-measured pass that put Gomez behind the Dallas defense.

Defender Clarence Goodson, closing fast, tried to bundle Gomez off the ball, but Gomez rode the challenge and then slammed the ball past goalkeeper Scott Garlick and into the net off the foot of the left post.

Dallas tied the score at 41:06 after a miscue by rookie defender Ugo Ihemelu. The ball was played into the Galaxy penalty area, and Ihemelu, in a tussle with striker Roberto Mina, stuck out a foot to try to poke the ball clear.

It traveled only a few yards and fell kindly for Dallas midfielder Aaron Pitchkolan, who hit a rising shot with power. Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman had no chance.

But Gomez replied before the half was over.

He intercepted a poor clearance attempt by defender David Wagenfuhr, headed the ball ahead for himself to run onto and then chipped the ball over the advancing Garlick and into the net from about 15 yards.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do until I get there,” Gomez said. “Honestly, there’s like a million things that come to your mind and you have a split second. It’s hard to describe it.”

Galaxy Coach Steve Sampson tried anyway.

“He’s now starting to make a name for himself,” Sampson said of Gomez. “He’s playing with an enormous amount of confidence. You could see that on the second goal. That second goal takes a lot of confidence and skill.”