Galaxy Attempts to Exploit Edge

Danny Califf’s “golden goal” header Tuesday night did more than give the Galaxy a victory in Game 2 of its semifinal series against the Kansas City Wizards. It changed the complexion of Game 3.

The top-seeded Wizards, with their aggressive and effective defense, must switch gears and play with offensive abandon while going for the victory in tonight’s series-deciding match at Arrowhead Stadium.

The series winner is decided by the first team to reach five points in the series, with a victory earning a team three points and a tie one point. The Galaxy, which leads the series four points to one after Game 1’s scoreless draw and Tuesday’s victory, would win the series, and advance to MLS Cup 2000, with a tie tonight.

But Califf, a rookie defender who had just returned from Sydney, Australia, over the weekend with fellow Olympians Peter Vagenas and Sasha Victorine, said the Galaxy must go for the jugular.

“I think we’ve got to go in and try to win,” Califf said. “We can’t really hold back at all. I think that’s when teams get in trouble, when they play for the tie. They defend, they defend, they defend, and then they get in trouble. We’ve got to go in there with the same mind-set we had [in Game 2].”

With its three Olympians rested and ready to go and forward Luis Hernandez not leaving for Mexico’s World Cup qualifier in Mexico City until Saturday morning, the Galaxy is at full strength.

Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said his team’s mood was one of quiet confidence as it tries to make its second consecutive title-match appearance, and third in five years.

“But I also think we have to remember that at this stage we’ve set the table but we haven’t accomplished anything,” Schmid said. “We’ve set the table by winning at home and now it puts a little more pressure on [Kansas City].

“We know if we score a goal, they have to score two; we score two, they’ve got to score three. They have to beat us, so the important thing is we have to continue to play good defense and we have to look for our opportunities to score. The game plan doesn’t change.”

Unless you’re the Wizards.

In a must-win situation, Kansas City cannot afford to play its brand of pack-it-in defense.

“They’ll have to come at us and open it up a little bit,” said Cobi Jones, the Galaxy’s leading playoff scorer after getting a goal and the assist with his corner kick on Califf’s header Tuesday.

The Galaxy is hoping that with the Wizards forced to spread things out, it can take advantage of the wider passing lanes and finish, much the way the Galaxy did in its 5-2 quarterfinal series-clinching win over the Tampa Bay Mutiny on Sept. 20.

The Wizards, obviously, are hoping for something else entirely.

“Los Angeles better be prepared for a war,” Kansas City forward Mo Johnston said. “We are a team that will battle until the end with each other and we are not done yet.”

A Kansas City victory tonight would tie the series at four points apiece and create the need for a 20-minute “golden goal” period, in which the first team to score would win the series.

In the event neither team scores in the overtime, a penalty-kick shootout would settle things and the winner would move on to face the survivor of the Chicago Fire-New York/New Jersey MetroStars semifinal series, which is tied at one win (three points) apiece. The Fire and MetroStars play their Game 3 tonight at Chicago. MLS Cup 2000 is Oct. 15 at RFK Stadium in Washington.

Said Kansas City midfielder Chris Henderson: “Game 3 . . . is what heroes are made of.”