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Galaxy scramble to 2-2 draw with Real Salt Lake

May 7, 2009 - 4:30 AM By JASEN ASAY STATS MLS Correspondent

SANDY, Utah (STATS) - Mike Magee couldn't think of a better time to score his first goal for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Magee, who entered Wednesday's game against Real Salt Lake in the 76th minute, scored the third goal of stoppage time to give the Galaxy a 2-2 draw with RSL.

"The first one's always the best," said Magee, who spent the previous six seasons with New York, scoring 23 goals, before being traded to Los Angeles in January. "The game got a little ugly there at the end but I think that we deserved a tie and we got it."

The Galaxy (1-1-5) remained unbeaten on the road this season with their third tie in as many road matches, while RSL was denied a fourth straight home victory.

With RSL (3-3-1) leading 1-0 heading into extra time, the Galaxy's Landon Donovan scored on a penalty kick after RSL's Will Johnson was called for a handball in the penalty box.

Johnson made up for his mistake moments later when he converted a penalty kick of his own after RSL's Fabian Espindola was fouled in the area by Los Angeles' Sean Franklin.

"I knew I needed to sort of make up and I wanted to put that on my shoulders," Johnson said. "I felt confident and penalties for me are all about confidence and I don't think I'm short of that."

That goal gave RSL a 2-1 lead, which lasted less than a minute.

The game marked just the third time in Major League Soccer history where three goals were scored in stoppage time. The last such occurrence came on July 27, 2003, when D.C. United scored three goals in stoppage time to beat the New England Revolution 4-2.

The Chicago Fire and New England Revolution combined to score three goals in stoppage time on June 11, 2006, in a 3-all tie.

"We were fortunate to get our second goal," said Galaxy coach Bruce Arena. "It was a great finish by Mike Magee and I felt like our team played well tonight. We did what we wanted to do in the first half."

The Galaxy played very compact in the first half and limited RSL's scoring chances. However Robbie Findley scored on a diving header off a corner kick from Clint Mathis in the 34th minute to give RSL a 1-0 lead. The goal was Findley's sixth of the season, while Mathis got his fifth assist.

Findley's goal looked like it would be the only one of the game until the exciting final minutes that were capped off by Magee's goal that came from a near-impossible angle as his shot went between the legs of RSL goalkeeper Chris Seitz.

"I knew I just had to hit it hard and low and it went in luckily," Magee said.

Findley nearly scored another goal seconds before the final whistle, but his header sailed just wide. RSL had outscored opponents 12-2 in winning its first three home matches.

"That loss leaves a bitter taste in our mouths," said RSL coach Jason Kreis. "We obviously didn't do enough. When you lead the game twice and walk away with a draw you're going to be disappointed."

Seitz, who started in place of the injured Nick Rimando, was just minutes from his first career shutout. He nearly stopped Donovan's penalty kick, getting a hand on the shot before the ball bounced off the post into the net.

The third-year goalkeeper started three matches his rookie season, going 0-2-1, and did not get a start in 2008.