LOS ANGELES - Looking to keep themselves in the realm of contention for the knockout stage of Leagues Cup, LAFC took care of Pachuca, 4-2 in penalties, following a 1-1 deadlock through regulation on Friday night at BMO Stadium.
Goalkeeper Thomas Hasal came up huge, making a pair of saves in the shootout to prevent a second consecutive loss of the same fate for his squad. It was his first start since March 8.
"Every game is a different situation," said head coach Steve Cherundolo following the match. "We have three wonderful goalkeepers...two young keepers who are trying to prove themselves. Tonight, Thomas played well."
Los Angeles managed to set the tone early as Denis Bouanga, the leading goal-scorer in the history of Leagues Cup, added his 13th such score to make it a 1-0 game in the 10th minute.
Tenía que ser Denis Bouanga 🎯 pic.twitter.com/aC7HGc2ooQ
— LAFC (@LAFC) August 2, 2025
He was set up nicely by Nathan Ordaz, whose night quickly took a downhill turn. The 21-year-old found himself colliding with Timothy Tillman deep in Pachuca territory minutes later, wiping away another promising scoring chance for Los Angeles.
In the 29th, Ordaz threw an elbow into the body of Pachuca defender Sergio Barreto and was ultimately shown a red card on VAR review. It was not a smart decision by the forward, who left his team down a man for the remainder of the contest.
With the momentum shifting to Pachuca, they took advantage and evened the score just three minutes later. Elias Montel was able to strike one past the dive of Thomas Hasal, bringing the score even on a frustrating sequence of events.
"Totally out of character," said Cherundolo regarding Ordaz's actions on the pitch. "It needs to stop. There's no room for that in our game. He'll learn from this, he's a smart guy and I'm sure it won't happen to him again."
The second half remained competitive, with LAFC battling down a man for the majority of the final 45 minutes. However, Pachuca’s Jhonder Cádiz was shown a red card in the 83rd minute upon VAR review after making contact with the head of Nkosi Tafari on a bicycle kick.
Kelvin Kuo-Imagn Images
The playing field returned even at 10 against 10 with Los Angeles desperately seeking for the go-ahead score to earn themselves three points. It looked as if Mark Delgado had given the 3252 exactly what they needed in the 88th minute, but his go-ahead score was wiped away and deemed offside.
Neither side found the equalizer in stoppage time, with Bouanga’s last-gasp effort in the 92nd culminating in a shot that just missed, sailing over the top right section of the net. For the second straight contest, LAFC headed to a penalty shootout.
This time around, things were different. Hasal’s denial of Javier López immediately set the tone, giving LAFC a 1-0 advantage through round one following Bouanga’s conversion. After the two sides traded scores the next two rounds, it was Hasal who once again stepped up to shut the door.
The 26-year-old turned away Alán Bautista to seal the victory, giving Los Angeles the penalty revenge that they sought following Tuesday’s disappointment.
Having earned a pair of points with Friday’s results, LAFC has just one match remaining on Tuesday, August 5 at BMO Stadium. With only three points on their ledger, a victory against a Tigres UANL side that leads the Liga MX side of the tournament with 6 points (2-0-0) is almost certainly a must.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT.