Galaxy Burned in Shootout
Someone hand the Galaxy a silver stake.
Or a vial of poison, a length of rope--anything it can use to kill off the Dallas Burn.
Because apparently, that’s what it’s going to take. For the second time in the Major League Soccer playoffs, the Burn came from behind to salvage a game that was seemingly lost.
The first time it was against the defending champion Chicago Fire, which Dallas eliminated in the first round.
This time it was in front of 13,816 at the Cotton Bowl, where on Sunday afternoon Dallas twice came from a goal down to tie the Galaxy, 2-2, in regulation. Then, in the resulting shootout, it came from behind three times to win that lottery, 4-3.
The victory tied the best-of-three Western Conference finals at one game apiece, forcing a deciding match at the Rose Bowl at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
It was a particularly difficult loss for the Galaxy, which at one point was leading, 2-1, and was only 16 minutes 6 seconds from a berth in the MLS championship game.
Carlos Hermosillo scored twice for the Galaxy, but Ariel Graziani did the same for the Burn, netting his fourth and fifth goals of the playoffs.
It was a tense and well-played match, one that kept most of the fans on hand until the final kick, when Graziani sent his shootout attempt just inside goalkeeper Kevin Hartman’s right post to clinch the victory.
What’s it going to take for Los Angeles to get past Dallas?
“I don’t know,” said Burn Coach Dave Dir. “This team is possessed. They just don’t know when to say quit.
“L.A. played almost perfect here and we still managed to squeak it out. You can’t play us better than they did, but the guys just didn’t give up. That was just a great game.”
Billy Hicks, Dallas general manager, echoed the sentiment.
“This team’s always relied a lot on heart,” he said. “They’re playing with a lot of heart right now. I know we feel we’re a team of destiny. What we really wanted was to have a Game 3 and now we’ve got that chance.
“It’s hard after sitting through that drama to say, ‘Ban the shootout.’ That was good television, that was good drama on the field. And it worked in our favor, so I’m a sudden fan of the shootout.”
The tiebreaker is only weeks away from being ditched by MLS, but the Galaxy had to endure it one more time.
Cobi Jones, Hermosillo and Paul Caligiuri scored for Los Angeles in the shootout, but Mauricio Cienfuegos sent his attempt over the crossbar, Gregg Vanney’s shot hit the right post, Ezra Hendrickson’s effort was saved, and so was Danny Pena’s.
“We had the game in hand,” Pena said, “and even when they tied it up we had a couple of opportunities [to score]. But we’ve got to go home, we’ve got to keep our heads up.
“I mean, there aren’t that many times when you get a second chance in the playoffs, and we have a second chance. We’ve got to go home and we’ve got to take care of business.”
The opening goal came in the 13th minute, when Jones used his speed to leave defender Jorge Rodriguez stranded on the right flank, then cut the ball back across the face of the goal. Hermosillo dodged inside defender Eric Dade and powered a header into the net from about 10 yards.
Twenty minutes later, Mark Santel got to the Galaxy end line and sent a cross deep to the far post, where Graziani somehow headed it forward and into the net while falling backward.
Hermosillo restored Los Angeles’ lead in the 54th minute, chipping a shot past Burn goalkeeper Matt Jordan, and for a while it appeared the Galaxy would win.
But Santel again sent a fierce cross into the Galaxy goal area in the 73rd minute, low and into a tangle of legs. Graziani, facing away from the net, hooked it in with his heel to make it 2-2.
Now the series moves back to the Rose Bowl. Can Dallas win there?
“I’ll never say never for this team,” Dir said. “Obviously, L.A.’s an excellent team and a tough team to beat at home, but this team can do it anywhere.”
That silver stake might come in handy.
GALAXY vs. BURN
GAME 1: Galaxy 2, Dallas 1
GAME 2: Dallas 3, Galaxy 2 (shootout)
GAME 3: at Galaxy,
7:30 p.m. Thursday
HE’S THE MAN
Ariel Graziani gains acceptance in Dallas. Page 11
