Jones’ Goal Makes Some Noise
On a night when three of Major League Soccer’s 12 teams were knocked out of the U.S. Open Cup by teams from lower divisions, the Galaxy survived. Barely.
A goal by Cobi Jones with 12 seconds left in regulation gave Los Angeles a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders of the A-League in front of 3,063 at Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday.
“I watch A-League games every week,” said Galaxy assistant coach Ralph Perez, who had charge of the team in the absence of Coach Sigi Schmid, who was attending his son Kurt’s graduation from South Torrance High. “I have a lot of respect for the league, the coaches and the players.
“The beauty of cup play anywhere in the world is that the little guys can beat the big guys on any given day. I think the Seattle Sounders have been--excuse the pun--a very sound team over the past five or six years.
“Give them credit, but I was disappointed we didn’t get that second goal [earlier than the final minute].”
The Galaxy took the lead in the 23rd minute on a penalty kick by Greg Vanney.
It was awarded when Seattle midfielder Viet Nguyen took down Galaxy winger Brian Kelly in the penalty area. Raymundo Prisco--one of two referees working the game in an ongoing FIFA experiment--pointed immediately to the spot and Vanney scored from 12 yards out.
The Sounders, who could be paying in MLS by 2002 after Seattle’s new stadium is completed, did not fold. Instead, they renewed their attack on Matt Reis in the Galaxy goal and were rewarded with a goal in the 47th minute.
It was scored by forward Greg Howes, a 23-year-old rookie from Oregon State, who hit a superb low drive on a direct free kick from about 25 yards, the ball burying itself in the lower right corner of the net.
“We had to change our strategy,” said Seattle Coach Neil Megson. “They controlled the entire first half. They were very polished. We did way too much defending.
“As soon as we went one [goal] down, we knew we had to do something. We took a gamble so we went man-to-man on [Galaxy forwards Luis] Hernandez and Jones and opened the game up. “
The Galaxy victory in the single-elimination knockout tournament puts it through to the round of 16, where it will play the A-League’s San Diego Flash on July 25, also at Cal State Fullerton.
Three other MLS teams were less fortunate. The Richmond Kickers (A-League) shut out the Colorado Rapids, 3-0; the Chicago Sockers (an amateur developmental team) eliminated the Kansas City Wizards, 7-6 on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie after overtime; and Mid Michigan (another amateur team) knocked out the New England Revolution, 1-0.
