For the second time in four days, the Colorado Rapids defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy and left the team out of U.S. Open Cup play for the second year in a row. In this edition of the Rapid’s victory, the Galaxy had to wait 120 minutes to feel the sting of defeat, losing 4-2 in penalties to the Rapids.

The Galaxy and Rapids both gave the majority of their starting XI the night off, with both teams fielding mostly bench players in their starting lineups. In the first half, the Rapids had multiple chances to go up ahead over the Galaxy, until Rapids midfielder Greg Dalby was shown a red card for a late tackle on Stefani Miglioranzi in the 36th minute.

Because of the Galaxy’s one-man advantage in the game, they were able to dominate the pace of the game. Overall, they outshot the Rapids 24-11, but were unable to capitalize on their advantage. Without Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle, the Galaxy’s offense was uninspired at best. The closest the Galaxy ever came to scoring was in the 71st minute, when Alan Gordon was called offsides after kicking in his own rebound. Bryan Jordan was able to keep the Rapids defense on their toes, but was ultimately unable to create any major scoring threats. Rapids keeper Preston Burpo was serviceable this match, and was able to stop all of the Galaxy’s attempts to score.

Gregg Berhalter, along with Galaxy youth academy graduate Tristan Bowen and Yohance Marshall, made his Galaxy debut and played for 74 minutes. He played decently and was able to stop some of the Rapids’ advances. However, he was nearly at fault twice for giving up goals. Marshall was booked for a yellow in the 63rd minute for a reckless tackle.

Despite being a man down for most of the match, the Rapids were able to keep the pressure on the Galaxy. The Galaxy defense, notorious for breakdowns and mental lapses, played better than usual, but were still burned more than a few times by the Rapids offense. However, the defense was saved not by Josh Saunders but the Rapids’ inability to finish their chances. In the 59’, Rapids striker Jacob Peterson had Saunders beat on the far side but his shot went wide to preserve the score at 0-0. Saunders had an average game between the posts, making a couple great saves and nearly botching some simple saves.

At the end of overtime, the score remained at 0-0 and the game went into penalty kicks. The Rapids easily downed the Galaxy in penalty kicks; Rapids keeper Preston Burpo was able to stop Chris Klein and Mike Magee, while Galaxy keeper Josh Saunders was unable to stop any of the Rapids strikes.

The Galaxy look ahead to the first installment of the Honda Superclasico this Saturday, taking on Chivas USA at home.

Match Facts

Colorado Rapids vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play-in game
April 7, 2009 — The Home Depot Center

Scoring Summary:
None

Penalty-kick shootout:
COL — Omar Cummings (Goal)
LA — Alan Gordon (Goal)
COL — Mehdi Ballouchy (Goal)
LA — Chris Klein (Saved)
COL — Colin Clark (Goal)
LA — Bryan Jordan (Goal)
COL — Ugo Ihemelu (Goal)
LA — Mike Magee (Saved)

Lineups:
Colorado Rapids — Preston Burpo, Kosuke Kimura (Ugo Ihemelu 75), Ty Harden, Scott Palguta, Ivan Guerrero, Colin Clark, Terry Cooke (Jordan Harvey 90), Greg Dalby, Nick LaBrocca (Mehdi Ballouchy 46), Jacob Peterson, Ross Schunk (Omar Cummings 63),

Substitutes Not Used: Steward Ceus, Michael Holody, Gregory Richardson

Los Angeles Galaxy — Josh Saunders, Omar Gonzalez (Josh Tudela 91), Gregg Berhalter (Mike Magee 74), Yohance Marshall, A.J. DeLaGarza, Sean Franklin, Jovan Kirovski, Stefani Miglioranzi, Kyle Patterson (Chris Klein 61), Tristan Bowen (Alan Gordon 61), Bryan Jordan,

Substitutes Not Used: Miguel Benitez, Todd Dunivant, Julian Valentin

Misconduct Summary:
COL — Greg Dalby (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 36
LA — Omar Gonzalez (caution; Reckless Tackle) 41
LA — Yohance Marshall (caution; Reckless Tackle) 63
LA — Mike Magee (caution; Dissent) 109

referee: Abiodun Okulaja
Referee’s Assistants: Ian Anderson; Brandon Whitson
4th official: Kevin Stott
time of game: 2:34
attendance: 6,219
weather: Partly Cloudy -and- 59 degrees