Ruiz Lifts Galaxy over Fire
Published on September 7, 2002 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Forward Carlos Ruiz scored two second-half goals in the span of nine minutes as the Los Angeles Galaxy came from behind to defeat the Chicago Fire at Cardinal Stadium on Saturday night. By increasing his season total to 22 goals, Ruiz surpassed Eduardo Hurtado's total of 21 goals in the 1996 campaign, to set a new single-season club mark.
The reigning MLS Player of the Week responded to the hat trick registered by New England Revolution striker Taylor Twellman earlier on Saturday. Twellman had tied him on 20 goals and surpassed him in overall scoring with 45 points (20 goals, 5 assists) but Ruiz stormed back an hour later with two goals of his own, taking his goal-scoring total to 22 and his scoring total to 45 (22 goals, 1 assist), tying him with Twellman for the lead atop the Budweiser Scoring championship.
Los Angeles (14-9-3, 45pts) will carry the best record in MLS into a two-game home-and-home series against the defending MLS Cup champion San Jose Earthquakes (13-9-3 record heading into the weekend). The two teams entered the weekend tied with the best record in MLS (the Earthquakes played the Columbus Crew in Saturday's late game) and their last two matches should decide the Western Conference champion and the No. 1 seed in the MLS Cup Playoffs. The first of those two games comes on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Rose Bowl (10:00 p.m. ET).
The Chicago Fire's playoff hopes will come down to a home-and-home series of their own against the Columbus Crew, currently the Eastern Conference leaders. The first of those two games will be played at Columbus Crew Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 14 (7:30 p.m. ET). With their 34 points (10-12-4), the Fire occupy the eighth and final playoff spot, just two points ahead of the New England Revolution, who are on the outside looking in with two matches to play.
Playing in front of the club's third consecutive sell-out crowd, the Fire played a high-pressure first half in which the Galaxy could not match their intensity. However, Los Angeles had the first look at goal as defender Alexi Lalas hit the crossbar on a header in the fifth minute.
Three minutes later the Fire took an early 1-0 lead. A cross from the right flank by Ante Razov found teammate C.J. Brown near the far left post in the Galaxy's penalty area. Brown's header bounced in front of him and he lifted a close-range shot which crossed the goalmouth. As Brown held his head in despair at the missed opportunity, midfielder Jesse Marsch crashed the goal near the right post and blasted a close-range, first-time shot into the back of the net. The tally was the first of the campaign for Chicago's all-time appearance leader.
Chicago was unfortunate not to find the back of the net on a number of occasions including striking the woodwork four times on efforts by Dema Kovalenko (14th minute), Carlos Bocanegra (30th minute), Razov (67th minute) and Peter Nowak (68th minute). The Fire have now hit the frame of the goal on a total of 16 occasions this year.
When Galaxy defender Ezra Hendrickson was sent off for his second bookable offense in first half stoppage time, the Fire were looking forward to a second half in which they could play with an extra man and a 1-0 lead. However, that advantage was erased with the 51st minute ejection of Kovalenko, who received his second yellow card for a dive in the Galaxy penalty area. While both teams played the rest of the match with 10 men, the intensity on the field was not affected as the game was marked by some hard challenges.
While the Fire hit the crossbar twice in the second half, the Galaxy capitalized on their opportunities through the best marksman in the League in Ruiz. "El Pescadito" first scored the equalizer in the 79th minute on a header off a Simon Elliott corner kick, beating defender David Vaudreuil to the ball.
With three minutes remaining in regulation Ruiz pounced again, beating the offside trap and running onto a long service from Elliott. As he entered the right side of the Fire penalty area the Guatemalan striker unleashed a diagonal shot which Thornton could only tip as the ball made its way into the left side netting.
Los Angeles would make Ruiz's second goal stand as the game-winner as the club expertly held possession of the ball and ran down the clock including three minutes of second-half stoppage time. The 87th minute goal was Ruiz's third game-winner in three matches he has played against the Fire this season and his fifth tally on the year against Chicago (one goal on May 11 and two on April 6). He missed the June 8 encounter through suspension.
With the victory, the Galaxy swept the season series from the Chicago Fire, winning all four games played in 2002 by an aggregate score of 6-2.
Major League Soccer Stories from September 7, 2002
- 'Quakes Nip Crew in OT - MLS
- Fire Inched 2-1 by Los Angeles - Chicago Fire FC
- Twellman Hat Trick Leaves United at a Loss - D.C. United
- Ruiz Lifts Galaxy over Fire - MLS
- Twellman's hat trick enough for Revs - MLS
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