Holse hits 21-minute hat-trick as St. Louis City rout LA Galaxy 6-2 to equal MLS record unbeaten run
Carlo Holse hit a hat-trick inside 21 minutes as St. Louis City SC stormed to a 6-2 victory over the LA Galaxy at Energizer Park, stretching their unbeaten run in all competitions to a record-equalling 20 games and taking a slice of MLS history in the process.
Holse got the ball rolling in the second minute, sliding in to turn home from Rafael Navarro's tee-up, and doubled his tally five minutes later by lashing a left-footed drive beyond Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski. He capped off the treble in sublime fashion, taking a long ball down on his chest before tucking a finish in at the right-hand post, with the hosts leading 5-1 by half-time.
Galaxy fight back, St. Louis pull clear
Robert Taylor's stunning strike briefly dragged the Galaxy back into the contest, but Navarro's penalty restored St. Louis' three-goal cushion. Lukas MacNaughton's brilliant header put the hosts four to the good before the interval, and Navarro's fine, low strike made it 6-1 shortly after the restart. Joao Klauss grabbed another consolation for the visitors, but it could not mask a heavy defeat.
Holse makes MLS history
Holse's hat-trick was the second-fastest in MLS history from the start of a game, and the forward became just the fifth player in the competition to net a hat-trick inside the opening 30 minutes of a match.
Navarro keeps flying in St. Louis
Navarro continued his flying start to life at St. Louis with a penalty and a superb low finish. He is now on 17 goals this season — seven of those for St. Louis, with the other 10 scored for the Colorado Rapids. Speaking ahead of the Galaxy clash, per FotMob's report published October 11, Navarro said: "I've been treated very well. I also like the city a lot. I like living here. I enjoy the life I live."
Records tumble for St. Louis
St. Louis are now unbeaten since May in all competitions, with this 20-game run matching the MLS record previously set by the New York Red Bulls in 2016. They are unbeaten in 18 straight MLS matches, which ties the Columbus Crew's class of 2004 for second place in the league's record books — only FC Dallas (19 games unbeaten in 2010) have gone more fixtures without defeat.
The streak had been building for weeks: as reported on October 1, a 3-0 win over the New York Red Bulls had extended the run to 19 games overall, with Simon Becher leading the team in goal involvements during the streak with 10 (seven goals and three assists).
It was St. Louis' brutally clinical first-half display that saw them race clear on Saturday. They have now scored 29 first-half goals in 28 MLS games this season, with only Inter Miami (33) and the Vancouver Whitecaps (33) netting more times in the opening period.
Western Conference push gathers pace
The victory surged St. Louis to 50 points, just one behind the Western Conference-leading Vancouver Whitecaps as the MLS regular season winds down.
Galaxy resurgence halted by familiar foe
The Galaxy arrived on the back of consecutive 3-2 wins over Colorado and Minnesota United — a notable run given, per the October 11 report, they had scored three goals just once in their first 26 regular-season matches of 2026 before that streak. But their resurgence was emphatically halted in St. Louis.
St. Louis had never lost to the Galaxy before this game, winning three and drawing four of the previous meetings, and had scored multiple goals in each of the last six encounters. This rout extends both marks: St. Louis are now unbeaten in eight meetings with LA and have scored at least twice in seven straight games against the Galaxy.
With history levelled and the Conference summit within touching distance, St. Louis will look to make the record run their own next time out, while the Galaxy must regroup quickly.