The Galaxy typically celebrate fan appreciation night at their final home game of the regular season, though neither they nor their fans have had much to celebrate in recent years. That changed Saturday, with the Galaxy beating Austin FC 2-1 before a sold-out crowd of 26,574 to all but clinch their first Western Conference title in more than a decade.
After seven seasons of wandering in the wilderness, losing more games than they won and making just two brief playoff appearances, the Galaxy are finally back.
“The team certainly looks to be back,” coach Greg Vanney agreed over the sounds of his players celebrating down the hall in the dressing room. “We’ve had a very consistent year. Consistency is always the measure.
“So there’s a lot of reasons to be really excited about this team. Now we’ve got to buckle it down, finish the season and then go after the playoffs. We’ve certainly done the groundwork to give ourselves the best chance possible.”
Read more: Dejan Joveljic scores twice as Galaxy rally to stun LAFC and clinch playoff berth
At the very least, they’re rewriting the franchise record book.
The sellout was the Galaxy’s eighth in 16 games at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, raising the team’s overall average home attendance to 26,135 this season; the only time the Galaxy did better was 1996, their inaugural season, when they played at the Rose Bowl.
Their 19 wins match the 2011 team’s total for most in the modern era, while their 68 goals are one behind the 2014 team. The Galaxy won MLS Cups in both those seasons but haven’t been back to the championship game since.
Saturday’s win, just the Galaxy’s second on fan appreciation day since 2013, could help end that drought since it guaranteed the team no less than a share of the top spot in the conference table.
The victory came on goals from Gabriel Pec, his team-leading 15th of the season in the first half, and Dejan Joveljic, who matched Pec with his 15th late in the second half. And it left the Galaxy (19-7-7, 64 points) atop the Western Conference with one game to play, meaning a win or a draw in their regular-season finale Oct. 19 in Houston would give them the title and home-field advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs.
If the Galaxy lose, LAFC (17-8-7, 58 points), which has a game in hand, can catch them by winning…