MLS LA Galaxy

Galaxy GK Hartman Captures Player of the Week honors

September 23, 2002 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
LA Galaxy News Release


NEW YORK (Monday, September 23, 2002) - Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman has been selected as Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for the week ending September 22, 2002. Hartman captured the honor for the second time in his career and for the first time since 1999, when he led the Galaxy to MLS Cup '99 at Foxboro - the site of MLS Cup 2002 on October 20. The 1-0 victory helped Los Angeles capture the Supporters Shield, a fan award presented to the team with the best regular-season record, and the organization's fifth Western Conference title in seven seasons. Hartman made nine saves on the night to record the shutout win against the defending champion San Jose Earthquakes, including a tremendous penalty kick in the first half where he turned away Ronnie Ekelund's spot kick attempt.

"I figured that I was going to have to guess because of the way the way he (Ekelund) approached the ball that he was going to hit it really hard. I just made an educated guess and I was able to come up with the save," said Hartman. "I thought the (penalty kick) save was going to be beneficial to us, but Graziani had a shot in the second half, upper corner, near post that I was able to tip up and over. At that point, I felt that I was not going to give up anything tonight."

Hartman narrowly edged New England's Wolde Harris to win his first Player of the Week award in 2002. The honor is selected every Monday throughout the regular season by a panel of journalists from PSRA.

Check out the LA Galaxy Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from September 23, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central