Road warriors: San Diego Loyal 0, LA Galaxy II 1

LA Galaxy II bounced back from their loss last week in USL Championship play by heading out on the road yet again, and defeated San Diego Loyal 1-0 Sunday night in the teams’ first-ever meeting.

The game was a tight one, but had San Diego goalkeeper Jon Kempin not stood on his head most of the night, Los Dos would have won the game far more comfortably, considering their dominance in attack.

Junior Gonzalez used a very similar lineup for Galaxy II on the night compared to their last match against Phoenix Rising:

LA had a number of good chances in the first half, with a series of shots from just outside or on the edge of the box, but Kempin was able to make the stops to keep the game scoreless.

Los Dos nearly got a goal in the 36th minute, with Jesus Vazquez nearly scoring with the ball in the mixer, but Kempin once again up to the challenge to save the shot.

Down at the other end, Francis Atuahene nearly scored in the 40th minute for San Diego, as he cut well to shake a defender and his shot beat Abraham Romero in goal, but the shot clanged off the post and Los Dos escaped with no goal conceded.

Los Dos dominated the shots 12-3 in the first half, and while San Diego got back into the game in the second half to an extent, LA continued to push for a winner themselves, forcing save after save from Kempin.

But they got the breakthrough in the 71st minute, as a corner kick routine led to Vazquez to get the final header off a redirect to beat Kempin, finally. The corner was taken short, then a floated cross was sent in to the back post, with Augustine Williams heading it across the 6-yard box to Vazquez, who was waiting to head it in, which he did.

Total credit to Los Dos, who despite having practically no experience compared to the San Diego roster, played a far more controlling and composed team game overall. And while you could ask for LA to be more clinical on their chances and aim to build up better into the 18-yard box, their goal was a thing of beauty and they now have two road wins in three tries this season. That’s pretty, pretty good, really.

Los Dos are back in action Saturday for their home opener, albeit behind closed doors, when they host non-group opponent Sacramento Republic, fresh off their first win of the season, for a NorCal-SoCal showdown. It should be a very interesting game indeed.

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