Rising up: LA Galaxy II 4, Las Vegas Lights 3

LA Galaxy II never went behind, but they had to weather a game Las Vegas Lights side in USL Championship play Sunday afternoon, with Los Dos emerging 4-3 winners at Dignity Health Sports Park.

The win puts Los Dos in 2nd place in Group B, not long after they had effectively been written off by national observers for a playoff spot. In a tough group, LA are absolutely in the mix for a postseason berth.

The game got off to a great start for Galaxy II, with Mauricio Cuevas scoring his third direct free kick of the season to make it 1-0 in the 5th minute.

But Las Vegas had an answer nine minutes later, courtesy of Yamikani Chester, to make it 1-1.

The game stayed 1-1 through halftime, and it really opened up in the second half, as the teams combined for another five.

Augustine Williams, coming off the bench at halftime, scored his sixth goal of the season in the 53rd minute, with a takedown off his chest from Omar Ontiveros’ cross and a nifty finish at the back post, to make it 2-1 for Los Dos.

Ultimately, they wouldn’t give up the lead, as Ivan Gutierrez added an insurance tally just after the hour mark to give LA a two-goal lead.

They would need it, as Johnny Fenwick scored off a corner kick for Las Vegas in the 73rd minute, before Jorge Hernandez had an immediate answer a minute later, with Williams setting up the goal with a beautiful ball sitting up in the box.

Holding a 4-2 lead, Las Vegas made it tense again, with Blake Frischknecht scoring another goal off a corner kick in the 88th minute to narrow their deficit to one goal, but LA held on and posted another impressive result.

The challenges just keep coming, with this week being pivotal for LA. They’ll face Orange County SC twice, both in Irvine, first on Wednesday and then again Saturday, and both games are proverbial six-pointers. Because Orange County are their closest competition for a playoff spot at the moment, both teams level on 15 points, these games are huge. Don’t count out Los Dos, as they just keep posting impressive wins.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.