When Klauss scored in second-half stoppage time June 14, Energizer Park exploded in celebration as the team managed to salvage a tie from what looked like a loss.
No one felt it more than left back Jayden Reid.
Eight minutes before, it was Reid鈥檚 slip and fall after Joey Zalensky played a pass back to him that set the Galaxy鈥檚 Gabriel Pec free on a breakaway that put the Galaxy up 3-2 in the 88th minute and looked to add one more level of frustration to an exceedingly frustrating season for City SC.
鈥淣ot the best feeling ... at all,鈥 Reid said Monday.
Klauss鈥 goal got him off the hook, at least partially.
鈥淚 was definitely relieved a little bit,鈥 Reid said Monday. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 happy with myself that much in that moment, but I was definitely relieved with that (goal).鈥
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Reid is chalking it up as a learning experience, one he can put to use when City SC resumes play after a 10-day break when it faces Orlando City, which sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Energizer Park.
Reid, 23, is the youngest regular starter in the City SC lineup and he鈥檚 got even more starts ahead of him as the team鈥檚 other left back, the more experienced Jannes Horn, is heading back to Europe to be closer to his family in Germany. Horn鈥檚 loan to City SC runs through June 30 鈥 and his German club, Nuremberg, transferred him to Austrian club Rapid Vienna last week 鈥 but interim coach David Critchley said it鈥檚 unlikely Horn would play in either of City SC鈥檚 games between now and then.
So the left back position once again belongs to Reid.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a moment I can learn from,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 like to take moments like that and like to grow from them. So it wasn鈥檛 the best thing. It was a terrible feeling. But I鈥檒l be more equipped next game.鈥
The play was loaded with risk from the start. Zalensky鈥檚 pass to Reid had to cover a lot of ground. Pec got to Reid just as the ball got to him, and when Reid turned to play the ball back to goalkeeper Roman Burki, he fell.
鈥淚 slipped,鈥 he said. 鈥淔lat out, slipped. There鈥檚 no other way to put it, but now looking back at it, I would have just hoofed that ball into the stands. I always want to retain possession. The way we play now, we always want to dominate on the ball. So I was looking to just let the ball roll, as I do many times. But unfortunately, the slip got me, and he got through.鈥
Reid has 10 career MLS starts at left back, coming up from City2 last season and taking the spot from Anthony Markanich and then losing it to Horn when he arrived. Any competition for the spot this season disappeared when Reid broke a bone in his right foot in a private training session just before camp began.
鈥淛ust like I shoot any other ball,鈥 he said, 鈥淚 run up to shoot, and I might have put too much weight on my plant foot, causing it to roll. I had an acute fracture of my fifth metatarsal. I didn鈥檛 think anything was wrong. I tried to play on it afterward, and I was just in pain a lot. I鈥檓 like, dang, maybe it will wear off in a couple of hours. So I go home and chill and the pain is still there. So I say I鈥檒l sleep on it. I sleep on it, wake up and the foot is swollen. I go to the ER and find out it鈥檚 broken. ... The timing couldn鈥檛 have been any worse.鈥
Though he says now, maybe his timing wasn鈥檛 so bad. He wasn鈥檛 going to be playing much early in the season, when Horn was the clear first choice, but now with Horn鈥檚 departure, the team needs Reid. Sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel will likely look for another left back in the summer transfer window, which opens in July, but until then, it will be up to Reid. He has started all three games that Critchley has been running the team.
鈥淛ay has been doing great,鈥 Critchley said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 clearly put himself in as a left back, but he also finds moments of being tucked in a little bit at times as well. But he鈥檚 come in, he鈥檚 took on the position well. He鈥檚 defending really good. We know his capabilities on the physical side, and his defending 1 v. 1 moments is very, very good. He鈥檚 improving on the ball, always consistently. So as a young pro, as a young player, I鈥檓 excited for his future and what that looks like for him. He鈥檚 doing a good job.鈥
While City SC鈥檚 offense has come alive, with six goals (four by Klauss) in three games under Critchley, it has also allowed six goals, the defense was getting iffy in the last days of Olof Mellberg.
鈥淲e need a strong mentality,鈥 Critchley said. 鈥淎 lot of the goals have come after moments where we鈥檝e identically scored a goal. So talking to the team about those moments has been important for us. For us, it鈥檚 finding that balance. We鈥檝e improved a lot with the ball in a lot of categories, but you can then leave yourself maybe vulnerable to defensive moments. So finding that balance is something we鈥檙e working on constantly on the field, so that we can concede less goals.鈥
Midfielder Conrad Wallem, who played only 21 minutes against the Galaxy before leaving with a calf injury that he already had, was back in training this week, and Critchley said he should be available. The rest of the injured City SC players continue to be out, though Critchley thinks there鈥檚 a chance Chris Durkin is available for Saturday鈥檚 game in Houston.
