It's All in Hartman's Hands

By GRAHAME L. JONES

Oct. 30, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Three more shutouts. That’s what it will take.

If Kevin Hartman can keep the Dallas Burn off the scoreboard for two games and either Washington D.C. United or the Columbus Crew for one, and if his teammates can score a few goals, the Galaxy will win Major League Soccer’s championship.

But that’s easier written than done.

So far in the MLS playoffs, Hartman has not been beaten, denying the Colorado Rapids, 3-0 and 2-0, as the Galaxy swept into the Western Conference finals.

On Sunday, the Dallas Burn comes to the Rose Bowl, fresh off a 3-2 victory at the Cotton Bowl that knocked the defending champion Chicago Fire out of the playoffs.

The Burn was trailing by two goals Wednesday night when its forwards suddenly caught fire and torched Chicago with three second-half goals.

Hartman knows exactly how Chicago feels. When the Galaxy played at the Cotton Bowl four weeks ago, it built a 3-1 first-half lead, then saw Dallas erase it with three goals in the second 45 minutes.

That was not enough, however, to prevent Hartman from finishing the regular season with the best record in MLS.

The 25-year-old from Athens, Ohio, by way of Palos Verdes and UCLA, played in all 32 games, shattering the league record with a minuscule 0.91 goals-against average and 11 shutouts.

MLS goalkeeper of the year?

Possibly, but there’s no guarantee. Hartman’s numbers were equally impressive at midseason, but he was ignored by fans and coaches in balloting for the All-Star game.

Chicago’s Zach Thornton and Dallas’ Matt Jordan, who also finished the season with 11 shutouts, were chosen in his stead.

“It was disappointing, yet at the same time it’s not the kind of league where if you play unbelievably, all of a sudden you’re going to get rewarded,” Hartman said. “You have people voting online, and perhaps they don’t even watch the games, they just vote for people that they’ve known from the past.”

Still, Hartman’s play caught the eye of Bruce Arena, the U.S. national team coach. Arena called Hartman up for a game against Jamaica in Kingston in September, playing him for the entire second half.

The U.S. tied the match, 2-2, but might have won had it not been for a rare miscue by Hartman.

“He didn’t do particularly well because of one mistake that resulted in a goal, but I think he’s a goalkeeper who has a bright future,” Arena said.

Hartman was thrilled simply to be called to the national team.

“It was awesome,” he said. “I love reggae and I’ve always wanted to go to Jamaica. In the game, I felt totally comfortable. I misplayed one cross. It’s something that wouldn’t happen again.

“I misjudged the cross, the ball got behind me and somebody [Jamaica’s David Johnson] just played it into the goal. But the way they wrote about it in Soccer America [magazine] was that the ball got over my head and then I went back on the other side and then it went through my legs.

“It was funny, because [the mistake] got proportionately bigger the farther away from Jamaica that you got.”

If Hartman is to have a future on the national team, it’s going to be one he earns.

“We are blessed with a number of good goalkeepers,” Arena said. “Clearly, Keller and Friedel are Nos. 1 and 2.”

That would be Kasey Keller, who starts for Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish Primera Division and has the team in second place behind Barcelona, and Brad Friedel, the backup at Liverpool in the English Premier League.

After them in the pecking order comes another goalkeeper with two World Cup tournaments on his resume--the Kansas City Wizards’ Tony Meola.

“Meola right now is ahead of the young keepers,” Arena said. “He’s got a lot of experience and that’s one position where you need it. You can see the difference between Meola and some of our young players when we’ve had him in camp.”

Keller and Meola are 30; Friedel is 28.

Thornton turned 26 this month, Hartman is 25, D.C. United’s Tom Presthus is 24 and Jordan turned 24 last week. They are the future, the keepers who will be battling to represent the U.S. in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

“Kevin’s in the mix,” Arena said. “Our three veterans are clearly ahead of the young ones, but there’s a lot of competition there and there’s a lot of promise.”

Hartman is in no hurry.

“Bruce put it pretty bluntly,” Hartman said. “He said it’s between me and Zach and Tom. I never really expected to be starting for the U.S. national team when I’m 25. It was an honor to get called up this early and it’s not something that I take for granted or anything.

“You want to learn as much as you can in the times you do get called up. I wasn’t really planning on being an international goalkeeper at 25. I think it’s at 30 that you reach your peak. It’s something that I continue to work toward and I can’t really concern myself with what other people do. The club level is what’s going to pay the bills right now, so I’ve got to continue to succeed here.”

Hartman took over as the Galaxy starter when Jorge Campos was traded to Chicago two years ago. The team is 48-26 overall with him in the nets.

Credit for his development goes to former Egypt national team keeper Zak Abdel, the Galaxy’s goalkeeper coach.

Abdel said Hartman has improved steadily since becoming a starter, both in performance and understanding of the position.

“He’s more mature now, and when he’s doing good, he knows why,” Abdel said. “And he’s getting more hungry. That’s what I like. The difference between him and any goalkeeper in the league is he’s always hungry. Always.

“That’s why I always push him. I tell him, ‘Every goal scored against you, that’s your fault.’ When you have this feeling, that ‘I can stop every shot,’ that’s when you become special.

“He has everything to be a very special goalkeeper. All he needs is more games, more experience.”

Galaxy defender Paul Caligiuri played alongside Friedel at UCLA and sees Hartman as Friedel’s natural heir in the U.S. nets.

“The similar traits I see about them is their work ethic and their true passion for the game,” Caligiuri said. “I see a lot of similarities in how [Hartman] trains, day in and day out. He gets in early and works out hard. He’s out there giving his best.”

That’s because of Abdel.

“Zak absolutely kills me,” Hartman said. “He pushes me very, very hard, and it’s frustrating for me sometimes because after playing goalkeeper for 15 years you would think that you know something. And yet when Zak comes, it’s like, ‘You don’t know anything. We’re going to teach you how to play goalkeeper all over again.’

“Psychologically, that makes you stronger. I think I’ve become stronger, psychologically. There are technical things that he’s taught me . . . small things that as an observer perhaps you don’t see but as a goalkeeper coach of his caliber you do see. . . . I listen to what he says. I have total trust in him and whatever he says. We have a good relationship.”

Hartman is in the final year of his MLS contract. Near the end of the regular season, rumors surfaced that unidentified teams in Mexico were interested in him. Hartman is ignoring that for now.

“I’m going to wait until the end of the year and then see what all my options are and then weigh them against each other,” he said. “Even if Mexico’s looking, it has to be the right opportunity. I don’t want to go and find myself on the bench somewhere.

“I’m working toward the peak of my career. I’m not working to make money right now. It’s not all about money. I just want to make sure I’m not exploited, yet at the same time I want to make sure I’m in the place where I’m learning and continuing to grow as a goalkeeper.”

Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid coached Friedel and Hartman at UCLA and Friedel and Keller when he was assistant to Bora Milutinovic on the 1994 U.S. World Cup team.

“If you asked me to choose between Hartman and Keller or Friedel, I’ve got to choose Keller or Friedel,” he said. “But in MLS, there’s nobody in the league that I would rather have than Hartman.

“He deserves to be goalkeeper of the year this season for what he’s accomplished.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Hard to Beat

Where Kevin Hartman ranks in MLS in 1999 in various goalkeeping categories:

*--*

Category No. Ranking Games 32 1 Minutes 2,870 1 Wins 20 1 Goals against 0.91 1 Shutouts 11 1 (Tie) Saves 118 3

*--*

GALAXY vs. DALLAS

WESTERN FINALS

(Best of three)

GAME 1

2:30 p.m. Sunday