(East Los Angeles, CA) March 31, 2022 [From The Editor’s Desk]: Let there be no doubt that the team record as of March 20th to the present, shows the LAFC Black & Gold to be in 1st place of the MLS’s Western Conference with an outstanding early start of (3-0-1), valued at (10) points in total. Just take good note for a moment…Carlos Vela was back home, in the starting line-up, a big crowd was expected, and all was good in the team fan-base, led by the MLS’s #1 “match-day” and “like no other” fan support activity, as rendered by Grupo 3252. More than 20,000 fans would make up the match’s attendance.

[Pre-Match Festivities & Environment]: Our country’s deluxe-sized Red, White, and Blue flag was borne onto the field by the large and designated group of individuals who carried it for the singing of our National Anthem as customarily led by Grupo 3252. In addition to our standard anthem “match” gesture, the stadium jumbo-screens also showed the “We Stand With Ukraine” message. Just prior to that, Falconer, Ken Miknuk and “Olly” performed flawlessly on their much-awaited Falcon Flight performance. During the course of the match, Movie actor Owen Wilson, was spotted in the Banc of California Stadium’s crowd as were several other VIPs. Permitting one last observation…from the late afternoon to the early evening Pacific Daylight Savings time that we are now accustomed to experiencing, the beautiful day here in our City of Angels was healthy and still a “picture-perfect” night for an LAFC Soccer match.  

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(Photo Gallery): Javier Perez, East L.A. Sports Scene Productions, LLC

[Match Re-cap]: {1st Half} Goal #1 was scored by Vancouver at the (11:39) mark. It was credited to Tristan Blackmon, the former LAFC defender, who was traded to the White Caps this past “off-season.” Blackmon was in the right place, at the right time, when he crushed a rebound straight-on and into the net past goalie, Maxime Crépeau. But that was the beginning, and the eventual ending of the match’s scoring action by the visiting White Caps.

In minute (27:00), the Black & Gold tied the match at (1-1) when the club’s newcomer, #24, Defender, Bryan Hollingshead scored his initial LAFC/Black & Gold goal, as he “headed” a perfectly-placed Carlos Vela near corner-kick cleanly into the netting.

Next, and while still in strong attack mode, the Black & Gold moved ahead at the (38:00) mark when Vela earned his 4th goal of the young season. He did it after #22, Forward, Kwadwo Opoku skillfully threaded his way past three White Cap defenders and set up Vela with a crosser to the post. His first attempt on goal missed but he pursued it and then rifled his successful shot past Vancouver goalkeeper, Thomas Hasal. After this, both teams went back-and-forth at each other with no further scoring. The period ended with a one goal advantage for the Black & Gold.

(HALFTIME SCORE): LAFC  2 Vancouver  1

{2nd Half} At the (70:00) minute mark, Hollingshead, full of fire and passion for the adoring Black & Gold fanbase, literally sealed the victory with his second goal of the match, giving LAFC an insurmountable (3-1) lead. In describing his goal, Hollingshead took steady aim and amazingly blasted a right-footed shot-on-goal from straight-aways through several defenders and into the net. It marked the first multi-goal match in his nine-year MLS career. Hollingshead appears to be the strongly needed spoke in the team’s  undefeated wheel of fortunes and wins, Surely, Manager, Steve Cherundolo can quite rightly observe the cohesiveness of his team as they come closer together and develop their “esprit de corps” rather quickly for the long season ahead.

(FULL TIME SCORE): LAFC  3  Vancouver 1   (ATTENDANCE): 22,065

(NEXT UP): Saturday, April 2nd, at Orlando City SC |“Kick-off” at 4:30 pm PT | To Watch, go to MLS LIVE on ESPN+, KCOP 13, & Estrella TV. To Listen, tune into 710 AM ESPN, ESPN App. & KFWB 980 La Mera Mera.