Timing Looks Perfect to Ruiz, Lalas, Galaxy
The way things are going for the Galaxy, Carlos Ruiz is going to owe Alexi Lalas a watch before the season ends.
Ruiz, who was promised a new timepiece by Lalas if he had 15 goals on the season, scored his league-leading 17th Wednesday night, and Lalas had the game-winning goal in the Galaxy’s 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Wizards in front of 8,943 at the Rose Bowl.
“Better than just the two of us getting watches,” Ruiz said, “would be for all of us to get rings, championship rings.”
With the win, the Galaxy (12-8-3, 39 points) moved into second place in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference and kept pace with the front-running San Jose Earthquakes (13-8-3, 42 points), 3-1 winners over the Dallas Fire.
Ruiz, a forward coming off a one-game suspension for accumulation of caution points, put the Galaxy on top in the 31st minute.
With Simon Elliott bringing the ball up along the right sideline, the Galaxy midfielder had his path cut off by the Wizard defense. So Elliott found Ezra Hendrickson in stride with a nifty back-heel pass.
Hendrickson fired from just inside the penalty box, but Kansas City goalkeeper Tony Meola was able to deflect the shot. Unfortunately for the Wizards, the ball caromed back into the field of play and Ruiz was there to shoot from 12 yards out and into an unguarded net for the 1-0 Galaxy lead.
The goal also gave Ruiz 35 points (17 goals, one assist) and he overtook New England’s Taylor Twellman (34 points) for the league scoring lead.
The Wizards tied it in the 60th minute when an unmarked Preki scored his sixth goal of the season on a 30-yard shot.
Lalas’ heroics were set up by an Elliott corner kick from the left side.
With Elliott’s curling kick coming in from the left, Lalas, who is 6 feet 3, out-jumped the gathering and got just enough head on the ball to send it into the ground in front of Meola. The diving Meola got a hand on it but the ball squirted past him and into the right side of the net for Lalas’ fourth goal of the season, which ranks second on the Galaxy behind Ruiz.
Lalas, a defender who is two seasons removed from a one-year retirement, equaled his career high for goals scored in a season, and he has set a new mark for points in a season with 12.
“I think if you’re a professional athlete and you want to be a good one, you better understand that you’re an entertainer and you’ve got to keep people coming back,” Lalas said of his penchant for the dramatic.
“I’m good at certain things and I’m horrible at others. I like to think that I’m adequate at getting my head on the ball, so when those opportunities arrive, I have to at least create some problems, make a nuisance of myself and see what happens.”
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While Hong Myung-Bo’s South Korean club team claimed Wednesday that Major League Soccer’s request to acquire the defender and assign him to the Galaxy was denied, Galaxy General Manager Doug Hamilton was noncommittal.
“We are optimistic about where our discussions are with a Korean player,” Hamilton said. “I won’t be specific about any particular player, but we feel that the discussions are going in a positive direction and to discuss any particular discussions that are going on would jeopardize the talks.”
When told that his comments were neither a confirmation nor a denial that the Galaxy had attempted to acquire Hong from the Pohang Steelers of the K League, Hamilton smiled.
“I’m saying we don’t talk about negotiations while they’re in progress,” he said.
Hong, the South Korea captain who led the host nation to a fourth place finish in the World Cup, was awarded the Bronze Boot as the tournament’s outstanding defender.
“Hong’s contract with our team expires at the end of 2003,” Pohang spokesman Chung Kyo-Jin told Reuters. “We rejected his request because we want him to play here for Korean fans.”
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World Cup star Landon Donovan, Ariel Graziani and Ramiro Corrales scored goals as the defending MLS champion San Jose Earthquakes clinched a playoff spot with a 3-1 victory over Dallas in front of 9,089 at San Jose.
Against his former team, Graziani scored his 13th goal of the season in the seventh minute and set up Donovan’s goal in the 33rd minute. In the 43rd minute, the Burn’s Jorge Rodriguez converted a penalty kick to make it 2-1.
Corrales capped the scoring with a long shot in the 63rd minute. The Earthquakes, the first team to clinch a playoff spot, broke a three-game winless streak.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
