'how bad do you really want to win?' We were able to really dig in deep the second half."
Talley, though, put the Galaxy in a hole by fouling Alan Gordon inside the penalty area. But Donovan, normally reliable from the spot, is now 0-for-2 in his last two attempts.
The notion of Donovan missing penalties seemed to have confounded Kreis.
"Every time he steps up I'm thinking it's in the back of the goal especially if he's just missed one, I'm thinking for sure it's in the back of the goal now," he said.
Not that he's complaining.
"That's a game-changer because a player like Nick Rimando has been playing so extremely well for us and so extremely valuable for us," Kreis said. "For him to save that penalty kick and be a bit of an emotional lift for everybody out there."
Rimando said the stop was the lift the club needed.
"I knew that if he made it the game was over. We've been having trouble coming back from one (goal), let alone two. I just stayed on my line as long as I could and guessed the right way," he said. "Whenever a goalkeeper makes a big save and a team's not doing well -- we weren't playing the best -- I think that gave us a little energy, a little boost. We came back, we scored and got another one and that's something we haven't done all year."
It was the addition of Findley that seemed to lift the club even more. The Galaxy's first selection in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft, Findley joined RSL along with Nathan Sturgis in June in a trade for Chris Klein. Findley entered the game in the 59th minute and made an immediate impact. In the 67th minute, Findley raced into the Galaxy's penalty area on a counterattack and slipped the ball past Steve Cronin into the back of the net.
Four minutes later, Pope knocked in the game-winning goal off a set piece Findley set up by drawing a foul.
"I'm extremely happy for Robbie because I know how emotional it is to get traded and how emotional it is to come back to the team that's traded you for the first time," Kreis said. "It's huge and it shows a lot of Robbie Findley's character. It's huge and he's got a bright future ahead of him."
When he was shipped away, Findley said his mind started drifting toward Sept. 1, and the night did not let him down.
"I've been waiting for it since the day I got traded," Findley said. "It was good, a good team effort from the beginning. We just stayed with it and never gave up. That will get you some wins sometimes."
Findley overcame a midweek benching and showed plenty in his 30-plus minutes on the field Saturday.
"It was tough. I didn't play last game and I'd been starting since I was traded," Findley said. "I try not to let it get to me. I keep my head up and keep doing what I'm doing in practice, working hard and I told myself when I get the chance I'm going to do everything I can to be effective and dangerous."
Results are finally coming for RSL but it's not something unexpected given the work the club puts in on a daily basis, Kreis said.
"We're very, very happy for the ties and very, very proud of what they've put in to everything. Even before the results have come, we have been very happy with what the guys have done for us," Kreis said. "We feel like the guys have put in a lot of work and have deserved for a very long time more than what they gotten, so for the last two games to finally get some results and something tangible for the group to get on hold on to. In a lot of ways, we now know there are results at the end of all that work."
is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
