Major League Soccer

Grabavoy, Ruiz put away free kicks as L.A. blanks Rapids 2-0.

CARSON, Calif. (Saturday, July 10, 2004) -- Strikers New Grabavoy and Carlos Ruiz both found net with free kicks, leading the Los Angeles Galaxy to the top of Major League Soccer's Western Conference with a 2-0 whitewash of the Colorado Rapids before 24,895 at Home Depot Center tonight.

The Galaxy (9-5-3, 30 points) has the best record in MLS after snapping the three-game winning streak of the Rapids (5-4-6, 21).

The two teams play again Wednesday night in Denver. "Because Colorado is such a big rival in the West, on Wednesday, we must win at Colorado to close out the series," Ruiz said.

Grabavoy continued his impressive rookie season by netting his first MLS goal in the 39th minute. He was taken down by a hard foul from midfielder Kyle Beckerman just above the Colorado penalty area. He curled the resulting free kick into the goal mouth in the direction of Tyrone Marshall. The defender couldn't get a foot on it, but he distracted Joe Cannon enough to allow the ball to bounce off the goalkeeper's chest and into the goal for a 1-0 lead.

"It was one of those balls where the keeper decided not to come out and I think it just found its way to the back of the net," Grabavoy said.

Ruiz had a frustrating night, being ruled offside four times and coming up empty on a solid chance in the 63rd minute, but he extended his league lead with his ninth goal in the 80th minute. After he was fouled by defender Nat Borchers inches above the box, Ruiz fired a low shot that deflected off a Rapids defender and through the hands of Cannon who just missed keeping it from crossing the line. The officials hesitated before giving the goal and the Galaxy a 2-0 advantage.

"It was a little bit of a grind today, from the standpoint of the guys missing and so forth," Los Angeles coach Sigi Schmid said. "It's a long season and we can't always play at that level every game out. We were opportunistic with our free kicks. The first one from Ned, that's what we try to do. We try to frame the goal with that shot and that gave us that goal.

"On the second one, Carlos did well by thinking the wall was going to break and then got the deflection. When the game got stretched I thought there were some more opportunities but for some better passing, maybe some better combinations.

Seven minutes later, Colorado had a golden opportunity to pull to within a goal after Aloisi was called for a hand ball in his box, but Colorado forward John Spencer's penalty kick went down the middle and keeper Kevin Hartman dove and kicked the ball away.

Ruiz has scored in eight of the 10 matches he has played this season. Add in his two assists and he also leads MLS with 20 points.

Early on, the Galaxy looked out of sync in the midfield without Andreas Herzog, who was suspended for caution point accumulation. Cobi Jones and Grabavoy stood out in the midfield while youngster Guillermo Gonzalez struggled to find his place.

The defensive line held strong despite the absence of Chris Albright who is in Chicago with the United States men, preparing for Sunday's game against Poland. Paul Broome played well on the left side and Chris Aloisi held tough on the right in his second consecutive start.

"As a defense, we have only given up one goal in the past three games, so we want to continue to build on that," Hartman said. "I want to do anything to help the team and I thought it was a good cumulative effort. . . As each win comes, we're getting more and more points, and it is putting us in a more comfortable position. We must make sure that we are not lackadaisical and we don't rest on our laurels, so we are ready to play week in and week out and be ready for a good championship run."

Still, the Galaxy defense needed some assistance in the 19th minute. Spencer ripped a shot past Hartman, but it banged off a post.

"It's always disappointing when you create chances for yourself," Colorado coach Tim Hankinson said. "We had plenty of opportunities to get goals for our side. To give it up on two restarts -- one with a broken wall and the other when we let a ball drop inside our six (yard-line), those are bad decisions by our team and it cost us tonight."

Referee: Abiodun Okulaja. Referee's assistants: Chris Strickland, Richard Eddy. Attendance: 24,895 at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Time of game: 1:55. Weather: Clear, 70 degrees.