Two of the Top Battle on Saturday

The Dallas Burn, the points leader of the Central division, comes rolling into LA this saturday to battle with the Western division leaders, the LA Galaxy. This will definitely proof to be match of two well-balanced teams. Both goalkeepers are among the top of MLS. Kevin Hartman of the Galaxy and Matt Jordan both earned 11 shutouts last year to lead the league. This year has seen both keepers record a shutout with Jordan barely edging Hartman on the ranking of keepers with a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.00 as opposed to 1.18 for Hartman.

Both teams have a strong defense. The Burns' Eric Dade has played well this year as he has continued to increase his playing time since his 1997 discovery player signing. LA's Robin Fraser and Greg Vanney have been playing extrememly well, and they always have the crowd favorite, Paul Caligiuri, to substitute in when they need him.

The midfield will most likely be the most action-packed portion of the Rose Bowl field. Both teams have an explosive midfield. LA's Cobi Jones has stepped his game up these last two seasons and is proving to be one of the greatest scoring threats in all of MLS. Jason Kreis has already become another of the top scorers and points leaders for MLS. His 3 goals and 3 assists earn him 9 points, just one above Cobi in the points standings.

The offense for both teams is a built around the concept of flux. Neither the Galaxy or Burn have very many "true" forwards. For the Burn it is Ariel Graziani. He and Jason Kreis are tied at 3 goals a piece, even though Jason is offically listed as a midfielder. This is because both teams flow quickly into transistion from winning the ball, to shooting it. For the Galaxy Clint Mathis has been their target forward. Again, he is not their top scoring machine right now. That honor goes to Cobi.

The game Saturday should be a good one. The teams are generally healthy, each is missing a key player or two to national team committments. The field advantage definitely goes to the Galaxy as the Burn have lost seven straight matches in the Rose Bowl.

A lot can change in a week. Colorado just defeated Tampa Bay in a difficult match at Mile High Stadium by the score of 1-0. This week they do it again, but they play in Tampa Bay. The big difference may not be the home field, instead it may be addition of new blood. The Rapids, who have been wracked by injuries thus far this year, have added Junior Agogo from the Chicago Fire. The Fire had to let him go when they aquired Stoitchkov, even though he had been red-hot in the preseason. Agogo scored three goals and had two assists in the preseason but only got to start one regular season match for the Fire. Look for him to contribute to the ailing Rapids and their offense.

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