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 Thursday, August 30, 2001 14:39 EST

Galaxy draw with Crew in chilly Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The rap on warm-weather teams is that they can't function when the mercury falls.

But apparently that doesn't include this edition of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Clint Mathis scored on a header in the 87th minute as the Galaxy tied Columbus 2-2 on Saturday night in frosty Crew Stadium.

The temperature at the start was 35 degrees with wind that dropped the wind-chill factor to 19 degrees. There were intermittent snow flurries earlier in the day.

The paid attendance was announced as 10,797, but it didn't appear that more than half that many were on hand.

"We did a good job of battling back and a good job of battling the cold weather," Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid said. "Los Angeles guys are supposed to be soft. But I didn't think we were soft at all."

Dante Washington scored two goals for the Crew (1-2-1). The Galaxy improved to 2-0-2.

"It's hard to win here," said Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who turned away five shots on goal. "They're a good team and in weather like this we're supposed to have trouble. It's not something we're used to. That was the first time Roy Myers had ever seen snow. It's a different experience for us. I got so cold I had to do laps in the box."

Washington gave the Crew a 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal in the 15th minute, but Ezra Hendrickson countered three minutes later with a score over the outstretched right hand of diving Columbus goalkeeper Mark Dougherty.

After a corner kick in the 67th minute, Washington scored the go-ahead goal when he got a clear kick despite heavy traffic in front of the Galaxy goal. He easily beat Hartman, the best at his position in the MLS a year ago while allowing less than a goal a game.

Mathis knotted things again with his header in the 87th minute. Zak Ibsen and Paul Caligiuri assisted on the play.

"I thought we played good enough to get three points but we made a couple of mental mistakes," Columbus coach Tom Fitzgerald said. "We did everything we wanted. But we made mistakes on a set piece and a cross and gave up two goals. Mark Dougherty only had to make a couple of saves and we walk away with a 2-0 win."

The Galaxy had an opportunity to win in regulation, but Mathis' attempt was kicked away by Columbus defender Ansil Elcock in the 88th minute.

"We were a little unlucky there at the end," Schmid said. "Mathis beat Dougherty and Elcock saved it off the line. That was the game right there."

The Galaxy scored eight goals in their first three matches, the most goals of any team in the league. Forward Cobi Jones scored four times -- one more than the entire Crew team in its three matches. Jones failed to score for the first time this season.

"We don't want to be a Galaxy that can only win when things are going well for us," Schmid said. "We want to be a Galaxy who when we have to roll up our sleeves we can still get a result."

Columbus, 7-3-1 in the series with Los Angeles, avoided falling to 1-3 for the first time in franchise history.



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