WASHINGTON -- Two days before his high school graduation, 14-year-old Freddy Adu scored his first highlight-reel goal.
Adu capped a 30-yard run with a 16-yard shot into the upper right corner of the net Wednesday night in D.C. United's 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy.
"It boosts my confidence a lot," Adu said. "Now I'm having a lot of fun. It wasn't fun at first. Guys got to watch out now because I'm back to the old me."
It was Adu's second goal this season, but the first one to display the full nature of his talent. Taking a pass from Earnie Stewart on the right flank, Adu curled wide and crossed left into the penalty area, using his speed to create space from defenders and set up his left-footed drive past Kevin Hartman in the 67th minute.
"I just got the ball in the right position," Adu said. "That's my strength, just going at people, taking the ball to them. I saw the floodgates just open."
Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid faulted his defense for not challenging Adu.
"It was a good goal, but when you give him that kind of space, hopefully he'll score it," Schmid said. "If you give good players time and space, they show you how good they are."
Adu leaves his United teammates Thursday to travel to Florida for his high school graduation ceremony. He completed his studies in March in an accelerated program at a sports academy in Bradenton, Fla. He'll rejoin United for Saturday's game at Colorado.
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| Freddy Adu (left) celebrates his highlight-reel goal with teammate David Stokes.(Getty Images) |
Adu, coming off the bench for the second straight game, entered in the 60th minute. His goal cut the Galaxy's lead to 4-2.
Alejandro Moreno scored three goals in an eight-minute span for Los Angeles, the second-fastest hat trick in MLS history. He also became the first player in league history to score on five consecutive shots, accomplishing the feat over a four-game span.
Moreno was making his first start of the season, taking the spot of Carlos Ruiz, the league's leading scorer, sidelined by a sprained ankle. The Venezuelan forward scored in the 35th, 39th and 43th minutes -- all off assists from former Austrian national team star Andreas Herzog -- to give the Galaxy a 3-0 lead.
Moreno's third score is an early candidate for goal of the year. On the run as he crossed into the 6-yard box, he twisted his right foot to catch Herzog's long cross on his instep, volleying the ball neatly inside the right post.
Moreno's hat trick was the first in the league this season and the fastest since substitute Harut Karapetyan scored three times in five minutes in Los Angeles' 8-1 win over Dallas in 1998.
The Galaxy had their biggest scoring output of the season and improved their MLS-best record to 4-1-3 despite missing injured players Ruiz, Danny Califf, Peter Vagenas, Jovan Kirovski and Tyrone Marshall -- who have 26 starts among them.
Zimbabwean rookie Joseph Ngwenya scored his first MLS goal in the 44th minute for the Galaxy.
Ronald Cerritos scored in first-half injury time for the United (2-3-2), who played without injured regulars Bobby Convey, Ben Olsen and Ryan Nelsen.
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