Ruiz’s Golden Goal Boosts Galaxy, 1-0

They gave away 12,000 bobblehead dolls of Galaxy captain Cobi Jones on Saturday night, and the little guys spent most of the evening nodding in frustration.

Until Carlos Ruiz gave them something to truly bob their heads about in celebration.

Ruiz’s 99th-minute golden goal gave the Galaxy a much-needed 1-0 victory over D.C. United in front of 23,140 at the Home Depot Center, ending the defending Major League Soccer champions’ two-game losing streak.

“I’m paid to score goals,” said Ruiz, who leads the league with 14 goals and moved into second place in the MLS scoring race with 31 points, three behind Kansas City’s Preki.

“[This win] was more about tranquillity. There has been a lot of pressure on this team.”

Ruiz’s game-winner was set up by a cross from Diego Serna from the left side after Serna, who had entered the game in the 78th minute, took a pass from Danny Califf.

Camped in the middle of the six-yard box, Ruiz went up and headed Serna’s pass down toward D.C. United goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who got a hand on the ball before it glanced off his left leg and the ball’s awkward spin took it into the net.

With five matches remaining in league play, the Galaxy (8-9-8) moved into third place in the MLS Western Conference, Kansas City falling, 4-1, to San Jose.

D.C. United (9-9-6) remained in third place in the Eastern Conference.

Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said he saw a familiar team on the pitch.

“I thought we played more like the Galaxy,” he said. “We played with a lot of heart. I thought we dominated the game in the first half [and] I thought we dominated the game in the second half. It’s difficult sometimes when you’ve got to carry the game and the other team is really bunkered in.

“The thing I was pleased with is our guys never stopped trying, they never stopped battling.”

And Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman got his third shutout of the season, the 40th of his career. Only Kansas City’s Tony Meola (46) and Chicago’s Zack Thornton (42) have more MLS shutouts.

“It hasn’t been easy,” said Hartman, who has averaged seven shutouts in his previous five seasons. “I don’t think there’s been a shutout that’s been easy, except maybe the [home opener] against Colorado. It’s been a long year defensively, trying to get everything done and trying to get everyone in the right position, coming up with saves.

“But it’s something that we can hopefully expand upon and gain confidence as we get closer to the playoffs. For us tonight, I thought we competed unbelievably.”

About the only negative result for the Galaxy was Ruiz’s being hit with a yellow card by referee Brian Hall in the 69th minute for dissent. Due to caution point accumulation, Ruiz will miss Saturday’s home match against Kansas City.

MetroStars 1, Columbus 0 -- John Wolyniec scored in the 99th minute to give the MetroStars (10-7-7) a 1-0 win over the Crew (8-10-7) before 16,507 in East Rutherford, N.J.

Dallas 2, Chicago 0 -- Interim head coach Colin Clarke’s debut was a success as Toni Nhleko scored his first career goal to lift the Burn (5-16-4) over the Fire (12-6-7) before a crowd of 8,010 in Southlake, Texas.

San Jose 4, Kansas City 1 -- Landon Donovan scored three goals as the Earthquakes (13-5-7) beat the Wizards (7-10-8) before 30,308 in Kansas City. The Wizards’ winless streak reached nine games.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.