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The Galaxy typically celebrate fan appreciation night at their final home game of the regular season, though neither they nor their fans have had much to celebrate in recent years. That changed Saturday, with the Galaxy beating Austin FC 2-1 before a sold-out crowd of 26,574 to all but clinch their first Western Conference title in more than a decade.
After seven seasons of wandering in the wilderness, losing more games than they won and making just two brief playoff appearances, the Galaxy are finally back.
“The team certainly looks to be back,” coach Greg Vanney agreed over the sounds of his players celebrating down the hall in the dressing room. “We’ve had a very consistent year. Consistency is always the measure.
“So there’s a lot of reasons to be really excited about this team. Now we’ve got to buckle it down, finish the season and then go after the playoffs. We’ve certainly done the groundwork to give ourselves the best chance possible.”
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At the very least, they’re rewriting the franchise record book.
The sellout was the Galaxy’s eighth in 16 games at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, raising the team’s overall average home attendance to 26,135 this season; the only time the Galaxy did better was 1996, their inaugural season, when they played at the Rose Bowl.
Their 19 wins match the 2011 team’s total for most in the modern era, while their 68 goals are one behind the 2014 team. The Galaxy won MLS Cups in both those seasons but haven’t been back to the championship game since.
Saturday’s win, just the Galaxy’s second on fan appreciation day since 2013, could help end that drought since it guaranteed the team no less than a share of the top spot in the conference table.
The victory came on goals from Gabriel Pec, his team-leading 15th of the season in the first half, and Dejan Joveljic, who matched Pec with his 15th late in the second half. And it left the Galaxy (19-7-7, 64 points) atop the Western Conference with one game to play, meaning a win or a draw in their regular-season finale Oct. 19 in Houston would give them the title and home-field advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs.
If the Galaxy lose, LAFC (17-8-7, 58 points), which has a game in hand, can catch them by winning its final two matches. If that happens, the conference champion would be determined by a series of tiebreakers, including goal differential and total goals scored; the Galaxy have comfortable leads in both categories.
Winning the conference and the right to play at home in the postseason could be key to the Galaxy’s playoff hopes because their 13 wins and 42 points at home are also franchise records. The team’s only home loss came at the Rose Bowl; the Galaxy are 13-0-3 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
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“From the beginning of the year our goal was to keep this place a fortress. And we did that,” said defender John Nelson, who is going to the playoffs for the third time. “Credit to the fans showing up, making it a tough environment.
“This team is very good at home.”
It’s been quite a turnaround from last season, when the Galaxy finished 13th in the 14-team conference table, their eight wins matching the franchise low for a full season.
Pec opened the scoring 31 minutes into an ugly, physical game, notching his fourth goal in as many games. Riqui Puig set up the score with a long diagonal pass to Pec on the right wing. The Brazilian then dodged away from Austin defender Guilherme Biro, dribbled into the box and sent a left-footed shot into the netting at the far side.
Austin (10-14-9), which was eliminated from playoff contention with the loss, matched Pec’s goal early in the second half, with Sebastian Druissi one-timing home a nifty Osman Bukari feed from the center of the box.
Joveljic then scored the game-winner in the 76th minute, bulling his way through traffic to score on a left-footed shot from the center of the box. Puig got the assist on that one too, giving him 16. Landon Donovan was the last Galaxy player to have more, registering 19 assists in 2014.
Puig has 11 goal contributions (five goals, six assists) in his last 11 games.
Austin’s Jon Gallagher thought he tied the game when he put a header past Galaxy keeper John McCarthy deep into second-half stoppage time, but Gallagher was well offside, negating the goal.
Referee Ted Unkel struggled to keep the game under control and tempers finally boiled over on the final touch of the game when a frustrated Biro took out Puig with an unnecessary slide tackle in front of the Galaxy bench. Biro was swarmed by Puig’s teammates, leading to a lot of pushing and shoving before Unkel arrived to flash a red card at the Austin defender, sending him off.
“It was a vicious shot,” Vanney said. “Extremely dangerous.”
It took a couple of minutes to restore order and once the ball was back in play, Unkle blew the final whistle.
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“It was, for sure, a playoff feel,” said Nelson, one of the Galaxy players who quickly rallied to Puig’s defense. “It was that edge, that chippiness. It was good for us to get into that.”
After a week off for an international break, the Galaxy will travel to Houston either having clinched the No. 1 seed into the Western Conference playoffs, or with everything still to play for.
“The job’s not done,” Nelson said. “This team’s focused. The best thing we’ve done all year is we’re not complacent. No one’s comfortable.
“We’ve got to go to Houston and get a result. We’ll be ready.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.