Galaxy Can’t See the Goal for the Woods

The last two players to trudge slowly off the Rose Bowl field Thursday night were the two who had given the best performance on it.

Unfortunately for Cobi Jones and Guillermo Jara, their best for 90 minutes was not enough to carry the rest of the Los Angeles Galaxy, which was beaten, 1-0, in a shootout by the Colorado Rapids.

And as Jones walked off, hands clasping the back of his neck, eyes staring straight ahead, he could reflect on what might have been. Four, count them, four times the Galaxy was denied by the width of the goal post. Twice in regulation and twice in the shootout.

And as Jara ambled off, reaching down to touch the chalk endline and cross himself as he left the field, he could reflect that one of those shots was his--a close-range effort that slammed into the left post and rebounded into the arms of Colorado goalkeeper Chris Woods.

It was one of the luckiest nights in the career of the former England national team keeper, as he would be the first to admit. Consider:

--In the 51st minute, Woods rushed out of his net to block a shot by Jones, the ball rebounded to Jara, whose follow-up shot was headed off the line by Colorado defender Denis Hamlett.

--In the 65th minute, Eduardo Hurtado, the Galaxy’s leading scorer with 18 goals, got free and blasted a shot from 20 yards that brought a fine reaction save from Woods.

--In the 69th minute, a backward header by Hamlett looped down and hit the base of the right goal post, with Woods flailing at it in vain. The ball rebounded clear.

--In the 74th minute, Jones squirmed free inside the box and fired a shot from six yards that hit the side netting.

--In the 82nd minute, Woods flung himself at a fierce shot from John Garvey and just managed to tip it over the crossbar.

The Galaxy’s luck was no better in the shootout. Unbelievably, both shots by Jones and Jara struck the left post and bounced away. Greg Vanney scored the only Galaxy shootout goal. Garvey and Jorge Salcedo’s shots were saved by Woods.

So, it was a night when the Galaxy was denied by the woodwork and the Woods. And the team is not out of the forest yet.

The loss dropped the Galaxy to 16-12, keeping it level with the Dallas Burn in terms of record and points in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference. Both are one point behind the Kansas City Wiz and both have four games to play, including two against each other. The Wiz (17-13) has two games left.

The Rapids, despite the victory, were eliminated from playoff contention, the fourth and final Western Conference spot going to the San Jose Clash. Colorado needed three points but got only one for the shootout win.

“I think we outplayed them, but had some bad luck and then messed up in the shootout,” Jara said. “It happens like that sometimes. When the ball doesn’t want to go in, it finds a way to hit the post.”

And from Coach Lothar Osiander: “This game was a case of bad luck. It’s been bad luck the last four games. All of those games that we lost were winnable. Maybe our luck will get better in the playoffs.”

By then, Mauricio Cienfuegos should have returned. The midfielder missed Thursday’s game while training with the El Salvador national team for its World Cup ’98 qualifying game against Cuba on Sunday. Without him, the Galaxy struggled for 60 minutes, then suddenly came to life in the final 30.

But try as they might, no matter how hard they attacked, the Rapids’ eight-man defense proved too difficult to beat. And when the Galaxy forwards did break through, there was always the goalkeeper to beat.

And the goal post.

Said Galaxy General Manager Danny Villanueva: “It’s like that song says, if we didn’t have bad luck we wouldn’t have any luck at all.”

Then again, maybe the team has used up its share of misfortune.

Knock wood.