LAFC, mired in a slump having won just two of its last 13 games in all competition, fired first-year coach Marc Dos Santos on Sunday with six matches left in the MLS regular season.
The firing, announced in a three-paragraph statement, comes less than 24 hours after Saturday’s 1-0 loss to FC Dallas dropped the team to sixth in the Western Conference table.
“Marc has given a great deal to this club over the years, and we are grateful for his commitment, care and contributions to LAFC,” said John Thorrington, the team’s president of soccer operations, in the release. “We wish Marc and his family all the best moving forward.”
LAFC (11-9-8) said it will begin the search for a new manager immediately but didn’t say who would coach the team in its next game on Oct. 10, after the two-week FIFA international break.
Dos Santos, 49, was an assistant on Bob Bradley’s staff in LAFC’s inaugural season in 2018. He left after the season to take over the Vancouver Whitecaps but struggled to a 22-39-20 record in 2 ½ years that were heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the team to play many of its games on the road.
Dos Santos returned to LAFC as an assistant in 2022, this time for Steve Cherundolo, helping the team to a Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup. When Cherundolo stepped down after last season, Dos Santos was given the head coaching job just two weeks later, becoming the third manager in the team‘s history.
His two stints as an assistant at LAFC taught him that the team’s fans are among the most demanding in MLS, something he said he embraced.
“It’s a privilege when you coach a team in Los Angeles,” he said at the time. “Every sport here is pressure. Every team here is win, win.
“It’s a winning city and the culture of the city. So I understand that.”
Dos Santos, who is fluent in four languages, was born in Montreal and split his childhood between Quebec and Portugal. With the exception of Vancouver, he has won everywhere he’s managed, from the Ottawa Fury of the NASL, where he was named the league’s coach of the year in 2015, to the San Francisco Deltas, whom he guided to an NASL title.
LAFC was unbeaten in its first 11 matches in all competition under Dos Santos, outscoring opponents 27-3 and advancing to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, where it lost to Mexico’s Toluca, the eventual winner. But the team has gone 6-9-7 in MLS play since then, including Saturday’s loss when Dos Santos was without six key players — including leading scorer Denis Bouanga and captain Son Heung-min — who were with their national teams.
Afterward, he spoke about his plans for the two-week international break.
“It’s a hard moment right now for us. And we have to face it,” said Dos Santos, who was popular with his players. “It’s been hard for us to get wins. A lot of draws, a lot of close games.
“We need to have everybody together and start working on what this team can be. That’s the big objective during the break.”
From the moment they arrive at school, Dos Pueblos High seniors Ruby Streatfeild and Brooklyn Hedricks are practically inseparable.
Whether in class, at lunch or in practice, the two spend so much of their time together they can finish each other’s sentences, and that synergy is one reason the Chargers are in the hunt for a CIF flag football championship. Their competitiveness is another.
“Me and Brooklyn are besties,” Streatfeild said. ”The biggest thing we have in common is we both want to win.”
Streatfeild began the season as a receiver but transitioned to quarterback when Ava Taiji sustained a tricep strain at the Chargers Invitational. She has flourished in her new role, passing for 823 yards and 18 touchdowns.
“It’s a lot harder, but I like it,” said Streatfeild, who has also rushed for 248 yards and five touchdowns. “I like getting the ball every play and being able to make more plays. It’s taught me to be a leader. It’s not just about being vocal, it’s about the energy you bring to the field and not letting a loss bring you down.”
The Chargers are 10-2 and have shut out five opponents. Their only defeats came within hours of each other at the Chargers Invitational, to reigning Southern Section Division I champion JSerra and Bonita Vista, the second-ranked team in the San Diego Section. They have won seven straight, giving up only 25 points in the process.
Naturally, Hedricks is Streatfeild’s favorite target.
“Brooklyn has the best hands and really good speed,” Streatfeild said. “If I throw her the ball, it’ll be caught.”
Hedricks, a receiver on offense and a linebacker on defense, has mutual trust in her quarterback. She already has 27 receptions for 355 yards and eight touchdowns.
“I know when Ruby throws it, it’s going to get there,” she said.
Both grew up playing soccer and their AYSO teams were once matched against each other at a tournament in Bakersfield when they were 12, although neither knew it at the time.
Dos Pueblos quarterback Ruby Streatfeild throws on the run during a 31-0 win over Santa Barbara.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“My family figured it out later,” said Streatfeild, who ended the first drive of last week’s nonleague game at Santa Barbara by rolling to her left and zipping a perfect pass to Hedricks in the corner of the end zone. Hedricks later scored on a 40-yard interception return in the team’s 31-0 victory.
“Ruby and Brooklyn have been with us since Day 1, they’re both three-sport athletes and both have sisters who also play,” said Dos Pueblos coach Doug Caines, who started the program in 2023. “It’s incredible for Ruby to be clicking this fast at a new position. As for Brooklyn, she’s so gifted at reading the quarterback. She had two pick-sixes at the Ventura Showcase.”
In the winter, the two play on the varsity soccer team (Hedricks plays forward; Streatfeild left back) under the guidance of Hedricks’ father George, who is also the head baseball coach.
“I don’t think we’ve ever assisted each other in soccer,” said Hedricks, who tallied six goals and three assists last season.
Asked which is more exhilarating — scoring a goal or a touchdown — the two looked at each other and said in unison: “A touchdown!”
Hedricks plays outfield in softball and will move from right field to center in the spring.
“I got a promotion,” she joked.
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1.Dos Pueblos receiver Brooklyn Hedricks catches a pass.2.Dos Pueblos quarterback Ruby Streatfeild runs with the ball.(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Hedricks had 30 hits, 23 RBIs and 20 runs with 26 putouts in 26 chances last season as Dos Pueblos advanced to the Division 3 semifinals.
Streatfeild’s spring activity is track and field, where she competes in the 100-meter dash, long jump and both relays. She ran the anchor leg as the Chargers set a school record in the 4×100 meters with a time of 48.66 seconds at the Division 2 prelims last year.
However, both consider flag football their primary sport and have received offers to play in college.
“My dad encouraged me to try out and I loved it from the start,” said Hedricks, who is the school’s all-time leader in interceptions with 45. “I’ve never struggled learning plays.”
Hedricks’ sister Reagan is a freshman linebacker and punter on the junior varsity team.
Streatfeild’s inspiration was her sister Sterling, who was a tailback and free safety and now attends Vanderbilt. Last June, the sisters helped the Conquer Chargers’ U17 team win the inaugural Roma Bowl in Italy after Sterling’s graduation. Ruby was named the tournament MVP.
“She was in ninth grade and came to watch her older sister try out and after that first day she said ‘I want to do that,’” Caines said of Ruby, who caught a team-best 104 passes for 1,101 yards and 18 touchdowns last fall.
Ruby Streatfeild has thrown for 823 yards and 18 touchdowns since switching from receiver to quarterback early in the season.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Streatfeild and Hedricks’ bond grew even stronger as teammates on the Conquer Chargers, which won the high school girls division at the NFL Flag championships in July in Westfield, Ind. That roster also featured Kacey Hurley, who quarterbacked Dos Pueblos to the Southern Section semifinals last fall and is now a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
“We tried out in November and were with the team for eight months prior to nationals,” Hedricks said. “We trained once or twice a week in Camarillo and some days we carpooled.”
“It was fun experience but that was five-on-five not seven-on-seven, which is a whole different format,” added Streatfeild, who was thrilled to learn the next morning that a play she made — diving to catch the ball before it hit the ground — was No. 1 on the ESPN “SportsCenter Top 10.” She also made the list for her 60-yard touchdown catch in the playoffs last season against Edison.
“That just shows what a game-changer Ruby is,” Caines said. “I mean, to make an ESPN highlight not once but twice? Amazing!”
While they do not socialize much off campus, the hours they spend together on it have forged a close friendship.
“It’s harder to hang out after school because of where we both live,” said Hedricks, who has a 45-minute commute from Lompoc to Goleta. “Not a big deal — I’m used to it by now.”
Caines is grateful for the attention his stars have brought to Dos Pueblos, located in the foothills across the 101 Freeway from UC Santa Barbara.
Dos Pueblos’ Brooklyn Hedricks, left, celebrates with teammate Kindah Ahmad-Reda after returning an interception for a touchdown against Santa Barbara.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“We’re not in Orange County or San Diego, we’re the northernmost school in the Southern Section and we don’t get as much exposure but we’re fighting for relevancy,” he said. “It was so cool seeing 805 [area code] girls beat more established club teams from Texas and Florida. It shows we have good teams up here.”
Dos Pueblos finished 24-3 last season and played even with JSerra for almost three quarters before losing 20-0 in the Division 1 semifinals. This year’s goal is to make it to the finals.
“We’ve had a different quarterback every season, so this is nothing new,” Streatfeild said. “We’re still progressing but beating Westlake was huge. We have the best coach, so I think we can make the top division. We’re going to give it our all.”
