Hartman Saves Day, but Galaxy Can’t Win

Superb goalkeeping at both ends carried the Colorado Rapids and Galaxy to a 0-0 tie Wednesday night in a Major League Soccer game in front of 13,050.

The Rapids dominated possession and had plenty more quality chances but were repeatedly frustrated by the Galaxy’s suffocating defense, led by goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.

Hartman earned his fourth shutout and second in a row for the Western Conference-leading Galaxy (9-5-4), which saw its three-game winning streak end but is unbeaten in its last four games.

Colorado goalkeeper Joe Cannon was not tested very often while earning his fifth shutout.

Cannon’s biggest challenge came in the 23rd minute against Carlos Ruiz, the league’s leading goal scorer. Ruiz took a pass from Jovan Kirovski directly in front of Cannon, who deflected Ruiz’s shot with both arms upraised, then wiggled forward on his belly to gather in the ball.

The Rapids (5-4-7) had lost to the Galaxy, 2-0, on Saturday at the Home Depot Center.

Hartman’s most spectacular save came in the 55th minute. Charging out, he smothered the ball just as Colorado’s Chris Henderson was stepping into a kick at what would have been an open net.

In the 59th and 60th minutes, Hartman made diving saves, stopping attempts by Kyle Beckerman and Antonio de la Torre. He was unbeatable again in the 74th minute, turning away a close-range header by Mark Chung.

Henderson had a second chance to score in the 69th minute after a faulty back pass by Galaxy defender Ryan Suarez.

Henderson ran onto the ball and raced toward the goal as Suarez closed in, but Henderson was able to get off a shot that Hartman stopped while diving to his right.

In second-half injury time, Hartman was on the spot again, reading De La Torre’s 40-yard pass perfectly and jumping at the same time as the Rapids’ Nat Borchers.

Hartman took a punch at the ball and missed, but his presence seemed to block Borchers’ view as he sent a header that bounced off the post before being cleared by a Galaxy defender.

In all, the Rapids had 19 shots, including five on goal.

Ruiz, accused by Rapid players of taking a dive to draw a free kick -- which he had scored on -- in the previous game, received a yellow card in the 67th minute for “diving exaggeration.”

The Galaxy also received two other yellow cards, one to Suarez for a reckless foul in the first half and another to Chris Aloisi for delaying a restart.