Denis Bouanga sat down.
It was 10:07 p.m. PT on Saturday night, and referee Guido Gonzales, Jr., had just blown his whistle three times, signifying the end of LAFC’s 2-1 defeat to Seattle after extra time in the Western Conference Semifinal—the end of LAFC’s season—and Bouanga, an MLS Cup champion, two-time All Star, and multi-competition Golden Boot winner in his two-plus seasons with LAFC, slowly took a seat on the grass in the middle of BMO Stadium.
He had chosen a cruel game to fall in love with as a kid in Le Mans, France—the same beautiful and brutal game his teammates had fallen for as youngsters in their respective hometowns around the world. The preceding 120 minutes had been especially hard-hearted. Twenty-six shots to the Sounders’ 13. Ten shots on goal to the Sounders’ six— the last one a missile from Bouanga just 30 seconds earlier that skipped agonizingly wide of goal, ending LAFC’s hope of extending its season.
Bouanga and his teammates had played 50 games together in 2024, more than any other MLS team. They’d played 103 games since the start of 2023—also the most in MLS. This year they had advanced to the Leagues Cup Final only to watch it slip away in stoppage time. They had been rewarded in a U.S. Open Cup Final that took 120 grueling minutes to decide. They had fought through a three-game playoff series against Vancouver that nearly ended their season before Seattle did.
And now it was over. Physically and emotionally spent, Bouanga reclined onto the grass, pressing the 99 on the back of his jersey into the rain-soaked turf, and looked up at the sky.
“It hurts,” head coach Steve Cherundolo told reporters moments later. “It's disappointing, we're disappointed for our fans that we couldn't play a couple more games at home … but that's sports. Sometimes you lose; you can't always win.”
“It's one of those games where we felt like we had the majority of the chances and just couldn't get the second one,” said defender Ryan Hollingshead, “and then they get two kinda fluke goals … and I think that's exactly kinda their game plan—and it's a good game plan in the playoffs, you just try to capitalize on any little thing that you can sniff out in the box, and they did well with that.”
Added Cherundolo: “We'll regroup, we will assess this season, which I think overall was extremely positive. That's what I just told the guys: it was a fantastic season and we'll try to do the same thing next year, but with a better ending.”
Aaron Long, who wore the captain’s armband for LAFC on its final night of competition this year, said, “Just looking at this season alone—making two finals, winning a trophy, bringing it back to the club, winning the West, having played the most games in the Western Conference—I think any team signs up for that season, right? It was a great season, but we're so greedy as footballers and we always want more … We’re gonna want this one back. I think it's the way we are as footballers, the culture of the club.”
Bouanga did not stay on the ground for long. Teammates and opponents alike came by and offered reassuring words to the hyper-competitive forward who has said that losing brings him physical pain, who has scored more goals over the last two years than anyone else in the league. Their words helped Bouanga regain his feet. He walked off the field, acknowledging the fans as he left.
He will be back. His team will be back.
They may look slightly different next season. MLS rules dictate that strong teams must be made weaker. Some of the men who helped LAFC win its first MLS Cup in 2022 had to be let go following that run. Some of those who competed in five more finals since that ‘22 title will surely exit this offseason as well.
“We'll sit together, management and coaching staff, and figure out how we can improve from this year …” Cherundolo said, pondering the grim work ahead. “We'll analyze first, find out where the weak spots are where we can improve. We'll look at it statistically, we'll look at it subjectively as well. And we'll be prepared for next season because the season starts off with a lot of games.”
It's hard to believe, but in just over two months, LAFC will begin play in Concacaf Champions Cup, this region’s most prestigious international tournament. The Black & Gold will do so as the 2025 MLS regular season is getting underway.
But before looking forward, Hollingshead, one of two players (Bouanga is the other) to play all 120 minutes in each of LAFC’s two final victories (‘22 MLS Cup and ’24 U.S. Open Cup), wanted to look back.
“We brought the first championship here,” said the man who scored LAFC’s lone goal Saturday night. “We won the Open Cup. Two big titles that the club hadn't had before … Was this a good season? Was it a bad season? I think there were some big, big moments where the team stepped up and put titles, trophies into our case, and then there's other moments where we want more …
“The standard we've set for ourselves here is a good one, which is we want to win everything. There's teams across this league that say it and everybody [on those teams] knows it's impossible. They're not actually pushing to try to win every trophy, and we're a club and a team that said it and feels like we should be actually in that conversation every time. So, yeah, this feels like a big time letdown … It's gonna be a hard one to swallow for a while, and we gotta come back and do it again and I know the club will. The club will do everything they can to put us in another position to come back and do it again.”
