Hartman Is Named No. 1 Goalie Over Reis

The Galaxy resumes its Major League Soccer season tonight after a 25-day break, which was just long enough for Coach Sigi Schmid to reach a decision about his goalkeepers.

Kevin Hartman is now officially the starter and Matt Reis is his backup.

“Either way I don’t think I could have made a wrong decision, but my gut feeling was to go with Kevin,” Schmid said.

If so, it’s Reis whose innards have suffered. With an 8-3-4 record and six shutouts this season, including one against tonight’s opponent, D.C. United, Reis can’t be blamed for thinking he had done everything to win the job.

But Hartman, with a 1-3-1 record and two shutouts, had greater experience on his side. He was, after all, the MLS goalkeeper of the year only two seasons ago and has more than 10,000 minutes of league play compared to Reis’ roughly 2,000.

That was a key factor with the playoffs approaching.

“In my mind, our two goalkeepers are in the top six or seven in this league; we really have two starters,” Schmid said. “It’s not a case of me not having confidence in Matt, it’s maybe a case of me having a little more confidence in Kevin.”

Reis was not overjoyed by the decision.

“How would anybody take that?” Schmid asked. “You’re not going to be happy about it and certainly I don’t expect Matt to be. He’s not going to throw things around the locker room, but he’s disappointed.

“He’s competitive. He wants to play. He thinks he has made a case for himself this year.”

The issue is resolved for now, but it is likely that one goalkeeper or the other will move to a new club in 2002.

“We’re in a situation with salary cap and playing time and so on that we’re going to have to move one of the two,” Schmid admitted.

Which one?

Don’t ask. That’s next year’s decision.

With only eight games left in the regular season, the Galaxy still has a chance to earn home-field advantage in the playoffs, but it won’t be easy.

Only the three division winners and the second-place team with the most points are guaranteed two home games, if needed, in the best-of-three quarterfinal and semifinal playoff series.

The San Jose Earthquakes could have all but wrapped up the Western Division while the Galaxy was on its enforced break--caused by cancellation of the FIFA World Club Championship in Spain--but failed to take full advantage.

Before thumping the New England Revolution, 5-1, on Wednesday night, the Earthquakes suffered successive losses and remain only six points ahead of the Galaxy.

“They didn’t pull away from us as far as they could have,” Schmid said. “They’re within our grasp because we still have two games with them.”

The Galaxy had lost twice to San Jose this season before edging it on penalty kicks last month in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.

“I think the Open Cup game was important to establish in our minds that we can beat them, that we know how to play them,” Schmid said. “And they’ve shown themselves to be a little bit vulnerable now as well. Not everything has bounced their way as it did earlier in the season.

“But they’re still a very, very talented team and they’re still in first place and we’re in second, so we’ve got to catch them.”

D.C. United might be enduring another difficult season, one made worse by injuries to Ben Olsen and Bobby Convey, but it is not completely out of the playoff picture.

Coach Thomas Rongen’s team is only five points behind the Dallas Burn for the eighth and final postseason spot.

Having just finished second to Club America of Mexico in the CONCACAF Giants Cup and having reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup, three-time MLS champion D.C. United just might salvage Rongen’s job by making the playoffs.

Not that he’s worrying about it.

“I would be lying to you if I said it hasn’t crossed my mind that my contract is up and that I get rewarded for results, no doubt about it,” Rongen said.

“But my obligation to this club from day one through the last day, whenever that might be, is to try to put the team in the best position to win and if that happens, good things will come everybody’s way. If it doesn’t, I know it [being fired] is the nature of the beast, I don’t fool myself.”