Jaime Penedo makes a save against the New England Revolution in the 2014 MLS Cup. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

By Michael Lewis

CARSON, Calif. — Once he tried to defeat a Bruce Arena-coached team in the final of the Concacaf Gold Cup.

On Sunday, Panama international goalkeeper Jaime Penedo will try to lift another Arena-coached side, the LA Galaxy, to another championship — the MLS Cup.

Penedo was in the nets when the Panamanians lost a penalty-kick shootout to the United States in the 2005 Gold Cup final. He also was keeper in the 2013 final in which the Central Americans dropped a 1-0 decision to the USA.

“It’s really just things that kind of happen in soccer sometimes,” said Penedo, who was named to the tournament Best XI both times. “I’m very, very happy to be on a team that wins and a team that does a great job and a coach that asks a lot of us. He’s a great coach.”

The 33-year-old Penedo is coming off a season in which he registered a 1.14 goals-against average while recording a 15-7-7 mark.

“Overall, I’d say he’s had a very good year,” Arena said.

Penedo joined LA at the right time for both parties in 2013. Arena was looking for another goalkeeper.

“Jaime had a very good run with the Panamanian team in the Gold Cup,” he said. “I’ve known about Jaime for years in international play, had a good feel for the keeper. The biggest thing is that we were getting a keeper with experience. He played at a high level and I thought he would be a good addition to our team.”

The 6-foot, 160-lb. Penedo felt it was the right time to leave Municipal (Guatemala), for which he made 100 appearances in six seasons.

“My career needed another step. So I just decided to take the risk,” he said.

Including the regular season and playoffs, the Galaxy has a 14-4-1 record at the StubHub Center, scoring 50 goals and allowing only 14.

“We’ll have a great game,” he said. “I feel like that will be enough for us to win the cup. We are confident, but we are not overconfident. We are playing at home. We are playing in front of our fans again.”

If the Galaxy does win, it could mean that Penedo will have quite a busy year in 2015, with LA performing in the CONCACAF Champions League and if he is called up, in the Gold Cup.

“It will be [busy],” he said. “Right now I’m just thinking about winning the cup, being champions and then we’ll see about next year.”

Note: Penedo backstopped the Galaxy to a 2-1 extratime victory over the New England Revolution in the 2014 MLS Cup final.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.