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Lassiter Picks Up Where he Left Off for Los Dos

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 03/27/16, 10:44AM EDT

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Standout striker’s pair of goals led Galaxy II to opening day victory

CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy II’s Ariel Lassiter picked up right where he left off last season on Saturday night as his pair of goals led Los Dos to a 2-0 victory against Arizona United SC to start the 2016 USL season at StubHub Center.

The “Goal Puppy” struck twice in the first half as the defending Western Conference champions had a little too much for Arizona Coach Frank Yallop’s new-look side.

“It was pretty good. I always want to get on the field and score goals. That’s what I ended up doing,” Lassiter told reporters after the win. “The team did very well throughout 90 minutes. … We got the job done and it was a real team effort.”

Lassiter had 15 goals across the regular-season and playoffs a season ago, and this season signed an MLS deal with the Galaxy to join Dave Romney, Daniel Steres and Clement Diop in making the move to the club’s first-team squad. Romney and Diop also featured in Saturday’s performance, which saw the Galaxy II get out to the type of fast start that keyed their strong playoff run a season ago.

"I thought we started the game well,” said Galaxy II Coach Curt Onalfo. “Put them under a lot of pressure. We had a very fast team on the field. I thought they fouled the crap out of us. We put ourselves up 2-0. I would’ve liked to get the third because I think we could’ve just made it a little easier on ourselves. But inevitably when you have young players, it’s never easy. But I thought there was some really – some good soccer in the first half.”

As Lassiter finished his chances, Onalfo was full of praise for his forward partner Jack McBean. Awarded the captain’s armband, the versatile forward led by example as LA looked to hold off Arizona’s second-half surge.

“It was a collective effort at the end,” Onalfo said. “I think our captain Jack McBean really led us through all this with his fight and his intelligence to help us get the win. Then it was just kind of all the way through the team. Everyone put in a really hard shift.”

As for Lassiter, Onalfo put it succinctly.

“The kid just gets better and better every day,” he said. “It’s enjoyable to watch.”