Sacramento, CA (September 26, 2015) – The following is a press release from LA Galaxy II of the USL.
LA Galaxy II advanced after earning a 1-0 road victory in a USL Western Conference Quarterfinal match over defending USL champions Sacramento Republic FC on the road Saturday night at Bonney Field. With the win, Los Dos advance to the conference semifinals for a match against Orange County Blues FC on Saturday, Oct. 3 at Nathan Shapell Memorial Stadium in the Western Conference Semifinals, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. PT.
“Tonight we showed our character and team unity,” said LA Galaxy II Head Coach Curt Onalfo. “As a group we did everything we could to defend the lead and I was proud of how the group responded under tremendous pressure. We also had some great individual performances. Diop was spectacular in goal and Olivera took an excellent penalty kick, just to mention two.”
Midfielder Bryan Olivera provided the game-winning goal for Galaxy II on a first-half penalty kick with a shutout led by goalkeeper Clement Diop and a backline of Oscar Sorto, Daniel Steres, Bradley Diallo and Joe Franco. Diop put in a dominant performance in goal for Los Dos, recording four saves during the match.
LA Galaxy II earn the victory at Bonney Field after falling against Sacramento Republic last year in the Western Conference Semifinal by a score of 3-2. Los Dos have now won in two-straight matches against their Northern California rivals at Bonney Field, also recording a dominant 4-0 win behind goals from Jack McBean, Ariel Lassiter, Jaime Villarreal and Andre Auras during the 2015 USL Regular Season.
Midfielder Bryan Olivera scored the game’s only goal early in the first half from a penalty kick. Forward Jack McBean was pulled down inside Sacramento’s 18 by a Republic FC defender when the referee blew the whistle to award the visitors with a penalty. Olivera, a Uruguayan midfielder on loan from Brazil’s Fluminense, stepped up to the spot and buried it to give Los Dos the lead on what was the game-winning goal.
Following the goal, the Galaxy defense stood firm for the entire match to keep the shutout as the hosts increased pressure on offense. French goalkeeper Clement Diop put in a man-of-the-match performance behind four saves and numerous acrobatic plays to break up a Sacramento attack that pressed for the equalizer.
Diop’s best saves came in the dying moments of the game, when he kept out two dangerous headers from Sacramento’s Cameron Iwasa and Justin Braun to give Galaxy II the road win.
The Galaxy entered the away fixture with a USL-best away record and improved to 9-6-0 this season on the road in all USL competition.
Curt Onalfo’s side finished the USL Regular Season in fifth place in Western Conference standings with a 14-11-3 record to qualify for the USL Playoffs for the second-straight year. During the regular season, the team was led in goals by Ariel Lassiter with 11 on the season, with fellow forward Jack McBean adding an additional six goals and five assists this year.
The complete LA Galaxy II 2015 schedule can be found here. For more information, visit www.lagalaxy.com/2.
