making his MLS and Galaxy debut -- knocked a long ball over the top and Edson Buddle steamed onto it, ripping a shot from right on the edge of the area past the dive of Nick Rimando for his goal with the Galaxy, in his first game with the club.
• A day after his 37th birthday, Cobi Jones hit for the eventual game-winner, side-footing home a Kyle Martino cross from the left flank from close range to make it 3-1 in the 65th minute. Eight minutes later RSL pulled a goal back when Brown scored his second of the game, heading home a Freddy Adu corner at the back post, but it wasn't enough.
• Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop made three changes to the team that lost 3-1 to FC Dallas the weekend before on the road. With Tyrone Marshall suspended then traded, Abel Xavier made his MLS debut after the opening of the international transfer window. Quavas Kirk made his first start of 2007 - at right back - as Nate Sturgis moved into midfield and Santino Quaranta went to the substitutes' bench. Edson Buddle, acquired from Toronto FC in the deal for Marshall, made his Galaxy debut in attack, in place of Robbie Findley.
• Here's Yallop's team (4-4-2): Joe Cannon - Quavas Kirk, Kyle Veris, Abel Xavier, Ty Harden - Cobi Jones, Nathan Sturgis, Peter Vagenas (Troy Roberts 91+), Kyle Martino - Edson Buddle (Robbie Findley 62), Nate Jaqua (Gavin Glinton 79). Substitutes Not Used: Steve Cronin, Santino Quaranta, Mike Randolph, Josh Tudela
• "It was great to get the win and that's really the only thing that's important for us at this point. I felt pretty good about the way we attacked," said Yallop. "We have a lot of work to do in certain areas. I'm happy all around but now we need to regroup and get ready for our game next Saturday. It's nice to have a smile on my face for a change."
TEAM NEWS
• After scoring just four goals over their previous five games, the Galaxy hit for three goals for the second time on the season. The last time they had scored three goals was in their only win on the campaign, and in the game before the five-match power shortage - the win against Chivas USA on April 28.
• "Iit had been a few weeks. I think in some of the games we deserved to get results and we haven't. So it is nice to get a result no matter how you play," said Yallop. "We created great chances, and it is nice to seem them go in. I am pleased with Nate Jaqua, and his first goal. Then of course no other than Cobi [Jones] to get the winner."
• Said Jones: "I thought it was a very good game for us in the aspect that we created chances and we actually finished them. Secondly I thought it was a good aspect for us to actually close the game out. That's very important. It looked like they had some opportunities to come back, but we didn't fold, we didn't cave in. That was the most important thing for us to try and start the process of turning this season around."
• By the end of the game, five players had made their first appearance of the season for Los Angeles. Two of those players had just arrived in L.A. -- Edson Buddle and Abel Xavier, and they combined for the Galaxy's second goal.
• "It's been a while since I scored," said Buddle. "It was my first goal in a new place and I want my teammates to believe in me. In this first game, to get the butterflies out, it felt good to score. I never expected to get a ball from Xavier, so it feels good. Hopefully we can continue to do stuff like that and get behind defenses."
• Said the Portuguese international Xavier, who made his MLS debut: "I feel very good, considering that arrived less than one week. I am still in process of adapting, especially with the jetlag. But I felt good and strong. I think we started a new cycle with the win. It could be the beginning of a new start, and I am sure once the whole team is together. Personally I am very happy with the way I was received, and with the great community of Portuguese in the stands. Los Angeles is also great, so I look forward to more time here."
• As well, it was a long-awaited first goal from Nate Jaqua, who scored his first with the Galaxy after being acquired in the offseason.
• "It wasn't the prettiest goal, but it hit the back of the net and that's all that matters," said Jaqua. "The win definitely gives us a little momentum and takes a bit of a weight off, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't come out next week and get a result."
• On Thursday, the overhaul of the Galaxy roster continued when the club acquired Chris Klein from Real Salt Lake for forward Robbie Findley and midfielder Nathan Sturgis. A midfielder by trade, with the range to either venture forward and serve as a winger or to slide back and serve as a fullback or wingback.He has tallied 47 goals and 54 assists in 243 career appearances, 200 of them with the Kansas City Wizards and the rest in the past 15 months with RSL. By scoring three more goals, Klein will become the 12th player in MLS history with 50 goals and 50 assists.
• "Chris is a player that coach [Frank] Yallop has been interested in for a while," said Galaxy president and general manager Alexi Lalas. "We had the opportunity to bring in another veteran player of quality and we jumped at it."
• Earlier in the week, the Galaxy also announced the signing of Honduras international forward Carlos Pavon. Pavon, who scored five goals in the CONCACAF Gold Cup this month - including four in one match vs. Cuba - is awaiting his work visa and international transfer clearance before he will be eligible to play.
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew won their first game since April 28 - and just their second on the campaign - holding off the Kansas City Wizards for a 2-1 victory at Crew Stadium on Wednesday night. The Crew still sit at the foot of the Eastern Conference with 12 points from 12 matches, a point behind Toronto FC, two behind the Chicago Fire and now just nine behind the division-leading New York Red Bulls.
LAST MATCH
• The teams came into the game at opposite ends of the Eastern Conference and on opposite runs. The Wizards hadn't lost in four games, while the Crew hadn't won in seven. But the previous weekend, both had been involved in wild 3-3 draws on the road.
• Yet over the opening 45 minutes, neither goalkeeper was tested at all. Early in the second half, Sasha Victorine found himself all alone after a neat passing sequence, but Crew 'keeper Will Hesmer came out to deflect away the effort.
• The Crew then scored twice in a six-minute span. First, Alejandro Moreno cut in from the left and sent a shot goalward. It was deflected into a group of players at the spot, fell to Eddie Gaven, and he buried a left-footed roller inside the right-hand post for his first goal of the year, in the 56th minute.
• Then Guillermo Barros Schelotto flighted in a corner from the right. Stefani Miglioranzi was able to send a looping header goalward off his back foot, but sent it just off the fingertips of Kevin Hartman and just under the bar for his first goal with the Crew.
• The Wizards spoiled Hesmer's shutout bid in stoppage time. A long ball was poorly cleared, just to the top of the area, and Jack Jewsbury stepped into the rebound, sending a low shot inside the right corner for his first goal of 2007.
• Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made three changes to the team that came back to grab a 3-3 draw against the New England Revolution the weekend before. Rusty Pierce was suspended and Tim Ward and Robbie Rogers away with the U.S. U-20 national team, so Ezra Hendrickson and Stefani Miglioranzi both came back into team - at somewhat unfamiliar fullback roles - and Eddie Gaven made his first start since May 12.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-2-3-1): Will Hesmer - Ezra Hendrickson (Jed Zayner 71), Marcos Gonzalez, Chad Marshall, Stefani Miglioranzi - Duncan Oughton, Danny O'Rourke - Eddie Gaven, Ned Grabavoy, Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Kei Kamara 91+) - Alejandro Moreno,. Substitutes Not Used: Aaron Chandler, Brad Evans, Jason Garey, Andy Gruenebaum, Ben Hunter
• "I don't care how we played," said Schmid. "I don't care what it looked like. A win is a win, and we are very happy."
TEAM NEWS
• Schmid gave a second consecutive start to goalkeeper Will Hesmer, and after allowing three goals in his first start against New England, he nearly kept a clean sheet for the entire match until the stoppage-time goal from Jack Jewsbury.
• "I think Hesmer made the play of the game when he made the save on [Sasha] Victorine's shot with the score still 0-0," Schmid said. "That's what you need from a goalkeeper to make that kind of save at that moment, and that keeps you in the game and then we went forward from there and scored a couple of goals."
• Said Hesmer: "I felt good. As bad as the start was in New England, you've got to put that behind you. I'm confident in my abilities. I believe in myself and I know what I can do out here. I think my teammates know that and I think Sigi knows that, so yeah, that feels great."
• In front of Hesmer was a bit of a makeshift back four, with Ezra Hendrickson and Stefani Miglioranzi at fullback. Hendrickson had played only at center back this season for Columbus and hadn't featured in two games with an abdominal injury that still limited him to only 70 minutes. Miglioranzi has been a midfielder in every game he's played for the Crew this year.
• "It's been a while since I played there. I'm just looking for an opportunity to help the team out. If coach asks me to play goalkeeper, I'd be happy to play. So, today I went out at left back, and I haven't played there in a long time, but I have played there in the past and I felt really comfortable," Miglioranzi said. "When you have people like Marcos [Gonzalez], Chad [Marshall] and Ezra [Hendrickson] on the back line with you who are all very experienced it makes the job that much easier."
• Jed Zayner came on for Hendrickson at right back, finally making his MLS debut. A second-round pick in the 2006 SuperDraft, he missed the entirety of last season to injury. The group was put under real pressure over the final stretch of the match.
• "We were on our heels a little bit and they got a lot of corner kicks and pushed a lot of people forward. I thought Chad Marshall did a good job winning some of those headers. He got some where there were people open behind him and if he doesn't get a head on it, it could cause some problems."
• After conceding just four goals in the opening six matches of the season, the Crew had allowed 14 goals in their last five after the Revolution match. The defensive performance was the first time they had not allowed multiple goals since the 1-1 draw with Chivas USA on May 12.
• "Over the last four games prior to this we had scored eight goals so we thought our scoring was starting to come along but the thing was, we had been giving up a bucketful [of goals] on the other end. So one of our objectives today was transition to make sure we got behind the ball quickly to make sure that we limited goal scoring opportunities for the opponents, so that's one of the things we have to do," Schmid said. "If you score three goals in New England it should be enough to win, if you score two goals in Chicago it should be enough to win, you know, so we couldn't keep leaking goals. That was our No. 1 objective today."
• Seeing Gaven scored was a relief, his first goal since the penultimate game of last season. "Eddie doesn't show a lot of emotion, but I think he was pretty happy and pretty relieved and I thought he did well with what was a difficult shot to turn and hit. I was happy for him, but he took the goal well," Schmid said.
