Telepeer

Galaxy is running out of time following late loss to Seattle

October 7, 2023

As the minutes dwindled down Wednesday night, the Galaxy figured that one point would be better than nothing, especially considering the location and opponent.

“It was literally one play left to get out of there with something,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said Wednesday.

Just before the final whistle sounded, Seattle had taken advantage of a slight header off of a throw-in leading toward the winning goal in the late stages of stoppage time, handing the Galaxy a 2-1 loss and another gut punch in a season full of them.

“We put in the work and sometimes it’s not about playing good football,” Galaxy defender Kelvin Leerdam said. “Sometimes it’s about energy and fight. I think we’ve done all of that today (Wednesday) and then it hurts in the end if you see it go away like that. It’s just one play. One final play and we didn’t make it.”

The loss leaves the Galaxy (8-12-11, 35 points) six points out of a playoff spot with three games remaining, starting Saturday against Minnesota United FC (5:30 p.m., Apple TV+).

Before the start of the road trip, Vanney said he believed that nine more points would put the team in playoff contention, but that they would still need some help.

The final nine points are now crucial for the Galaxy.

“We’re just super thin on the margins,” he said. “We don’t have any margins. We have to win all three games. And that’s the only hope if everything goes right for us on the other side.”

Considering the Galaxy hasn’t had a three-game winning streak since the 2020 pandemic-shortened season.

“For me, it doesn’t matter who is in front of us,” Leerdam said. “We know what we have to do. We have to win all our games.

“So, I’m not looking at which team we’re playing, where we’re playing. I’m only thinking about winning. I think everybody in the locker room thinks that way.”

The trip to Minnesota is the final road game of the season. The Galaxy will conclude the season with home games against Real Salt Lake (Oct. 14) and FC Dallas (Oct. 21).

“I’m really proud of this group the way they kept fighting, and we’re going to go into Minnesota and work our butts off there and we’re going to go for three points, because we know that’s what keeps us in it.

“But the way to get to three points is to execute every play over the course of the game and not allow ourselves to get burned on one of these plays. Making sure we’re marking our guys and making sure we’re making sound decisions. … Again, I’m proud of this group. I can’t tell you how proud I am of their work. We just haven’t been able to see out some of these draws that we would have liked to be three points and some of these, like tonight, where we would have liked to have been one point.”