Marcinkowski Miracle: LA Galaxy Goalkeeper Prevents Complete Collapse Against San Jose Earthquakes
A late penalty save from the former Quakes goalkeeper saves a point on the road for the LA Galaxy
The LA Galaxy is still looking for positive momentum after a 1-1 draw in the Cali Clasico on Saturday night. LA’s winless run extends to four games as the G’s sit in 11th place in the Western Conference. This result could’ve been a lot worse, considering how the events of the match played out.
The 105th meeting between the two sides should’ve seen LA on the scoreboard first, with Joseph Paintsil having an early one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper. He missed the chance and immediately regretted how he dealt with that chance.
Paintsil made up for his missed chance by opening the scoring in the 13th minute. This was the Ghanian’s fourth career goal against the Quakes. Paintsil struggled to make a real impact in his last two games, but came to life against the opponent he scored his first career MLS goal against.
The Quakes got their goal to level the game in the 63rd minute via Reid Roberts. LA struggled to clear the ball from the box, and Roberts finished a loose ball at the far post to level the game for the home side.
San Jose had the chance to win it after getting a penalty deep into stoppage time. Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski tripped over Ousseni Bouda and gave the home side the golden opportunity to win. Timo Werner stepped to take the penalty, but Marcinkowski guessed right and saved the shot.
The former Quakes goalkeeper had his moment of the season to rescue LA from three consecutive defeats.
“I think it salvaged a lot of energy in the group and a lot of emotion in the group to get out of there with at least the point at that moment,” said Head Coach Greg Vanney postgame.
“I was just trying to make up for the little bit of mistake that I made, and I think our team deserves at least a point tonight, if not more,” said Marcinkowski about his late-game penalty save.
Marcinkowski grew up coming to Cali Clasico games at Stanford Stadium, and now he’s represented both sides of the rivalry game. He spent seven years with the Quakes and is in the midst of his second season with the LA Galaxy.
But his standout moment will be in LA Galaxy colors and making the clutch penalty save to prevent the home side from completing the comeback. According to FotMob, Marcinkowski prevented 1.6 goals on the night.
It wasn’t the ideal result for the Galaxy, but it prevented a whole lot more pressure from being added to the group.
“When you put a performance like we did tonight on the road in a bit of a tough environment, it always shows some character. It shows some grit. It shows some tenacity that I think we need to carry into every game,” said Marcinkowski.
Vanney also made an effort to compete and not let the away atmosphere remove layers from his squad.
“I just thought the desire to compete and fight. Third game in the week for us... I thought the guys just dug really deep and showed a lot of character and battled,” said Vanney.
“Right now, we just have to take every point that we can and keep fighting.”
LA has a week to recalibrate and work on its mistakes in its first week of action. FC Dallas won’t be an easy test, but give the G’s a chance to show their improvements in front of the home fans.
"There's no doubt in my mind that this team has that fire,” said Marcinkowski.
“[It] has that grit to continue to succeed and work our way up the standings."