GALAXY TONIGHT

Opponent--Chicago Fire.

* Site--Soldier Field, Chicago.

* Time--5 PDT.

* Television--Fox Sports West 2.

* Radio--KTNQ 1020 (Spanish).

* Records--Galaxy 2-2; Chicago 3-1.

* Record vs. Fire--2-2 regular season, 0-2 playoffs (1998).

* Update--Ignore the shootout and the Galaxy has four ties. “By the time we reach the middle of the season, we will be where we want to be,” Coach Octavio Zambrano said after the latest shootout loss, to the Columbus Crew at the Rose Bowl last week. “Right now, this is a young team that is still finding its way.” Cobi Jones, the second-leading scorer in the league last season, is less patient. “There’s no secret about what we need to do,” he said. “We need to get out there and start playing 90 minutes of intense soccer, the way we know how to play. We need to start winning games in order to keep ourselves in the hunt and play to the level our fans expect us to play. I know we’re a young team, but the team expects better results.” The Galaxy has given up only three goals and yet all it has to show for it is two points, leaving it fifth and last in the Western Conference, seven points behind the first-place Fire. “We can’t seem to play well as a team,” goalkeeper Kevin Hartman said. The defending league champion Fire has no such problems. It is the only MLS team with its entire starting lineup intact from 1998, and the benefits are obvious. Former Galaxy forward Ante Razov leads the Fire with six goals. Former UCLA and Fire defender-midfielder Zak Ibsen, traded to the Galaxy during the preseason, will receive his championship ring from Fire General Manager Peter Wilt in a pregame ceremony tonight.