Galaxy look to avoid a big upset in the U.S. Open Cup
The Galaxy’s road in the U.S. Open Cup takes the team to Orange County for a meeting tonight against the California United Strikers in a Round of 32 game.
The Strikers play in the National Independent Soccer Association, considered the third tier of American soccer. In the Open Cup, when an lowerlevel team knocks off a MLS club, it is known as “Cupset” instead of upset. The Galaxy don’t want to be added to the list of “Cupsets.”
No matter the level or the opponent, Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said the club is taking things seriously.
“What a lot of clubs do is they don’t necessarily prioritize it (Open Cup) in the early rounds,” Vanney said. “They say if we can get through the early rounds, we can get to the later rounds and now it becomes three games to win a championship, we’ll take it serious.
“If it’s six games, not so serious, but for us, I think if we want to get back to
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Today: Galaxy at California United Strikers in the U.S. Open Cup at Great Park, Irvine, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+
the Galaxy mentality that you’re playing for championships then every game should matter, then every championship possibility should matter. For this group of players they want to win trophies, they know it’s their responsibility to try to get this club back on that map and they also want to play in (CONCACAF) Champions League, so this is one of those pathways.”
The Galaxy began May with a congested schedule with six games in 22 days. If the Galaxy defeats the Strikers tonight, another game will be added to this month’s schedule. The Round of 16 is scheduled for May 24-25.
“It could be seven (games) in 24 days or something like that,” Vanney said. “It tests the depth of our group, but for me that’s why we went with the model that we went with. Younger DP, we have strong Academy, strong second team, so we’re getting some pieces of that, it’s all hands on deck, but from a mentality standpoint, every game should matter and every tournament should matter.”
The game is sandwiched in between two crucial Western Conference games for the Galaxy. Last Sunday, the club visited Austin FC and picked up a 1-0 win and Saturday, FC Dallas visits Dignity Health Sports Park.
“Our group and the leaders in our group have done a good job of saying every game is important, respect the opposition, respect the game, respect the competition that we’re trying to be successful in. So, it’s not so much necessarily about them (Strikers), as it is about our approach and our mentality.
“The pressure is on us to go out there and get a result. They certainly don’t have any pressure, it’ll feel like they’re playing in a World Cup final a little bit against the big club up street, so they have every opportunity to just go for it and see what happens. For us, we also need to learn how to manage these situations appropriately and get the game into our view of how we think we can be successful.”