Hurtado Gets His Kicks in 6-1 Galaxy Win

The battered, bruised ego of Eduardo Hurtado started to heal Sunday.

Hurtado, the sensitive Galaxy striker who was virtually run out of the Rose Bowl with boos a few days ago, did some running on his own terms against the Tampa Bay Mutiny.

He ran around the Mutiny defense.

He ran over it, too.

And when he scored his final goal, in the 57th minute, finishing a three-goal performance in the Galaxy’s 6-1 victory, Hurtado ran into the Mutiny goal, picked up the ball and bounded into the Rose Bowl stands to present his 3-year-old daughter, Priscilla, with a novel birthday present.

For the struggling Galaxy, the blowout put them ahead of the San Jose Clash by two points--with a game in hand--for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Tampa Bay (15-12) was without five starters, four playing in World Cup qualifiers.

The six goals scored by the Galaxy (11-16) are a franchise record, and they tied an MLS record. But the Galaxy nearly established another franchise mark, as the attendance was a paltry 7,482, dangerously close to Thursday’s record low of 7,232.

Those who weren’t on hand will have to be convinced that Hurtado’s hat trick was no misprint, no aberration.

“Those three goals were very important for me, for the team,” said Hurtado, who scored his third MLS hat trick. “Thank God, I put a little piece of my signature on the game for the team to win.”

The new-and-improved Galaxy attitude, in part, was attributed to a closed-door team meeting after practice Friday. Galaxy Coach Octavio Zambrano said that “a sense of urgency dawned on us.” He had contemplated making some lineup changes but decided against it.

How close was Hurtado to being benched?

“That forever will remain with me,” Zambrano said, smiling.

Two of Hurtado’s goals came in the first half--in the 17th minute and the 37th minute--as the Galaxy took a 4-1 halftime lead. His first goal came on a excellent through ball from midfielder Martin Machon. Hurtado, catching the Mutinty defense trying to pull an offside trap, blew past defender Cle Kooiman and scored on a breakaway, chipping the ball past goalkeeper Mark Dougherty.

The second goal came when Hurtado simply out-muscled defender Adam Frye, and the hat trick was completed in the 57th minute. Goalkeeper Jorge Campos got the assist when he turned a Mutiny offensive surge into a quick counter, and Hurtado, powering over Frankie Hejduk, was almost able to walk it in.

“This has got to be the most embarrassing game I have ever been involved in,” said the veteran Kooiman.

The other Galaxy goals were scored by Mauricio Cienfuegos (6th minute), Harut Karapetyan (18th minute) and Welton (69th minute).

Clearly, Hurtado was the offensive spark. The Galaxy got some unexpected defensive help when Robin Fraser was not put on the United States’ game-day roster in its World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica and returned in time for the Galaxy game.

“If he [Hurtado] comes to play, I think we’re unbeatable,” Fraser said. “When he really, really comes to play he can make the difference for us.”

Machon, who had two assists, said he spoke to Hurtado.

“Eddie is really a good player, unbelievable skills,” he said. “He has to know that everyone in the world that plays soccer is never perfect. And we can have a bad night.

” . . . I think he made his point. Thursday was a nightmare. He knows it. And now he comes and scores three goals. He played a terrific game. That’s the way he should be playing.”