DONOVAN LEADS COMEBACK GALAXY 3, REAL SALT LAKE 2.

Byline: SCOTT FRENCH Staff Writer

The Galaxy overcame a disastrous start behind Landon Donovan's first superb outing of the season Saturday, giving a solid performance in a 3-2 triumph at Real Salt Lake.

Donovan scored a goal and assisted two others for L.A. (2-2-1), which rallied from an early deficit and held off Major League Soccer's worst team in front of 16,427 at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium.

It was a costly victory, with captain Peter Vagenas departing in the 10th minute, and heading to the hospital, with a concussion and Cornell Glen suffering a hamstring injury just before halftime.

Cobi Jones, left on the bench to start the game, and Herculez Gomez, back in the starting lineup, also scored goals for the Galaxy, and RSL's winless streak hit 17 games.

``We brought more energy to the game and defended better all over the field than we had in the previous matches,'' Galaxy coach Steve Sampson said. ``That's probably the thing I'm most proud of.''

Sampson switched to a 4-3-3 alignment, with Donovan in midfield, and the U.S. national team star dominated the game as the Galaxy matched its goal total from the first four matches. He stripped Eddie Pope to score in the 11th minute - his first goal of the campaign - fed Chris Albright for the cross Jones headed home in the 26th, then played a through ball for Gomez to finish in the 60th.

``I think that was his most complete game so far this season,'' Sampson said. ``It was nice to see him score a goal.''

Steve Cronin, starting at goalkeeper in place of Kevin Hartman, made fine second-half stops on Atiba Harris and Chris Klein, and rookie Kyle Veris was solid in his first start in central defense.

Vagenas, who prepped at St. Francis High of La Canada Flintridge, was injured when RSL's Douglas Sequeira landed on his head when they hit the turf after a collision. Vagenas was off the field receiving treatment when Jason Kreis scored in the sixth minute - from Andy Williams' feed after Jeff Cunningham dummied a long pass from Carey Talley - and collapsed a few minutes after returning to the field.

``Pete lost his memory,'' Sampson reported. ``But he's regaining his memory slowly. We'll wait and see how he is.''

RSL put late pressure on the Galaxy, feeling the effects of Salt Lake City's altitude, and Harris made it 3-2 from Kreis' sharp cross. The rally was done when Kreis, MLS's all-time goals leader with 102, was sent off in the 88th minute upon receiving his second yellow card.

``I'm pleased that we closed out a game,'' said Sampson, whose team gave up late goals in a 1-1 draw with Chicago and last week's 1-0 loss to Columbus. ``I'm very proud of the smart way the team played.''

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