If Decision Day this weekend goes according to LAFC’s plans, with the Black & Gold securing one of the top two seeds in the Western Conference with a strong win at home over San Jose – maybe even the number-one spot if another match goes a certain way – the club and its supporters will look back on a thirty-second stretch that played out in cavernous BC Place on Sunday night, in the dying moments against Vancouver, when a draw looked certain and LAFC’s chance to inch closer to the conference-leading Galaxy looked dead.
Thirty seconds.
After a second half in which LAFC “kind of lost control of the game,” according to head coach Steve Cherundolo, 30 seconds was all it took for LAFC to uncork a haymaker that landed flush on the Whitecaps’ jaw, solidifying the Black & Gold’s playoff position and furthering its momentum heading into those playoffs.
The critical half-minute began with the score tied 1-1 in stoppage time, when a cross from Mati Bogusz was headed away from Vancouver’s danger area and into the path of streaking ‘Caps fullback Giuseppe Bovalina, who saw only green turf between himself and the winning goal.
But Bogusz wasn’t done. The Polish international hit the jets – biegnij szybko, as they say in his native tongue – catching up to Bovalina the same way he had caught up to another ‘Caps defender on his way to the game’s opening goal – which Bogusz had scored more than 90 minutes earlier.
Bogusz dispossessed Bovalina, LAFC fullback Sergi Palencia sent a long pass to Nathan Ordaz at midfield. Ordaz slipped through a wall of Vancouver defenders and connected with his fellow Los Angeles product, Kei Kamara, who found Ilie Sanchez, a born and raised Barcelonan like Palencia, at the top of the box.
“Great defensive effort from Mati and the rest of the guys to recover that ball in transition,” Sánchez said. “Then Nate had fresh legs to progress that ball and made an unbelievable individual play, skipping defenders and bringing the ball all the way inside the box to Kei, who did what he's best at, holding the ball, turning defenders with his body and look up for the best option. And in this case, it was me.”
One touch from Ilie, then another. His third touch was an arrow off his right foot that flew past goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka and into LAFC’s growing book of indelible memories.
“When I received the ball,” Sánchez continued, describing his third goal for the club he joined prior to the 2022 double-championship season – “I had a few examples throughout the season where I received the ball in a similar spot in a similar minute of the game, stoppage time, and I decided to play or to pass that ball to another teammate that I thought it was in a better position to score or to create a clearer chance. But Timmy overlapped, made the defender hesitate and it was clear to me that I had to try, and it went in. So that was it. That's how I saw it.”
“Great moment,” said head coach Steve Cherundolo, who also joined LAFC in that 2021-22 offseason, and who on Sunday night clairvoyantly sent Ordaz, Kamara, Sánchez into the match as late substitutes. “When you put fresh legs on the field at the end, especially younger players, those are the moments you're hoping for, and Nathan has been doing it in training. Last week with the second team he had an excellent match … so he’s certainly in form, which is the reason we put him on. We were hoping for a moment and we got it.”
LAFC had come into the game missing 25 MLS goals from its starting lineup (the total scored by forwards Denis Bouanga and Cristian Olivera, both playing for their countries this week). It also came into the game ranked third in MLS in counterattack goals before adding to that total when Bogusz sprinted onto the end of David Martínez’s through ball to score the opener thirty seconds in.
“Makes us look smart, doesn't it?” Cherundolo said of his choice to inject Ordaz, Kamara and Sánchez into the match. “I'm not sure any coach says, ‘OK, a goal is being produced by these three players,’ but we certainly have ideas prior to matches and how we can impact games and what times we want to sub guys in and out. But then the game presents you with different problems, which need different solutions. And for us, the solution was certainly getting some energy on the field.
Ordaz, the 20-year-old LAFC Academy product and former first-team ballboy who rose through the ranks after joining LAFC before he was old enough to drive, said: “It would have been a disappointment if we didn't get the win, I think. So when I broke free, I was obviously happy for myself but I was happy for the team when we scored … It took a lot of effort.”
Ordaz has stuck it out over the last few years, trying to break into a lineup that, as he put it, has “the best everything in the league, best offense, best defense, best midfield.” The young forward’s persistence, according to his captain, Sánchez, “shows nothing but character and personality. Wanting to fight for a spot and for minutes, in a tough environment, other than just going somewhere else where it’s gonna be easier for him to have more minutes and start games. I think it's the right mindset for him to have at his age, and definitely every time he steps on the field, he's contributing.”
“It was a difficult game,” Sánchez concluded. “We were able to start very strong, obviously … Everyone was able to contribute in this win and we knew that it was a very important game for us to stay as high as possible on the table. And the main goal for tonight, we secured it. We are satisfied with the result and we move on into Decision Day Saturday at home.”
TOP SEED REMAINS UNDECIDED
To clinch the number-one seed in the Western Conference ahead of the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, LAFC must defeat the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, Oct. 19, and the Galaxy must lose at Houston Dynamo FC that same day. Those two results would give both clubs 64 points on the season and the same number of wins (the first tiebreaker), so LAFC would need to hold an advantage in tiebreakers at that point.
The second tiebreaker is Goal Differential, where the Galaxy currently hold a +20 to +18 advantage. There are seven more tiebreakers after that, the final one being a coin flip.
Sánchez said that he prefers to focus on “going to the last game at home with positive energy to be able to finish the season very well, that our fans are with us and enjoy a great game on our way to the playoffs. We continue with the same mentality and ambition to finish at the top.”
INTERNATIONAL UPDATE
Bouanga started and played all 90 minutes of Gabon’s 2-0 win over Lesotho on Tuesday in Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying. He also went the distance when the two sides drew 0-0 last Friday.
Cristian Olivera started for Uruguay in its 1-0 defeat to Peru in South American World Cup qualifying. Uruguay is scheduled to take on Ecuador on Friday evening.
LAFC closes out its regular season on Saturday, October 19, against the San Jose Earthquakes at BMO Stadium as part of MLS Decision Day. That game kicks off at 6 p.m. and can be seen live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
