Galaxy Can’t Slow Preki in 2-1 Loss

Just as the Galaxy was getting sound--defender Ezra Hendrickson would be ready to play for the first time in a month after straining his right hamstring and midfielder Simon Elliott was making strides after twisting his left ankle--the injury bug bit them again.

Midfielder Sasha Victorine tweaked his back at practice on Thursday and was unavailable for the Galaxy’s game at Kansas City on Saturday.

And while both Hendrickson and Elliott were able to play a full 90 minutes against the Wizards, it was Victorine’s absence that proved the difference in the Galaxy’s 2-1 loss in front of 9,877 at Arrowhead Stadium, a reversal of the result two weeks ago on the same field.

“[Last time] I thought Sasha did a good job of tying Preki up and I think today that Preki definitely had a lot more space to play,” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said of the Wizards’ high-scoring midfielder. “A little bit was because of [Kansas City’s] system but also, we just didn’t do a good job covering him.

“I thought Preki definitely ran havoc on us.”

Preki also scored the game-winning goal.

In the 61st minute, Preki unleashed a wide-open left-footed shot from the top of the penalty box that glanced off the left post before going into the net.

The Galaxy (4-2-2) scored first, in the 55th minute.

With forward Brian Mullan on a breakaway, he was quickly marked by Wizard defender Nick Garcia. Mullan faked to the right, losing Garcia, and cut to the middle, just inside the penalty box. Mullan then shot one past Kansas City goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi.

Three minutes later, the Wizards (2-3-2) tied the score when Diego Gutierrez beat Hendrickson to a loose ball in front of the net.

In other MLS games:

Jaime Moreno scored his first two goals of the season and had an assist to lead D.C. United (3-5-1) to a 4-2 victory over New York/New Jersey (3-5-1) in front of 20,105 at Washington.... Jeff Cunningham had a goal and an assist to lead Columbus (3-4-1) to a 2-0 victory over San Jose (5-3-1) in front of 15,712 at Columbus, Ohio.... Steve Morrow scored his first two goals of the season, both on headers, to lead Dallas (3-2-3) to a 3-1 victory over Colorado (4-3-1) in front of 10,592 at Dallas.

*

In WUSA games:

Charmaine Hooper’s goal in the 89th minute gave Atlanta (2-3-1) a 2-1 victory over San Jose (2-3-1) in front of 5,624 at San Jose.... Dagny Mellgren’s second goal of the game, scored in the 88th minute, lifted Boston (2-2-2) to a 2-1 victory over New York (1-4-1) in front of 5,048 at Uniondale, N.Y.... Hege Riise scored in the 51st minute to lift Carolina (3-0-2) into a 1-1 tie with Washington (2-3-1) in front of 20,105 at Washington.

Associated Press contributed to this report.