GALAXY COME FROM BEHIND TO DEFEAT RAPIDS, 3-1

Early Henderson Goal Not Enough as Colorado Drops Second Straight

DENVER (Saturday, July 13, 2002) - Sparked by three assists from U.S. World Cup Team midfielder Cobi Jones, the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-1 Saturday night at INVESCO Field. Unanswered goals from Danny Califf, Ezra Hendrickson and Carlos Ruiz enabled the Galaxy to claim the team's first road win since a 1-0 victory against Chicago on May 11. For Jones, the three points marked his first since returning from the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.

The Rapids grabbed a 1-0 lead just before the game reached the half hour mark when forward Chris Carrieri launched a cross-field pass to teammate Chris Henderson. Controlling the ball just outside the right edge of the penalty area, Henderson fired a low, diagonal shot which beat Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman just inside the left post. The goal was Henderson's eighth goal of the year, bringing the veteran just one goal shy of his career-high established during the 2000 season with the Kansas City Wizards.

Six minutes later, a well executed short corner kick played from Mauricio Cienfuegos to Jones worked to perfection, as Jones sent a well-weighted cross to the center of the box. His service was met by an unmarked Califf, who nodded a strong header inside the right post for his first goal of the season. The goal ended 338-minute goal-scoring drought on the road for Los Angeles.

Both teams aggressively pursued the next goal as the second half began. The Galaxy nearly seized the lead in the 56th minute when a reaction save from Garlick denied a left-footed poke from Albright. On the other end, consecutive give-and-go plays orchestrated by Carlos Valderamma, first with Carrieri then with Chung, freed the Colombian for a 19-yard blast that was denied by a diving save from Hartman.

Moments after another header from Califf was blocked of the goal line by Henderson in the 69th minute, it was the Galaxy who took the lead. Good combination play between Jones and Peter Vagenas created space for an overlapping run from Hendrickson. Taking a pass from Jones just outside the penalty area, Hendrickson touched the ball past defender Ritchie Kotschau into space and fired a shot past Garlick into the top right corner of the goal.

Still reeling from Hendrickson's blast, Colorado was beaten again just two minutes later, as Carlos Ruiz outjumped Colorado defender Robin Fraser to nod home a swerving cross from Cienfuegos. Ruiz now has 13 goals on the campaign, tying him with New England's Taylor Twellman for the League-lead. Both of the decisive scoring plays originated on the right wing, where Jones and Cienfuegos effectively created space and scoring opportunities for most of the second half.

With the win, Los Angeles (8-7-2, 26 pts) catapults over the Rapids into third place in the Western Conference. Looking to end their two-game MLS losing streak, Colorado (8-9-1, 25 pts) will travel to Ohio next Saturday for a match with the Columbus Crew (7:30 p.m. ET).

The Rapids will play Wednesday night in Charleston, South Carolina, in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup against the Charleston Battery of the A-League. That game, which will see the Rapids face off against the team that head coach Tim Hankinson helped found, will kick off at 5:30 p.m. from Blackbaud Stadium.

JULY 13--LOS ANGELES GALAXY 3, COLORADO RAPIDS 1

                      			1     2     F
LOS ANGELES GALAXY    	1     2     3
COLORADO RAPIDS       	1     0     1

Scoring Summary:
COL--Henderson (Carrieri, Mastroeni) 29
LA --Califf (Jones, Cienfuegos) 35
LA --Hendrickson (Jones, Vagenas) 69
LA --Ruiz (Cienfuegos, Jones) 71

LOS ANGELES GALAXY--Kevin Hartman, Ezra Hendrickson, Craig Waibel, Danny
Califf, Alexi Lalas, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Peter Vagenas, Cobi Jones, Carlos
Ruiz (Gavin Glinton 85), Brian Mullan (Alejandro Moreno 62), Chris Albright
(Adam Frye 77)

TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Albright 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Califf 2, Albright 2);
FOULS: 9 (Lalas 3); OFFSIDE: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: Hartman 5; CAUTIONS:
none; EJECTIONS: none; POSSESSION PERCENTAGE: 45%

COLORADO RAPIDS--Scott Garlick, Ritchie Kotschau (Zach Kingsley 73), Robin
Fraser, Rick Titus, Chris Henderson, Mark Chung, Wes Hart, Raul Palacios
(Marvin Quijano 80), Pablo Mastroeni, Chris Carrieri, Carlos Valderrama 

TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Chung 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Chung 2); FOULS: 13 (Palacios
3, Fraser 3); OFFSIDE: 2; CORNER KICKS: 8; SAVES: Garlick 3; CAUTIONS:
Carrieri 6, Titus 71, Fraser 84; EJECTIONS: none; POSSESSION PERCENTAGE: 55%

Referee: Gerry Corrie; Assistant Referees: Richard Huber, Jose Corro
Attendance: 11,168; Weather: Clear, 80 degrees

POST GAME QUOTES:

Chris Henderson

(on his team-leading eighth goal)

"I've been working on striking balls far post and hitting them lately. I was a little wider than usual, but I had a good touch and had a great look at the goal. I took a chance on it and got it to the far post."

(on the 3-1 loss)

"It's disappointing. I'd rather have the three points and the win than points for myself."

Head Coach Tim Hankinson

"I think we got off to a good start with good possession. I thought generally we were defending well, but Califf got up on the header. We have a guy assigned to everyone in the box and their guy got up and ours didn't. Then in the second half I thought we again had good possession but we really weren't dangerous going forward. Giving up three goals at this point isn't good enough and we might have to look at some changes within the lineup and our approach to play. We'll look for some adjustments and pick ourselves up for the Open Cup match on Wednesday."

Don't miss the next Colorado Rapids match at INVESCO Field:
Saturday, July 27 - 7:00 p.m. - Rapids v. Dallas Burn
For information or group tickets call 303-299-1599. To reserve individual tickets, visit or call Ticketmaster at 303-830-TIXS or log on to coloradorapids.com.

Be sure to tune in to this week's Soccer Saturday match of the week, featuring the MetroStars and the New England Revolution, live on ESPN 2 at 2:00 p.m. MT on Saturday, July 20.

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