FC Dallas 5, Los Angeles Galaxy 6 (w/press conference audio)

by Erin Rice

Last night was a game of goals. A soccer match? Try something closer to a one-sided boxing match, not between Dallas and LA, but where offenses were beating the snot out of defenses.

In the first 18 minutes the LA Galaxy went on a scoring rampage, when the crowd was still streaming in the gates and finding their seats (did I mention it's not that easy to get to Pizza Hut Park when the main road and alternate roads are jammed with the transportation for over 21,000 fans). Scoring in the 3rd minute (Alan Gordon), 12th (Chris Klein), 15th (Gordon), and 18th (Kevin Harmse), it appeared the game was locked away. Nearing the end of the half, LA had only taken four shots and converted on all of them.

Quickly following the fourth goal, Morrow made some substitutions, replacing defender Bobby Rhine with Aaron Pitchkolan, and Ricardinho with Dominic Oduro. The changes didn't alter the game immediately, but managed to keep additional Galaxy goals at bay.

Then, just before the half, Dallas puts one on the scoreboard. Drew Moor sends a short cross in from the right side, headed home by Arturo Alvarez. Despite a run at goal by Landon Donovan, in which he expertly chest traps a ball on the run, and then not so expertly plays the shot into Sala's feet, the score stood at 4-1 for the half.

Dax McCarty was brought in to replace Marcelo Saragosa in the middle for Dallas. Dax's typical smart plays and hustle paid off for Dallas, as they held control of the game for much of the second half.

In the 47th minute it seemed that Dallas would get another on the board in spectatular fashion. Off a cross from the left side, Carlos Ruiz set himself up for a bicycle kick, which we haven't seen out of the forward in some time, and found the back of the net. Style points, however, would be the only thing Ruiz took from the play, as he was called offsides.

For the next 30 minutes, Dallas would have several attempts on goal, registering 25 shots for the night, but weren't able to find the net. One of the problems was that the Dallas forwards were taking too many touches and ultimately losing the ball. On top of that, LA goalkeeper Joe Cannon came up with several big saves to keep Dallas one on the board.

Then, with less than 15 minutes left in regulation, our concepts of professional outdoor soccer were completely thrown out the window.

In the 75th, Morrow made the decision to replace defender Chris Gbandi with forward/midfielder Abe Thompson to throw as much as he could at the LA net. Good choice by Morrow.

In the 78th minute Oduro's speed helped him chase down a ball on the left side, which he slotted to the running-on Juan Toja towards the middle of the six-yard box. Toja slides in and forces the ball past Cannon. Despite taking cleats to the gut and needing a minute to rest, Cannon was able to stick it out for the rest of the game.

Four minutes later, Alvarez, who with McCarty entering the game was able to push wide and create more scoring opportunities for himself, sent home Dallas' third goal of the match. Recovering the ball near the top right corner of the eighteen, Alvarez touches left to beat one player, and further left to beat another and open a gap, takes a left-footed shot that rolls past Cannon on the right.

With only 8 minutes left in regulation, Dallas had managed to pull themselves within one.

But Donovan tempered our enthusiasm two minutes later in the 84th when he singlehandedly demolished the Dallas midfield and defense, streaking down the center with the ball, pulling Sala to the left on the breakaway. Sala made a last ditch effort at the ball before losing his balance, and Donovan easily passed the ball into an open net. In his celebration, he ran by a sideline camera and made the universal cut-throat signal and mouthed "game over."

But as an old Chinese proverb once said, "Landon Donovan ain't always right."

Are 8 goals not enough for ya? How about three more scored in stoppage time? The first came from Dallas when Pitchkolan headed a ball to Ruiz's feet, and then said feet put the ball in the net.

Not to be outdone, the Galaxy came back a minute or so later (official time is kept on the field in stoppage) when Donovan took the ball down just right of Dallas' goal, pulling Sala towards that side, and then laid the ball off to Carlos Pavon in the center for the easy goal.

Finally, a minute, possibly seconds later, Dax sent in a corner kick with Abe Thompson's head on the other end with the net as final destination. After all this goal-scoring insanity, there was hope Dallas could put in another, but time eventually ran out on one of the most ridiculous games ever witnessed.

It was excitement central for all the American fans in the audience. No doubt Europe looked the other way.