Galaxy Advance to Second Straight Western Conference Championship with 2-1 Win

LA Galaxy 2, Seattle Sounders FC 1
Western Conference Semifinal Series – Game Two
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.

Galaxy Win Series 3-1 on Aggregate

Scoring Summary:
LA – Edson Buddle 2 (David Beckham 1) 19’
LA – Omar Gonzalez 1 (David Beckham 2) 27’
SEA – Steve Zakuani 1 (Nate Jaqua 1) 86’

Misconduct Summary:
LA – David Beckham (Yellow Card) 8’
SEA – Patrick Ianni (Yellow Card) 65’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts; Sean Franklin, A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Eddie Lewis; Dema Kovalenko (Chris Birchall 74’), Juninho, David Beckham, Landon Donovan©; Mike Magee (Todd Dunivant 80’), Edson Buddle (Tristan Bowen 71’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Gregg Berhalter, Alex Cazumba, Jovan Kirovski.

Seattle Sounders FC: Kasey Keller©; James Riley, Tyrone Marshall, Patrick Ianni (Nate Jaqua 77’), Leo Gonzalez; Osvaldo Alonso, Nathan Sturgis (Michael Fucito 64’), Sanna Nyassi (Alvaro Fernandez 46’), Steve Zakuani; Fredy Montero, Blaise Nkufo.

Subs Not Used: Terry Boss, Taylor Graham, Tyson Wahl, Roger Levesque.

Notes:
• With the win, the Galaxy advance to the Western Conference Championship where they will host FC Dallas. FC Dallas advanced past Real Salt Lake in their Western Conference Semifinal Series, winning 3-2 on aggregate.
• This is the second straight season that the Galaxy have advance to the Western Conference Championship and the tenth time in club history that they have reached this round of the postseason. Of the first nine trips to this round of the postseason, the Galaxy have advanced to MLS Cup a record six times.
• Under the current playoff format, which began in 2003, the Galaxy have reached the Western Conference Championship all four times that they made the postseason, advancing to MLS Cup in 2005 and 2009 while losing the Conference Championship at Kansas City in 2004.
• Since MLS adopted the current playoff format in 2003, the Galaxy are now 3-1-1 all-time in the second leg of their Western Conference Semifinal Series. In the previous five trips to this round of the playoffs, they have now advanced to the Conference Championship four times.
• The Galaxy finish the year 4-1-0 against the Sounders in all competitions this season, winning both regular season games as well as both games of the Western Conference Semifinal Series, while losing in the Quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup.
• Bruce Arena named an unchanged starting XI on the evening, using the same 11 starters that played in the first leg against Seattle. The only change in the 18-man squad was the return of Todd Dunivant, who missed the first leg with a right hamstring strain. He replaced Chris Klein on the bench.
• While Dunivant returned, the Galaxy were without Leonardo, who did not train this week because of left knee pain.
• LA was also without Yohance Marshall, who on international duty with Trinidad & Tobago, where he played in two of their three Group F games, helping them finish a top their group and earn a spot in the tournament’ final group stage at the end of the month in Martinique.
• Edson Buddle gave the Galaxy in the 19th minute with his second goal of the playoffs. He is now tied with San Jose’ Bobby Convey as the top scorer in the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs.
• Buddle has scored the opening goal in each of the Galaxy’s two playoff games this year. Buddle scored LA’s first goal 12 times this season, giving them a 1-0 lead on 11 of those occasions. The Galaxy were 10-1-0 in those 11 games.
• David Beckham assisted on the goal, sending a corner from the right wing into the box for Buddle, who beat Tyrone Marshall to the header. This was Beckham’s first assist of the postseason and the second of his MLS Cup Playoff career.
• Beckham then assisted on the Galaxy’s second goal eight minutes later, sending a freekick into the box for Omar Gonzalez to head home.
• This was the first postseason goal of Gonzalez’s postseason career.
• Buddle was replaced by Tristan Bowen in the 71st minute. This was Bowen’s postseason debut.
• David Beckham was booked for the Galaxy, but Juninho, Jovan Kirovski and Dema Kovalenko were not, meaning that all are eligible for selection in the Western Conference Championship against FC Dallas.
• Steve Zakuani’s goal in the 86th minute was the first postseason goal in Seattle history.
• Before that goal, Donovan Ricketts had allowed just one goal in his last 492 minutes of postseason play.
• Ricketts made three saves in the game and improved his postseason record to 4-0-1.
• The Galaxy have now allowed a goal in 11 consecutive MLS games at home, last keeping a clean sheet on May 15 against Toronto FC.
• The Galaxy are now 22-3-0 all-time in the postseason when scoring two or more goals, with one of those losses coming via the shootout.
• The Galaxy are now 20-2-1 all-time at home in the postseason.
• Including the regular season, the Galaxy are now 10-4-2 at home this season.
• The attendance for today’s game was a sellout crowd of 27,000.
• The Galaxy will host the Western Conference Championship against FC Dallas on Sunday, November 14 at The Home Depot Center. That game kicks off at 6 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
• For more about today’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.