Kevin Hartman

Dallas Burn goalkeeper Matt Jordan earned his sixth shutout this season and Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman earned his first Saturday as the teams played to a 0-0 tie. The Galaxy (7-4-5) and Burn (6-6-2) also played a scoreless draw on May 19. Hartman was tested throughout by the Burn. He made a diving one-handed stop on a shot by Oscar Pareja in the 19th minute and finished with seven saves. "I was able to come up with some saves today," Hartman said.

Remember the Galaxy team that ran roughshod over the rest of Major League Soccer on its way to an MLS Cup title last season? Well, it's back. And after Sunday's methodical 2-0 win over FC Dallas in front of a sun-drenched Home Depot Center crowd of 21,933, an argument could be made that the team is as good as ever. "I've heard that from a lot of people. Which is good to hear," said defender Todd Dunivant, who scored the second goal Sunday. "Obviously, you don't want to be living in the past.

It was only an exhibition for the Galaxy when it played CD Aguila of El Salvador on Wednesday night at the Rose Bowl, but backup goalkeeper Kevin Hartman came to play for real. Hartman, who has started only one Major League Soccer game this season while starter Matt Reis has the Galaxy three points out of first place, had three impressive saves in a 3-0 Galaxy victory in front of an announced crowd of 5,277.

Three set pieces — all engineered by one smooth operator by the name of David Beckham — and three goals. Definitely the math the Galaxy can fully embrace. And here's another number the team can wrap its head and arms around after Saturday's emphatic 3-1 victory over FC Dallas at the Home Depot Center in Carson: six. That would be the points separating the Galaxy from Dallas in the Western Conference. The Galaxy padded their lead at the top of the conference by taking advantage of a suddenly shaky Dallas defense and a miscue on the first goal from goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who had a decidedly difficult night.

Back in the days when Jorge Campos swung from the crossbar or rushed out to midfield to join in the attack, goalkeeping was an adventure with the Galaxy. Then along came Kevin Hartman in 1997, and suddenly the story line changed. Instead of a goalkeeper known as much for his antics and his colorful uniforms as his play, Major League Soccer gained one who, over the next eight seasons, became renowned for reliability.

If you're at the Rose Bowl on Sunday for the first game of a best-of-three Major League Soccer playoff series between the Galaxy and Dallas Burn, you are virtually guaranteed last-minute drama. I'm not talking about the game. Who knows about that? I'm talking about the pregame. Will the Galaxy's colorful All-Star goalkeeper, Jorge Campos, be in Pasadena? Will he be in Mexico City? Or will he be at 30,000 feet somewhere in between? Here's the situation.

A CT scan taken of Kevin Hartman's head late Thursday evening in Tampa Bay was negative after the Galaxy goalkeeper endured a kick to his head in the Galaxy's 1-0 victory over the Mutiny in Game 1 of the best-of-three quarterfinal series. Hartman, Major League Soccer's goalkeeper of the year last season, was cleared to travel with a concussion and he returned with his teammates on the cross-country flight Friday afternoon.

Mired in a three-game losing streak for the first time in his professional coaching career, Sigi Schmid is shuffling his lineup for today's game against the Chicago Fire in hopes of lighting a fire under the Galaxy. Kevin Hartman will replace Matt Reis and start in goal, not only for today's game, but also for the foreseeable future. "I think it's a situation where the competition between Kevin and Matt is very close," Schmid said.

Kevin Hartman, Major League Soccer's goalkeeper of the year in 1999, signed a contract Friday that will keep him with the Galaxy for the next four years. Terms were not disclosed, but Hartman probably will be earning three to four times the league-minimum $24,000 he earned last season. "If I wasn't happy with it, I wouldn't have signed it," he said. "I'm very excited to finally get it done.

This was not a normal week for the Galaxy. Mired in fifth place in the Western Conference standings, the team set about reshaping its lineup. First came a trade, forward Welton for midfielder Roy Myers of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. Then came talk of signing defender Mohammad Khakpour from the Iranian national team and bringing back former Galaxy forward Harut Karapetyan. To top it off, maintenance work at the Rose Bowl forced the players to practice at USC.

Thierry Henry will miss the New York Red Bulls' high-profile game against the Galaxy and David Beckham on Friday night because of a sprained right knee. The Red Bulls said Tuesday that the French forward had sprained the medial collateral ligament in the knee during a Sept. 4 loss at Real Salt Lake. He played with the injury last week and incurred a $2,000 fine for a celebratory kick following teammate Mehdi Ballouchy's goal, a kick that sent the ball into Kevin Hartman and injured the Dallas goalkeeper's knee.

Back in the days when Jorge Campos swung from the crossbar or rushed out to midfield to join in the attack, goalkeeping was an adventure with the Galaxy. Then along came Kevin Hartman in 1997, and suddenly the story line changed. Instead of a goalkeeper known as much for his antics and his colorful uniforms as his play, Major League Soccer gained one who, over the next eight seasons, became renowned for reliability.

Superb goalkeeping at both ends carried the Colorado Rapids and Galaxy to a 0-0 tie Wednesday night in a Major League Soccer game in front of 13,050. The Rapids dominated possession and had plenty more quality chances but were repeatedly frustrated by the Galaxy's suffocating defense, led by goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.

Lounging in the shimmering Stadium Club restaurant perched above the crown jewel of American soccer, the Home Depot Center, Kevin Hartman glances at the emerald-green field below and has the kind of flashback that would make anyone shudder. Like some melting mirage, gone is the $150-million complex with the 27,000-seat stadium and state-of-the-art canopy roof that traps the raucous sounds of soccer fanatics, making for an international-party atmosphere.

Kevin Hartman avoided a playoff run of distraction and an off-season filled with uncertainty by agreeing to a multiyear deal with Major League Soccer, a contract extension that was announced Friday. That the seventh-year Galaxy goalkeeper will continue to ply his trade in his backyard -- Hartman grew up in the South Bay and played for two years at Cal State Dominguez Hills -- makes his sticking around that much sweeter, he said.

Apparently, the Galaxy's offense was lost in transit like so much luggage during the team's trip halfway across the globe to play in Peace Cup Korea 2003. How better to explain the defending Major League Soccer champion failing to score in its second consecutive match of the three-games-in-five-days tournament? True, the Galaxy's 0-0 draw with 1860 Munich of Germany on Friday in Daejon, South Korea, left much to be desired.

Kevin Hartman closed out the regular season as arguably the hottest goalkeeper in Major League Soccer, having given up one goal in the Galaxy's last four league games. Things have been painfully different for him in the postseason. Hartman has given up six goals in the first two games of the Galaxy's first-round MLS playoff series against the Kansas City Wizards. Still, there are no measurable worries in the Galaxy camp, not even with the No.

There's an old soccer saying that as a team's goalkeeper goes, so goes the team. The No. 1-seeded and Western Conference champion Galaxy, behind the strong, stingy play of goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, has subscribed to that theory as it prepares to begin the Major League Soccer playoffs Wednesday against the Kansas City Wizards.

Kevin Hartman closed out the regular season as arguably the hottest goalkeeper in Major League Soccer, having given up one goal in the Galaxy's last four league games. Things have been painfully different for him in the postseason. Hartman has given up six goals in the first two games of the Galaxy's first-round MLS playoff series against the Kansas City Wizards. Still, there are no measurable worries in the Galaxy camp, not even with the No.

There's an old soccer saying that as a team's goalkeeper goes, so goes the team. The No. 1-seeded and Western Conference champion Galaxy, behind the strong, stingy play of goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, has subscribed to that theory as it prepares to begin the Major League Soccer playoffs Wednesday against the Kansas City Wizards.