2002 MLS Cup | HIGHLIGHTS

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2002 MLS Cup | Oral History

by Adam Serrano

Appearances in the MLS Cup were nothing new to the LA Galaxy. Considered one of the premier franchises in MLS, the Galaxy had reached three MLS Cup finals in 1996, 1999 and 2001, but had fallen each time. In 2002, the Galaxy led by head coach Sigi Schmid, headed into the match as the Supporters’ Shield winners to face a plucky New England side in their home ground of Gillette Stadium.

Kevin Hartman: “In 1997, we were fresh off a loss in MLS Cup so I knew a lot of the guys that dealt with that first MLS Cup loss; I was a part of the 1999 loss and the 2001 loss so it was a tough time. We didn’t know if we were going to be able to do it. Fortunately, we just kept putting ourselves in that position.”

Linda Pickle (Galaxians member): “We were the Buffalo Bills of MLS with our three losses; I had been to 2001 when we lost to San Jose. Even after the stadium was empty and it was just cleaning staff, I remember sitting there thinking that I can’t believe that we lost again.”

THE BUILD UP

The scars of those past losses were fresh for the club and their fans as they prepared to take on a youthful New England side that had clawed their ways back to the final. Although the match was LA’s fourth finals appearance since 1996, there was a sense of fate surrounding the scene.

Alexi Lalas: “We were staying in Providence for logistical reasons and I remember waking up the morning before MLS Cup knowing that this will probably be my only opportunity to be on the field and win one. I woke up at 4 in the morning and I was rooming with Peter Vagenas at the time, I didn’t want to wake him up, but there was no way that I was going to sleep. So I was very quiet and used my cell phone as a flashlight to make my way out of the hotel and I remember walking the streets at 4am, the day of MLS Cup because I couldn’t sleep. I remember saying, ‘this is either going to be a great story to tell one day or a horrible story about why I lost MLS Cup’.”

THE FISH

Throughout the 2002 season, it was the play of Carlos Ruiz that lifted the Galaxy to the brink of their first MLS Cup. In his first season with the club, the Guatemalan known as “El Pescadito” or the Little Fish, tallied 24 goals en route to the league’s golden boot. His penchant for timely goals earned him MLS’ Most Valuable Player award, an honor that his Galaxy teammates believed that he fully deserved.

Alexi Lalas: “It’s no secret that from an attacking standpoint and a pure wins and losses standpoint, we rode Carlos Ruiz due to the spectacular year that he was having. What he did was that he didn’t just score a lot of goals, but he scored in a lot of games so our defense had this idea that every time we went out, for all intents and purposes, we were up 1-0. Carlos was going to get a goal and that’s an incredible comfort and confidence to have.”

Chris Albright: “Pescadito was unreal. I always try to share my experiences about the Fish with [my teammates] about the amount of cheesecake and Pepsi that he had the night before the final.”

THE RAZOR

The 2002 MLS Cup Final would take place in the sparkling new Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. When the Galaxy and their fans arrived, they were greeted by a capacity crowd of more than 61,000 screaming Revolution fans. In true maniacal New England sports fashion, the fans at Gillette immediately let themselves be heard.

Linda Pickle: “It was daunting. The stadium was so huge, you could just see the tiers of people and they packed it. They put us in a little section all to ourselves, way up high behind the goal so we were perched high above the field.”

Cobi Jones: “For MLS matches, there weren’t many times that the stadium had 61,000 plus people there. It was great to have that many people there, but then the realization sets in that 60,599 are rooting for New England. It was kind of imposing, but we were a strong unit and a strong team so that gave us motivation. We realized that as usual, everyone is cheering against LA and against the Galaxy and it was just one more step that we needed to take to get the monkey off our backs.”

Alexi Lalas: “It was really full circle for me. I made a point when I came back to MLS in 1996 of going to New England and it was where I wanted to go and I had a blast for the two seasons that I was there, even though we weren’t very successful. I spent many years, traipsing around MLS trying to find some success and the elusive ring that every athlete wants at some point in their career. So to have it come back to playing against the Revolution in their home ground for MLS Cup, it was pretty surreal. It was a good Revolution team at the time and we had never been in front of that type of crowd in terms of the numbers as a Galaxy team. We certainly knew that we had our work cut out for us and if we were to win, we were going to disappoint a lot of people in that stadium. Not that we cared too much.”

EXTRATIME

Scoring chances were at a premium for a heated 90 minutes, but heading into extra time, which was still decided by Golden Goal at that time, the message was clear…don’t buckle and get the ball to Ruiz.

Cobi Jones: “The big thing was talking about each other, I was captain of that team and it was my responsibility to keep everyone up beat and tight. We had created chances, but it was about finishing this game off. We knew that we’d create chances; we were a team that scored goals because we had a great goal scorer in Carlos Ruiz. We knew if we got him another chance, with Carlos Ruiz, if you give him two chances then he’s going to make one of them. We knew that we needed to give him the ball in front of net.”

Linda Pickle: “The whole time, we were scared. We’d been through this before and we were just so scared that we weren’t going to win. It was our third time and we were urging them to score. It was sudden death and we had lost in sudden death before so it was back and forth. We were just scared.”

THE CROSSBAR

In the 112th minute, it appeared that once again, luck would not be on the Galaxy side. A Steve Ralston corner kick fell perfectly for Jamaican—and ex-Galaxy player—Winston Griffiths. The Jamaican launched his shot just outside the box, but it took a deflection and rattled the crossbar after sailing past Kevin Hartman.

Cobi Jones: “He took the shot from our right back position, his left wing position and literally, deflects and starts looping up and over the head of Hartman. We’re doing windshield wipers, jumping up and down and thinking ‘Oh my gosh, this can’t be it. It can’t fall into the back of the net.’ Thankfully, it hit the cross bar and bounced back.”

THE GOAL

Moments after Griffiths’ nearly gave the win to New England, the Galaxy would break through in the 113th minute. On the counter sparked by Albright, Tyrone Marshall would break down the right side with Ruiz streaking down his left. With Marshall powering down field, he fired a cross into the Guatemalan that Ruiz calmly placed in the back of the net. Final score: LA Galaxy 1, New England Revolution 0.

Alexi Lalas: “When that fast break came as it often did for us and we countered with speed, Carlos was able to get on the end of it. I could see it all develop from where we were. Whether it was Chris Albright’s outside of the left foot pass or Marshall who hit it up there, you could see it develop. We had seen it so many times during the year that Carlos had scored that one goal. That was his moment to continue what he had done all year…the shot caressed in and that’s all she wrote.”

Cobi Jones: “It was amazing. All I remember afterward is just everyone sprinting to the corner and making a big dog pile celebration.”

THE REDEMPTION

With the victory, the LA Galaxy had added their first MLS Cup trophy and finally etched their name among the champions of MLS.

Cobi Jones: “It was pure relief; we finally did it, we won. No one could take that away from us and we’d marked ourselves in MLS’ history. Part of what we developed at the Galaxy was a culture of winning, we’d won a bunch of different trophies, but we hadn’t reached the pinnacle yet for us in MLS. That was something that was hanging over us and to finally get that, it was a great relief and sign of what we had accomplished as a team and as a group in that 2002 season. We continued to push despite those let downs in the past.”

Linda Pickle: “We had lost so many times before so when Fishy scored that goal, we just thought ‘Oh my God’ and we were crying and literally bawling our eyes off. You looked around and everyone was crying, especially all the Galaxians because we had been through the losses before. There wasn’t a dry eye among any of the Galaxy fans.”

Alexi Lalas: “I just thought, ‘thank God, I’ll never have to worry about this again.’ Its cliché, but it’s true that every professional athlete wants that moment that you grow up watching, holding a trophy and kissing it then having that iconic moment where someone takes a picture that lasts forever. At that point, I had done a lot in soccer, but to win a championship and the first one for the Galaxy meant a tremendous amount.”

Kevin Hartman: “To be part of the first Galaxy team to ever win MLS Cup that is just something that I’ll always be proud of…everyone asks me what my favorite memory from MLS is, it’s the 2002 MLS Cup winning side.”

Joe Tutino: “Rick Davis (Tutino’s broadcast partner) couldn’t help but laugh as I lost my mind on the call and the players had a bit of fun with it in the locker room as Doug Hamilton played it for everyone to hear.”