Galaxy Ready to Turn on Its Afterburners

By GRAHAME L. JONES

Nov. 12, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The Galaxy is returning to the scene of the grime.

That would be Foxboro, Mass., where, in the cloying mud and driving rain of a late October afternoon in 1996, it was robbed of Major League Soccer’s championship by two late goals from Washington D.C. United.

Now, it’s going back.

This time, Galaxy players say, they intend to collect the trophy.

Coach Sigi Schmid’s team earned a chance to win MLS Cup ’99 when it played a near-flawless game Thursday night to defeat the Dallas Burn, 3-1, in front of a loud and enthusiastic crowd of 25,703 at the Rose Bowl.

The championship that escaped it three years ago in a 3-2 loss to D.C. United is now only 90 minutes away.

The Galaxy, winner of the Western Conference title, will play the winner of Saturday afternoon’s Eastern Conference finale at RFK Stadium between the Columbus Crew and D.C. United. The title game is Nov. 21 at Foxboro Stadium.

But in the champagne-soaked bedlam of Thursday night’s celebrations, that date was as distant as the next millennium. Amid the chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole” bouncing off the walls of the Galaxy locker room, the final was next week’s worry.

Greg Vanney got the Galaxy off to a fast start with a goal in the second minute. Carlos Hermosillo deepened Dallas’ gloom with another in the 20th minute, and Mauricio Cienfuegos applied the coup de grace in the 68th minute.

Jason Kreis scored for the Burn on a penalty kick with 1:05 to play, but all that served was to prevent MLS’ regular-season scoring champion from being shut out in the playoffs.

Ariel Graziani, Dallas’ main threat, was effectively neutralized by Paul Caligiuri, but every Galaxy player contributed to the victory.

The fans had hardly settled in their seats before the Galaxy struck. Cobi Jones and Vanney exchanged passes before Vanney floated a long cross from the left flank into the goal area.

Dallas rookie Paul Broome, in an apparent moment of panic, stuck out his left arm to prevent the ball reaching Ezra Hendrickson and referee Brian Hall had no hesitation in awarding the Galaxy a penalty kick.

Vanney slammed it into the roof of the Burn net past goalkeeper Mark Dodd to send Los Angeles on its way.

Dallas Coach Dave Dir was missing half his starting defense, with Brandon Pollard out injured and Eric Dade serving a one-game suspension. The lack of organization and experience at the back was obvious on the Galaxy’s second goal.

This time it was Roy Myers and Clint Mathis who caused the confusion with darting runs into the penalty area, and Hermosillo who finished it off with his third goal of the playoffs.

Dallas regrouped at halftime and looked the stronger team for a while. Then Hendrickson got free on the right, pushed the ball into Cienfuegos’ path and the Salvadoran midfielder netted the insurance goal.

“When it was 2-0, we knew that it was not over,” said Galaxy midfielder Danny Pena. “Dallas is a second-half team, and they’ve proven it time and time again. We knew the third goal was going to be the knockout punch.

“The boys gave a valiant effort, 100% from every player. This is the greatest feeling I’ve felt in my life. We dug deep, we fought hard and we won it.”

Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman echoed the sentiment.

“It feels unbelievable,” he said. “To put in the amount of work that we have, not only in the past nine months of training but in the past three years of growing as a team in the playoffs, it’s just unbelievable.

“It’s great to do it here in front of the fans and it’s a great thing for L.A. Hopefully, now we just go to Foxboro and clinch it.”

Los Angeles lost to the eventual-champion Chicago Fire in last season’s conference final.

“It’s such a rewarding feeling to get back to this point,” Galaxy captain Robin Fraser said. “But the thing to remember is, it’s not over yet. This is great, but this is merely a step along the way.”

Fraser is one of five Galaxy players who were on the field in 1996 when the championship was washed away in the rain.

“We’ve been there,” he said. “We’ve been in the bad weather and the rain and the wind. We’ve been through that whole thing. The memories of it aren’t pleasant, so hopefully this time we can change that.”

GALAXY vs. DALLAS

Galaxy wins best-of-three series, 2-1 (* shootout)

GAME 1

GALAXY: 2

DALLAS: 1

GAME 2

DALLAS*: 3

GALAXY: 2

GAME 3

GALAXY: 3

DALLAS: 1

EAST FINALS