LAFC played the most challenging schedule in MLS history last year, a 53-game slog that saw the team play for six trophies. Yet it crossed the finish line in December exhausted and empty-handed.
The schedule has been far more forgiving this season and as a result it may prove much more rewarding as well.
With Wednesday’s 4-0 rout of the Colorado Rapids, LAFC advanced to Sunday’s Leagues Cup final against the Columbus Crew, which beat the Philadelphia Union in the other semifinal. That game, in Ohio, will be a repeat of last winter’s MLS Cup final, won by the Crew.
And once again, silverware will be on the line.
“Our group is looking forward to a rematch and I think we’re more focused on just the opportunity at hand, and not so much about any sort of revenge,” said LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo, whose team’s only loss at home this season was a 5-1 pummeling by the Crew last month. “If you want to raise a trophy, you have to put 90 minutes of excellent and intense work.”
After that, LAFC will travel to Seattle to play for a spot in next month’s U.S. Open Cup title game, where another trophy will be hoisted. Cherundolo likened that to playing two finals in four days.
“This is not something you can expect every year, but it’s something that we strive for,” he said. “Management and club ownership do their part in making sure that our rosters are capable of these deep runs in tournaments.
“For the moment we are maximizing our potential on all fronts.”
Indeed. Wednesday’s win, which extended LAFC’s unbeaten streak to eight games in all competition, left LAFC with just one loss — the one-sided Columbus result — in its last 22 games. In seven of the last eight games, it hasn’t even trailed.
So in addition to reaching the final four of this summer’s two biggest tournaments, LAFC, as the hottest team in MLS, is pushing for a third Supporters’ Shield and third straight trip to the league final, giving it two more chances to take home trophies.
“We are trying to win everything that we possibly can,” added newly arrived midfielder Lewis O’Brien, who came off the bench Wednesday to get his first LAFC goal, closing out the scoring.
Colorado didn’t make it easy, at least not at first, keeping LAFC off the scoreboard until the 42nd minute when Mateusz Bogusz bent a right-footed shot inside the far post from just outside the box….