Luka Prpa (Muskego) and his Chicago Magic PSG team saw their hopes of winning a U.S. Soccer Development Academy national championship end under harsh circumstances Thursday night.
Rey Ortiz converted a penalty kick in second-half stoppage time, capping a hat trick and giving the Los Angeles Galaxy a 3-2 victory in an Under-15/16 semifinal at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.
Ortiz gave the Galaxy (23-3-6) the early lead in the 10th minute, but Prpa pulled Magic PSG (20-10-2) level in the 27th – it was the 14th goal of the season for the 5-foot-8 midfielder, who has verbally committed to Marquette for the 2016 season.
Kendall Stock put the Illinois side ahead 2-1 with his team-best 21st of the season in the 50th, only to see Ortiz level the score in the 62nd.
The Galaxy and defender Elon Koenig, who has verbally committed to the University of Wisconsin for 2015, will face defending champion Real Salt Lake-Arizona (25-5-3) in Saturday's final – RSL-AZ routed California's Strikers FC 5-1 in the other semifinal. The game kicks off at 6 p.m. Central and will be streamed live on the U.S. Soccer website. Magic PSG and Strikers FC (16-8-8) will play in the third-place match at 1 p.m.