LA Galaxy captures 2-1 semifinal win over Fire in extra time

Chicago sees hopes of trip to USL Super-20 title match dashed

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By Curt Herron

The Chicago Fire Super 20-League certainly team had many more good scoring chances than the LA Galaxy did during in Saturday's United Soccer Leagues semifinal match.

And the Fire also clearly dominated in possession in the matchup at Loves Park's Sportscore Two which determined which squad would advance to Sunday's national finals.

But in the one critical area that ultimately matters the most, being able to put the ball into the net, the Galaxy made the most of the few good attempts that it had.

The Galaxy grabbed the early advantage and then fought off the Fire's best punches to settle for a 1-1 draw through 8o minutes of regulation play.

While Chicago continued to put the pressure on in extra time, the Los Angeles squad again found the net in the early going of that 20-minute span.

As a result, the Galaxy captured a 2-1 victory over the Fire that wound up improving their record to 9-0-4 since dropping its season opener.

Meanwhile, the Fire suffered their first defeat of the season, which featured a 10-0 regular season mark and a 3-0-1 record in group play.

The Galaxy fell short in Sunday's championship, however, losing 2-1 to a Columbus Crews Junior team that the Fire had defeated twice this season.

Just as was the case in their 1-1 and 2-1 matches with semifinalist Beachside SC in group play, the Fire enjoyed the better of the play but struggled to score.

The only goal that they could manage came during the 58th minute when Javier Torres sent a pass to Ian Christianson, who lined in a shot to tie things up.

Making matters worse for the Fire was that Galaxy keeper Earl Edwards was on top of his game, which made it even harder for them to put the ball into the net.

While Edwards stopped several good attempts that looked like they might result in scores, the Fire saw a couple of other chances halted when shots hit the post.

Then late in the first period of extra time, Mario Alvarez got the game-winner on a line drive that deflected off a defender and bounced in off of the crossbar.

It marked the first time all season that had scored two goals in a game against the Fire, who had yielded only three goals during their first 10 matches.

Just prior to the end of the first overtime, Calum Mallace sent a free kick that Edwards tipped over the net, which led to two unsuccessful corner kicks.

The Fire looked like they might tie things up when Javier Torres directed a liner toward the goal but Edwards dove to deflect the dangerous attempt away.

For the match, Chicago finished with a nearly three-to-one advantage in corner kicks, which included a 7-0 advantage in that category during extra play.

Evan Raynr gave the Californians the early advantage when he connected during the eighth minute and they managed to hold on that advantage for 50 minutes.

After the Galaxy grabbed the early lead, the frustration began to build for the Fire, perhaps best typified in the first half during a 10-minute stretch.

The sequence started around the midpoint of that initial half when Ethan Finlay sent a corner kick toward Edwards, who managed to punch the attempt away.

A short time later, Kirk Urso saw a similar play from the Galaxy keeper on a free kick before Torres smacked a shot try off of the post right after that.

Then a pass from Torres to Urso produced a grounder that was halted before an Urso deflection led to two corners, with Finlay's liner stopped by Edwards.

The Galaxy did have one last chance just before the halftime whistle when Gyasi Zardes had a short shot attempt deflected away by keeper David Meves.

It was more of the same for Chicago following the break as Mallace lined a free kick to Edwards and Drew Russell had a short try cleared by a defender.

Christianson connected off of an assist from Torres right after that, seemingly providing the Fire with the spark that they needed to get another score.

A few minutes later, Finlay bounced a short liner off of the post and then was tackled in the box prior to a close-range attempt, but no foul was called.

Shortly after Michael Roman had a long-distance free kick punched away by Meves, Finlay had a shot try deflected and a subsequent corner punched away.

As regulation play was winding down, the Fire had one last good opportunity to connect but Urso's free kick was lined directly at the Galaxy keeper.