Mathis Trade Haunts Galaxy

Clint Mathis is only 24.

Assuming he stays in Major League Soccer and isn’t lured overseas by a hefty contract--something that becomes more likely with each game he plays--he could be haunting the Galaxy for another decade at least.

On Saturday, Mathis underlined how much more valuable he is than, say, Luis Hernandez by creating one goal and scoring another as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars defeated the Galaxy, 2-0, at East Rutherford, N.J.

The loss ended the Galaxy’s four-game unbeaten streak and meant that Los Angeles picked up only one point in its two-game trip, rather than the minimum of four Coach Sigi Schmid had hoped to get.

For the high-flying MetroStars, meanwhile, the victory in front of 21,561 at Giants Stadium was the team’s fourth in a row.

Mathis has been at the forefront of each of them.

Since being traded to New York/New Jersey last season in the debacle that brought Hernandez to the Galaxy, Mathis has scored 23 goals in 32 matches. He has seven goals in seven games this season.

Hernandez has scored five goals in 21 matches since joining MLS.

Saturday’s game, played under trying conditions caused by a strong wind and a field left in appalling condition by the now-defunct XFL, was even through the first 45 minutes.

The MetroStars (5-1-1) had the better of the few scoring chances, with Tab Ramos and Mathis each forcing Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman into making good saves.

Playing against the wind, the Galaxy did not have a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes.

Los Angeles (3-3-1) had come into the game holding a 9-4 edge in the all-time series, but MetroStars’ Coach Octavio Zambrano discounted that.

“The Galaxy has gotten some good results against us in the past,” he said in midweek, “but now I feel we are better equipped to give them a stiffer competition.

“The team has changed somewhat [from Zambrano’s time as Galaxy coach]. Now it is a bit more conservative, but still a good club.”

The MetroStars are anything but conservative. They carried the game to the Galaxy in the second half and soon were rewarded.

In the 53rd minute, referee Paul Tamberino awarded New York/New Jersey a free kick on a dubious obstruction call against Galaxy midfielder Danny Pena just outside the penalty area.

Mathis took the kick and fired a shot that slammed against the right post near the crossbar and rebounded to winger Petter Villegas, who steered the ball into the net wide of the stranded Hartman.

The goal brought Mathis’ streak of consecutive games in which he has scored or assisted on a goal to 12, including U.S. national team games.

“I guess you could say that I’m in kind of a zone,” he said recently.

Zambrano put it another way.

“Right now, Clint is riding a wave,” he told the Associated Press before Saturday’s game. “He’s doing great.”

In the 77th minute, he did even better.

MetroStar midfielder Pedro Alvarez intercepted a Galaxy pass and passed to Mathis. The former University of South Carolina star from Conyers, Ga., hit a right-foot shot diagonally across the net and the ball sneaked inside the left post to make it 2-0.

The Galaxy attack, such as it was, was unable to beat New York/New Jersey goalkeeper Tim Howard, who snagged a header by Sasha Victorine and stopped fierce shots by Simon Elliott and Greg Vanney.

The MetroStars were reduced to 10 men for the final six minutes of regulation and four minutes of injury time when Villegas was red-carded for a tackle from behind on Galaxy forward Brian Mullan.

Even that didn’t help Los Angeles’ scoring chances.

Hernandez, who is supposed to help, will return to Los Angeles this week because his Mexican team, Club America, was eliminated from the Mexican league playoff semifinals Saturday when it was held to a 1-1 tie by Pachuca, which won on aggregate, courtesy of a 2-0, victory Wednesday.

Schmid and the rest of the Galaxy would be remiss if they didn’t tell him he has a lot of catching up to do.

Especially if he wants to be considered on the same level as Mathis.