Los Angeles, Calif. — The young ones led the LA Galaxy charge with Harbor Miller and Elijah Wynder scoring their first-ever MLS goals within either side of the interval in a 3-0 home rout of the Colorado Rapids Saturday, August 23, 2025.
The Galaxy first-rounders were but just two bright spots in a team-wide solid showing by a deep-rotated team that LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney should draw much confidence from.
“Tonight was one of those nights that I witnessed tons of progress that perhaps we have not witnessed in other games for some of the guys, but with an actual chance from the get-go you see that some of the guys are making tons of progress,” Vanney said during The Sporting Tribune’s post match press conference.
Playing out of position, rather than at his preferred left-back, Miller put the Galaxy up and running inside the first few minutes with a fine finish after he was played into position by some good movement by Miki Yamane and Tucker Lepley.
“Honestly, I just hit the ball and I don’t even know which part of the net I hit the back of. I just knew it was coming in and I just blacked out and just ran into the corner and celebrated like one of the best goals of my life,” the 18-year-old described of his maiden strike.
Wynder complemented Miller’s 14th minute effort with a bursting run into Colorado’s box in the second half. He and Yamane played one-two with the midfielder breaking free and slotting home Galaxy’s second with force for the 2-0 advantage.
Substitute Gabriel Pec put the game out of reach with the Galaxy’s third goal at the 75th minute.
He, Joseph Painstil, and Marco Reus were among a host of Galaxy players that played minimal time versus the Rapids ahead of a huge game this Wednesday.
Ahead of midweek Leagues Cup semifinal, Galaxy boss’s shuffled lineup also involved giving Midfielder Edwin Cerrillo his first-ever captain’s armband while Defender Chris Rindov was given his MLS debut.
Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, recently made the new Galaxy backup keeper since John McCarthy’s transfer to New York, was also given his Galaxy debut and earned a shutout in his first official match for the MLS Cup champions.
For Marcinkowski, it was a familiar coming back into soccer after he had not played 90 minutes since 2023 due to injury.
“It was a long, long process with a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of questioning, I think my path forward,” Marcinkowski explained.
“I’m very thankful for the people that surrounded me, my physical therapist, my entire support staff, my fiancée, my family. This night belongs just as much to them as it does me.”
It was also a night to enjoy for Galaxy fans, who got to see LA earn a shutout for the first time since a win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on July Fourth by a similar scoreline.
Now the LA Galaxy will look to carry that good vibe and momentum forward into their semifinal game with the Seattle Sounders next Wednesday.
Vanney believes the Galaxy’s performance against Colorado was just the kind of game the team needed to have before a crucial semifinal. He also drew several positives from the shutout win.
“It was a fun night. We haven’t had a ton of those this year,” Vanney admitted. “Gained some confidence and some momentum with the group heading into the massive night on Wednesday. We rested some guys up and get some guys ready to rock…. It’s gonna be a very tough game on Wednesday, but having this be something that we can base things off of is great. Proud of these guys.”
