Kansas City, Mo. ? Los Angeles Galaxy rookie Gavin Glinton almost didn’t make it into Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Wizards.

“The only reason he didn’t start this week was because he has some pretty sore ribs,” said Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid. “We weren’t going to bring Gavin on this trip, and then Simon Elliot injured his ankle Friday.”

Glinton, who was substituted at the beginning of the sudden-death period, scored in the 93rd minute to lift the Galaxy (3-1-2) past the Kansas City Wizards 2-1. Glinton’s shot slid across the goalmouth past Wizards reserve goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi.

Galaxy forward Brian Mullan scored the first goal in the 12th minute. The volley, off a flick-on header by Alexi Lalas, was the culmination of a flurry of shots by Los Angeles in the opening minutes.

Wizards coach Bob Gansler said he is beginning to become concerned about his team’s slow starts.

“It seems like at home, ever more so than on the road, we don’t seem to put our stamp on the game early,” Gansler said. “We had one shot in the first 22 minutes (tonight). By that time, they had already had eight shots on goal.”

The Wizards (1-2-2) got their equalizer in the 29th minute. Preki converted a penalty kick after Kansas City midfielder Stephen Armstrong was knocked down from behind inside the Galaxy’s box by defender Tyrone Marshall.

Both teams were missing key players due to World Cup preparations. The Galaxys Cobi Jones was called up for the U.S. national team and was absent from the Los Angeles roster. Oshoniyi replaced national team backup Tony Meola in goal for the Wizards.