Ruiz Two-Times Chicago

Carlos Ruiz scored two second-half goals to rally the Galaxy to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire in a Major League Soccer game in front of 15,731 on Saturday night at Naperville, Ill.

With the score tied, 1-1, Craig Weibel stole the ball from Peter Nowak. After a couple of passes, Mauricio Cienfuegos sent a pass to the right wing to Simon Elliott.

Ruiz took a 25-yard pass from Elliot, got behind defender Orlando Perez and beat Zach Thornton for the go-ahead goal in the 87th minute. It was Ruiz’s fifth goal against the Fire.

Ruiz, who leads the league with 22 goals, headed Elliott’s corner kick to tie the score in the 79th minute. His game-winning goal allowed him to break the club record for goals in a season, topping the 21 scored by Eduardo Hurtado in 1996.

Jesse Marsch scored in the eighth minute. The goal ended the Fire’s 191-minute scoreless streak against the Galaxy.

Four Chicago shots hit the goalposts.

The Galaxy is 14-9-3; the Fire is 10-12-4.

In remembrance of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the crowd observed a moment of silence before the game and “God Bless America” was sung instead of the national anthem.

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In other MLS games:

San Jose 4, Columbus 3--Defender Brian Dunseth’s own goal gave the Earthquakes an overtime victory in front of 26,000 at San Jose.

San Jose (14-9-3) remained tied for the Western Conference lead with the Galaxy. Columbus (10-11-5) is tied for first place in the Eastern Conference with New York-New Jersey.

San Jose took a 3-1 lead in the 53rd minute, but Columbus’ Edson Buddle tied it with goals in the 59th and 82nd minute to force overtime.

New England 3, Washington 0--Rookie Taylor Twellman scored three second-half goals in front of 24,871 at Foxboro, Mass., and the Revolution extended its unbeaten streak to four games.

Twellman scored in the 63rd, 75th and 90th minute to set a franchise record with 20 goals. Raul Diaz Arce set the previous record of 18 goals in 1998.