Hartman Trying to Keep His Focus
Kevin Hartman closed out the regular season as arguably the hottest goalkeeper in Major League Soccer, having given up one goal in the Galaxy’s last four league games.
Things have been painfully different for him in the postseason.
Hartman has given up six goals in the first two games of the Galaxy’s first-round MLS playoff series against the Kansas City Wizards.
Still, there are no measurable worries in the Galaxy camp, not even with the No. 1-seeded Galaxy facing elimination with a loss tonight in Game 3 against the No. 8-seeded Wizards.
“The thing about being a goalkeeper is you have to keep things in perspective,” said Hartman, who finished the regular season with a 1.09 goals-against average, which tied him with the Columbus Crew’s Jon Busch for the league low.
“The thing about the [season-ending] San Jose series and ... the Chicago [game] is we weren’t giving up unbelievable opportunities.”
The Wizards, though, have been masterful in creating chances in this series, which began with the Galaxy winning the opener, 3-2, in overtime and continued with the Wizards’ 4-1 thumping of the Galaxy in Game 2.
But Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid, who is not indecisive when it comes to replacing goalkeepers, shied away from putting the blame on Hartman.
“There’s not a lot you can do on some of those goals that he was confronted with,” Schmid said of Hartman’s performance in the Galaxy’s 4-1 loss, which equaled a franchise high for most goals given up in a playoff game.
“We didn’t play well [as a team] and ... I don’t think you can point the finger at one player.”
In fact, Hartman said of the four Wizard goals, he felt he only had a realistic chance of saving one.
And even with the Galaxy defense being broken down, the team would seem to have history on its side tonight.
The Galaxy is 12-1-2 at the Rose Bowl this season, has outscored opponents, 30-12, at home and is riding an 11-game home unbeaten streak.
Plus, the Wizards are 0-2-1 in Pasadena this season and the Galaxy is 4-1-0 all-time in playoff-deciding Game 3s. And since the beginning of 2001, the Galaxy is 12-1-0 in elimination games, including MLS playoff, U.S. Open Cup and Champions Cup games.
Of course, if Hartman gets rattled, the Galaxy’s quest to win the elusive MLS Cup title will be delayed at least another year.
“The position of goalkeeper is about consistency and if you look at it as, ‘Six goals, oh my gosh, panic,’ psychologically you’re done,” Hartman said. “You can’t play goalkeeper that way.
“For me, you look at the goals that you gave up, you make amends and you work on whatever it is you can work on to get better at those situations.
“The entire position of goalkeeping is how you react to mistakes.”
