Galaxy Clinches No. 1 Playoff Seed
For 93 minutes, the Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes went at each other as hard as possible, contesting every ball, putting a little something extra in every slide tackle and barking a little louder after each confrontation in a match for Major League Soccer’s Western Conference title.
But Carlos Ruiz killed the Earthquakes softly Saturday with the most supple shot, a pooch of a penalty kick that he lobbed over the head of hard-charging San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon in the fourth minute of injury time.
Ruiz’s league-leading 24th goal of the season not only gave the Galaxy a thrilling 1-0 victory over the defending league champion Earthquakes, it also gave the Galaxy the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Galaxy (16-9-3) will open the playoffs Wednesday night at the Rose Bowl at 7:30 against an opponent determined by today’s season game between the Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire.
A Columbus victory means the Galaxy will play the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. A victory by Chicago means the Galaxy will play the Kansas City Wizards. A tie will match the Galaxy against Chicago. Ruiz’s ninth game-winning goal of the season was set up when Cobi Jones was taken down in the penalty box by Eddie Robinson.
“This was a total team effort,” Ruiz said. “I think tonight we showed that this team is ready for big things, that we’re ready to go to the finals.”
After the goal, a somewhat subdued Ruiz did not remove his jersey to display his homemade T-shirt which professes his love for his native Guatemala, a custom he has taken on after scoring. Instead, he jogged slowly behind the net and met with fans before conducting an impromptu interview with a Spanish-language cameraman in the stands.
“Carlos told me earlier that a lot of goalkeepers go early on PKs,” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said. “So it made sense to just put it in there. That’s the second time he’s done that.
“In England, they’d probably call it a cheeky finish.”
In front of 26,229 fans, the fourth-largest Earthquake crowd in Spartan Stadium history, Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman stepped up with a huge save on a Ronnie Ekelund penalty kick.
Alexi Lalas was called for tripping Landon Donovan in the box on a breakaway in the 15th minute and Hartman went to his right and blocked the shot.
Hartman, who finished with nine saves, had another big one in the 45th minute when Wade Barrett got behind the Galaxy defense and fired from point-blank range.
“San Jose came out flying and is a great team and we tried to match their intensity,” Hartman said. “On that PK, by the way he lined up, I figured he was going to go really hard.
“I made an educated guess and thankfully he went that way.”
After the game, Galaxy midfielder Sasha Victorine was taken to San Jose Medical Center for precautionary X-rays of his neck after he was injured late during in a mid-air collision and taken off the field on a stretcher.
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In another MLS game:
New England 3, New York/New Jersey 0--Wolde Harris scored two first-half goals as the Revolution (12-14-2) secured a playoff spot with a victory over the MetroStars (11-15-2) in front of 20,215 at Foxboro, Mass. Taylor Twellman scored his 23rd goal of the season to help New England to its first playoff berth in two years and only its third in seven seasons. The MetroStars, who need Columbus to defeat Chicago today to earn a playoff spot, have lost seven of their last nine games.
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Abby Wambach scored two goals and had an assist to earn most-valuable-player honors as the South defeated the North, 6-1, in the inaugural Women’s United Soccer Assn. All-Star game in front of 14,208 at Portland, Ore. Mia Hamm had two assists for the South.
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Playoff Possibilities
The Galaxy, seeded No. 1 in the MLS playoffs, won’t know its first-round foe until after today’s Columbus-Chicago game. The possible opponents:
New York-New Jersey, if Columbus defeats Chicago.
Kansas City, if Chicago defeats Columbus.
Chicago, if Columbus and Chicago tie.
The only first-round pairing assured is No. 4 Dallas against No. 5 Colorado. San Jose is guaranteed the No. 3 seeding, with the No. 2 seeding going to the East Division winner (Columbus, if it wins or ties today, or New England).
The Galaxy will host its playoff opener on Wednesday, will be on the road for the second game on Saturday and would host a third game on Oct. 2, if necessary.
