Wizards 4, Galaxy 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Excluding a momentary lapse by Kansas City goaltender Tony Meola, the Wizards dominated all 90 minutes of their playoff game against Los Angeles on Saturday night, defeating the Galaxy 4-1 and evening their first-to-five series at three points apiece.

``It probably was the best game we've played all year,'' Meola said. ``Our back was against the wall and we came out with a good start. But we are not where we want to be, which is in the semifinals.''

Los Angeles will play host to Kansas City on Wednesday, with the winner of the match moving on to the second round.

Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid said his team's performance was ``no good, in large part due to the efforts of Kansas City.''

``We can't play like we did tonight,'' he said, ``whether it's at the Rose Bowl or on the corner. If we play like we did tonight, we'll get our teeth kicked in again.''

The Wizards jumped out to 2-0 first half lead with goals by Igor Simutenkov and Eric Quill.

Simutenkov scored in the 19th minute to put Kansas City ahead 1-0, and Quill added a goal in the 37th minute with a shot to the right of Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.

Preki scored off a deflected free kick in the 70th minute.

The Galaxy scored seconds later to ruin Meola's shutout bid. With his back to the offense, Meola was beaten by a 55-yard chip shot by forward Chris Albright. Meola was watching the replay of Preki's goal on the stadium monitor as Albright's goal sailed overhead and in.

Wizards coach Bob Gansler jokingly said that although the team had spent the week working on a set pieces, they had not considered practicing to defend kickoffs.

``We will though,'' he said with a smile.

Meola, after describing the goal as a ``bonehead'' play on his part, found the incident less than humorous. Asked if he minded if the play were to find its way onto a soccer-blooper video, Meola replied, ``I don't want to be remembered for that. I want to be remembered for making it into the semifinals.''

The Los Angeles goal made little difference. The Wizards sealed it 2 minutes later when substitute Dario Fabbro put the ball past Hartman to the far side of the goal.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)