Galaxy Makes Rapid Advance

These are the kinds of games in which the Galaxy enjoys playing.

Technical yet wide-open games with spacious running lanes, plenty of offense and a large and involved crowd making tons of noise by clapping together its free thundersticks.

Sound familiar? Well, all that was missing here was the Rally Monkey.

But then again, the little guy’s services weren’t needed Saturday night in the emotionally charged atmosphere of the Rose Bowl, some 35 miles north of his Edison Field habitat.

The Galaxy saw to that with its dominating 4-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids in front of 24,742 to take a three-points-to-none lead in the first-team-to-five-points Major League Soccer semifinal series.

One more victory--either at Denver on Wednesday night or at Cal State Fullerton next Saturday--and the Galaxy will be heading to the MLS Cup title game for the third time in four years, the fourth time overall.

The Galaxy, which has not won a league title, is 7-0 in playoff series when winning Game 1.

“It’s obviously a great night in L.A., isn’t it,” said Colorado Coach Tim Hankinson, lumping the Galaxy victory with the Angels defeating the New York Yankees earlier in the day. “The Galaxy had a great game and beat us all over the park. They had us chasing the game.”

The Rapids also were left chasing Carlos Ruiz. The Galaxy’s first-year striker from Guatemala continued his scoring binge, getting two goals and lifting his playoff total to six, equaling the 1996 MLS postseason record shared by Roy Lassiter and Raul Diaz Arce. Ruiz’s 14 points (six goals, two assists) also ties the mark set by Ante Razov in 2000.

“I didn’t know that,” said Ruiz, who led the league with 24 goals in the regular season. “That’s good, but just like the regular-season race with Taylor [Twellman, the New England forward], that’s not the big thing. The big thing is getting the championship.”

Cobi Jones contributed two assists after taking a hard fall four minutes into the game in a collision with Rapid defender, and former Galaxy teammate, Robin Fraser. After being carried off on a stretcher, Jones returned and played the rest of the game with what was diagnosed as a slight abdominal strain.

“You get more space against [Colorado] than you do against Kansas City,” Jones said, referring to the Galaxy’s rough-and-tumble first-round playoff opponent. “But in turn, [the Rapids] are more of an offensive threat.”

Not on this night.

The Galaxy outshot the Rapids, 22-12, and Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made seven saves, including a clutch block of a John Spencer penalty kick in the 37th minute with the Galaxy ahead only 2-0.

The first Galaxy goal came in the 21st minute when Danny Califf beat Ritchie Kotschau to the ball on a Jones corner kick and headed it into the ground and past three Colorado players--goalkeeper David Kramer and midfielders Mark Chung and Chris Henderson. Ruiz’s two goals came in the 24th and 84th minutes and sandwiched Ezra Hendrickson’s goal in the 71st minute, when Hendrickson followed the ricochet of Mauricio Cienfuegos’ shot off Kramer.

“It’s more rewarding to win at home, where the fans support you and can relish it with you,” said Hartman, who has saved six of the 15 penalty kicks he has faced in his six-year career. “It’s playoff time and you can’t take anything for granted. Our expectations are so high that anything less than a championship is unacceptable.”

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MLS Playoffs at a Glance

GALAXY VS. COLORADO

Game 1--Galaxy 4, Colorado 0 (Galaxy leads series, 3-0)

Game 2--Wednesday at Colorado

Game 3--Saturday at CS Fullerton *

NEW ENGLAND VS. COLUMBUS

Game 1--Today at New England

Game 2--Wednesday at Columbus

Game 3--Saturday at New England *

*--if necessary

First team to five points (three points for a victory, one for a tie) wins series. If the teams tie on points, a 20-minute golden-goal series tiebreaker will follow the third game. If no goals are scored in the tiebreaker, the series will be decided by a penalty shootout.

SUMMARY

GALAXY 4, RAPIDS 0

Colorado...0 0--0

GALAXY...2 2--4

FIRST HALF--1, LA, Califf 1 (Jones), 21st minute. 2, LA, Ruiz 5 (Moreno), 24th.

SECOND HALF--3, LA, Hendrickson 1 (Cienfuegos), 71st. 4, LA, Ruiz 6 (Elliott, Jones), 84th.

GOALIES--Colorado, Kramer; Los Angeles, Hartman.

A--24,742 (30,000).