LA Galaxy II roundup: Gonzalez departs, 2022 home opener announced

It’s a new year, and time to check in with LA Galaxy’s reserve team, LA Galaxy II. There’s quite a bit to catch up on!

Gonzalez exit

First, Los Dos head coach Junior Gonzalez has left the Galaxy organization, joining up with former Galaxy defender Ezra Hendrickson in the Vincentian’s coaching staff at the Chicago Fire.

Gonzalez went 26-25-12 in his tenure as Galaxy II manager, and that included two playoff berths for a team that was swimming against the tide of older, independent teams in their division/group/conference. All in all, it was a strong tenure for him, and it truly looks like everyone is pleased with the move. Best of luck to Junior in Chicago.

Cuevas signs in Belgium

It’s been an open secret for some time, but former Los Dos defender Mauricio Cuevas, now 18, announced he has signed with Club Brugge in their youth system, with the club confirming on its youth team Twitter account.

Cuevas, of course, did not feature for Galaxy II at all in 2021. Word on the street is the club wanted to sign him to a new contract, he did not want to sign a deal because he wanted to go abroad, and so he sat on the bench for a year. That doesn’t seem great, to be honest! He was outstanding in 2020, so we’ll see if he can work his way through the youth ranks and make it up to Brugge’s first team, in spite of the rust.

Initial roster moves made for 2022

While Los Dos still need to announce Gonzalez’s replacement as head coach, the club did announce some initial roster moves for the upcoming season. In addition to Alex Alcala, Remi Cabral, Owen Lambe, Axel Picazo and Victor Valdez being under contract for 2022, Los Dos picked up the contract options for Taylor Davila, Josh Drack, Ascel Essengue, Adrian Gonzalez, Preston Judd and Alan Solorio. In addition to Cuevas, Gerson Chavez and Jesus Vazquez are out of contract and won’t return, and the contract options of Miguel Avalos and Issac Bawa were declined and they won’t return either.

Finally, 2021 breakout star Jorge Hernandez is out of contract but the club announced they were in talks to bring him back.

Home opener announced

Finally, the USL Championship announced home openers on Thursday and we know of two Galaxy II games so far.

Los Dos will open their home slate on Mar. 19 at Dignity Health Sports Park against San Antonio FC. Of note, that game will be a doubleheader with the Galaxy first team, with the Galaxy hosting Orlando City at 12:30, followed by the Los Dos-SAFC game. So that’s cool!

Additionally, Los Dos will open their season on Mar. 12 at San Diego Loyal.

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