Author: smallforce

Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi’s goal a beauty

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By Pearl Allison Lo

It was another close match between the San Jose Earthquakes and FC Dallas Saturday, but Pierazzi’s goal was the difference in another 2-1 game between the two Saturday.

In the 45th minute, Pierazzi took a pass from Khari Stephenson, touched the ball innocently it seemed at first, then kicked it past two defenders almost straightaway as it curved away from goalie Chris Seitz into the net from 35 yards out. It was Pierazzi’s first goal with the team and the team’s first road win of the season.

FC Dallas’s Blas Perez scored first in the 16th minute, as the ball bounced over Ty Harden and Jordan Stewart. Fabian Castillo then chased the ball down to kick it back the way it came, directly to Perez as Perez collided with Harden.

Adam Moffat received a yellow card for pulling the Quakes’ Yannick Djalo in the 23rd minute when Djalo had the ball.

Off a corner to San Jose’s Steven Lenhart who received it on his chest after a bounce, who then kicked it to Atiba Harris, Harris scored past a diving Seitz to equalize the score in the 27th minute. It was Harris’s second goal in as many games.

Things became more interesting when Moffat received his second yellow in the 38th minute, which would leave his team down in the second half this time. Moffat tackled Djalo who had the ball, causing Djalo to tumble and roll. Harris gave Moffat a good game handshake and patted his head. Moffat then turned the other way heading towards the referee, but Harris ran back to take him off the field.

With one minute stoppage time in the first half, Pierazzi’s goal was followed by a penalty kick on the other end after an inadvertent collision between Stewart and Castillo, as Castillo headed towards the goal.

Quakes’ goalie Jon Busch predicted Castillo’s second chance at net correctly, to preserve the lead and the game as he made his first penalty save out of three attempts now this year.

In the 74th minute, Djalo pulled up either due to a cramp or his hamstring, but had to stay in because coach Mark Watson had already made three substitutions. Thus, with limited play and the way FC Dallas played in the second half, one could argue that there was no man missing from the game.

In the 90th minute, the wall saved a free kick by FC Dallas’s Ryan Hollingshead right outside the penalty area.

Game notes: San Jose is now even in May play with a record of 33-33-18. They next play Toronto at 1pm June 7th for their only away game of the month.

 

A’s sweep Cleveland

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Photo credit: Tony Dejak/AP

By Pearl Allison Lo

The Oakland Athletics won their 9th in 10 games as prevailing trends continued with a 13-3 win over the Indians Sunday, the second 10-run win of the series.

No A’s player hit a home run this game but Brandon Moss and Josh Donaldson scored four runs apiece and Yoenis Cespedes drove in a career-high five RBIS. Moss was a perfect 3-for-3 as well.

The game winner came during Oakland’s highest-scoring inning, the fifth. They scored four runs on three hits to make it 7-1. Coco Crisp was initially walked and Justin Masterson’s start was called over.

Jesse Chavez (4-1) got his second straight win, pitching five innings while giving up six hits, two runs, three walks and striking out six.

Masterson (2-3) struggled again, pitching 4.1 innings while giving up seven hits and runs apiece, five walks and striking out one. The Indians went through five relief pitchers for the second time this series as well.

Cleveland scored first with the first chance they got, a leadoff home run by Michael Bourn in the bottom of the first.

The A’s tied it in the top of the second. Moss led off with a triple and scored on a throwing error.

They went up 3-1 in the top of the 4th thanks to two leadoff walks. After one out, John Jaso doubled in Donaldson and Reddick singled in Moss.

The Indians’ Michael Brantley made it 7-2 in the bottom of the 5th with a one-out home run.

In the top of the 6th, Cleveland got two outs but Nick Punto doubled, Donaldson was intentionally walked, moved over on a passed ball and both scored on a double by Brandon Moss to make it 9-2. That took out Josh Outman and brought in Scott Atchison

A’s also made a pitching change in the bottom of the inning, bringing in Jim Johnson for Chavez. However, Johnson struggled. He hit Lonnie Chisenhall but Chisenhall was called out at second, then walked three straight batters to load the bases and walked in a run. Fernando Abad came in to strike out Ryan Raburn to end the inning.

In the top of the 7th, Jaso made it to first on a fielding error and scored on a double by Reddick to get the bottom of the 6th run back.

The Indians’ Cody Allen replaced Atchison in the top of the 8th inning, but didn’t record a single out. Allen gave up a leadoff single, two straight walks to load the bases and a double to bring in two more runs. Kyle Crockett then came in and Jaso ground out to make it 13-3, Crockett struck out Reddick and got Alberto Callaspo to line out.

Game notes: Oakland’s Jed Lowrie strained his neck and had to leave the game. The A’s get a day off before facing the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday at 4:10pm.

 

Obafemi stuns Busch with rainbow shot

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Photo credit: @gcsounderfan

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Earthquakes vs Seattle Sounders game came down to one goal and it was one that even shocked the goalkeeper, as Seattle remained the top team in the league with the 1-0 win Saturday.

Using a forward pass from Gonzalo Pineda, Obafemi Martins, almost parallel to the goalline, arced his shot with his left foot so that it looked like a rainbow, and hit the net near the right post as Jon Busch’s bugged out in disbelief in the 8th minute.

It was similar to the teams’ last meeting in score but the Sounders won that game and the goal came near the end of the game.

The Quakes’ Shaun Francis, prevented another goal, when he got in front of Kenny Cooper, who was right in front of Busch in the 27th minute.

Busch got a shot at redemption in the 57th minute when this time, Martins was the one passing and Busch, extremely alert, blocked Lamar Neagle like a pinball machine.

Neagle was again denied in the 65th minute, and Busch blocked two more late shots in the 84th and 86th minutes

Game notes: San Jose was by far the team down more in terms of their usual players. Clarence Goodson, who celebrated his birthday May 17, and Chris Wondolowski, were called Monday to the U.S. World Cup camp. The Quakes were also without Victor Bernardez, who was called to the Honduran camp (also as a result of misconduct in the May 10th game, he was fined and suspended one game) and Shea Salinas, who was suspended one game. Alan Gordon and Steven Lenhart were out due to injury. The Sounders had three players called to the U.S. camp, DeAndre Yedlin, Brad Evans & Clint Dempsey. San Jose players wore black armbands during the game to support Jason Hernandez in memory of his father, who lost his battle with cancer May 16. The Quakes host Houston May 25 at 7:30pm for the next game.

 

Whitecaps top Earthquakes

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Photograph by: Steve Bosch, PNG

By Pearl Allison Lo

Vancouver’s three goals in the first 20 minutes were able to top San Jose’s late comeback in a 3-2 decision Saturday, as the Whitecaps celebrated their 40th anniversary.

The game winner came off Pedro Morales’s first goal of the game and the Whitecaps’ penalty kick. It came in the 19th minute and was preceded by a Jordan Stewart giveaway, before the slight touch by Victor Bernardez against Darren Mattocks who had a breakaway.

Vancouver outshot the Quakes 17-7.

In the first half, the ‘Caps controlled the majority of the ball possession. The possession San Jose did have was usually intercepted, deflected, given away or more.

The game’s first goal was braced by San Jose’s Yannick Djalo going down twice on the turf. Already suffering from groin tightness, when he went down the first time, play continued.

Vancouver’s Kekuta Manneh ‘s initial shot went off the left post then came back to him. The rebound shot then went to the right post and into the net in the 10th minute.

Djalo’s second time down again forced coach Mark Watson to go early to his bench for Alan Gordon in the 13th minute. It was Djalo’s first start for the team.

Morales’s second goal came almost straightaway outside the box and just a minute after his first to make it 3-0, as he took off his shirt in celebration.

All of the Whitecaps’ goals came before the Quakes’ first shot.

In the 28th minute, Mattocks went down on his own as well with a hamstring injury. Erik Hurtado came in to replace him.

San Jose’s Sam Cronin was in net to prevent a fourth goal when Morales passed the ball to Manneh who passed the ball to Hurtado before his shot in the 34th minute.

In the 45th minute, the Quakes spoiled David Ousted’s clean sheet and got a goal back when Chris Wondolowski took the penalty kick. Alan Gordon had got knocked down by Jay DeMerit after Gordon headed the ball.

The Quakes prevented another fourth goal when the rookie Hurtado came attacking. Goalie Jon Busch went equally hard forward to challenge Hurtado and with the block, joined the 1,000 save club in the 59th minute.

The 3-2 score occurred in the 91st minute. Wondolowski scored his second goal of the game, fifth of the teams’ eight goals during the season and ninth in his career against Vancouver as the ball slid right past Ousted. Stoppage time ended in the 94th.

Game notes: It was the first meeting between Steven Beitashour and San Jose since they parted. Morales had to go off the field temporarily in the second half. Gordon got yellow carded in the 70th minute. The Quake’s Billy Schuler experienced his first action of the season when he subbed in for Brandon Barklage.

Kings reign late to force Game 7

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Photo credit: Juan Ocampo/Getty Images

By Pearl Allison Lo

LOS ANGELES– Los Angeles broke through with three goals in the third to create a 4-1 Game 6 win over the San Jose Sharks Monday.

The game winner was a call that forced a video goal review and controversy. On one side, it looked like Sharks’ goalie Alex Stalock made the save, the puck was frozen and then Stalock got pushed. The official call by the NHL was that the “puck entered the net in a legal fashion” as Justin Williams got the tip-in at 11:56, with Robyn Regehr and Anze Kopitar aiding on the play. Stalock commented, “I don’t think the puck goes in if I don’t get pushed in. It was still so something had to be done for the puck to move into the net.” Kings’ coach Darryl Sutter stated, “The only thing I could see from the bench is the referee pointing and not blowing the whistle, that’s his call and the replay shows the puck’s loose, so that’s all I could see was the replay.” San Jose coach Todd McLellan said, “That was obviously the turning point. Got to move on and overcome it again.”

Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty slid the puck across the ice to Williams, who was right at the corner of the net at 5:31 and made it 1-0. Jake Muzzin got the other assist in the first period.

The Sharks had a 5-on-3 at 6:40 of the second period but could not convert.

San Jose’s Justin Braun got the first assist from the blue line on James Sheppard’s goal to tie the game at 12:26. Raffi Torres helped as the goal was reminiscent of Braun’s goal he made in Game 2 from the point.

On a 3-on-2 in the third, Kopitar scored at 12:27, aided by Williams and Dwight King to make it 3-1.

Kopitar scored his second straight goal on the power play at 14:42. Doughty’s shot went off Stalock through the Sharks’ Scott Hannan’s legs before Kopitar. Alec Martinez helped as well.

Before the three goals, Stalock was playing well, making saves against a 2-on-1, on the power play and with his glove.

9 out of 176 playoff series have been taken to a Game 7 from 3-0.

Game notes: San Jose’s Marc Edouard-Vlasic and Mike Brown were out this game, giving Matt Irwin and Marty Havlat their first playing time of the series. It was Stalock’s first career playoff start.

Kings fight their way to Game 5

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Photo credit: USA Today

By Pearl Allison Lo

LOS ANGELES– In a much more physical game, Game 4 started out tight and then got looser as the Kings stayed alive to defeat the San Jose Sharks 6-3, Thursday.

As would seem befitting for a team fighting for their playoff lives, Los Angeles kept scoring first, but the Sharks answered back each time until there were 59 seconds left in the second period. The puck went right to Tyler Toffoli as he scored in a similar place to Justin Williams’ second goal, to nab the game-winner and give the Kings a two goal lead. From Jeff Carter to Alec Martinez, the puck made contact with Andrew Desjardins before heading to Toffoli, who also celebrated his birthday.

The teams shared seven penalties between each other during the first period.

The Kings’ Marian Gaborik’s first goal hit Antti Niemi’s left leg and slid through at 4:08 as Gaborik scored for the second straight game to make it 1-0. Dustin Brown and Slava Voynov aided on the play.

At 16:59, the Sharks’ Mike Brown and Los Angeles’ Kyle Clifford were given 10 minute misconducts. This was the second pair of matching penalties before the puck drop for the two teams.

Eight seconds before the first ended, San Jose’s Tomas Hertl used persistence again and got an assist, while James Sheppard got his first career playoff goal and fourth point of the series. Sheppard took a swing to the puck while it was in the air to even up the game.

Four minutes later, not counting intermission, Williams scored his first of the game on the power play. Mike Richards and Jake Muzzin helped on the play.

It was then the Sharks’ Matt Nieto’s turn to score for the second straight game, after corralling a shot Patrick Marleau bounced off goalie Jonathan Quick. It was 2-2 at 8:25 of the second.

The Kings then helped made it 3-2 by winning the faceoff. Off the backboard, Williams slid the puck past Niemi to score his second of the game at 16:07. Willie Mitchell and Jarret Stoll assisted.

Los Angeles continued scoring just 34 seconds into the third period. San Jose’s Brad Stuart lost the puck along the boards, Anze Kopitar picked it up and passed it to Gaborik who got Niemi off balance. Gaborik’s second goal of the night brought in Alex Stalock as a replacement.

The Kings’ first quest for a sixth goal did not end up as planned. What initially looked like a goal was called a no goal as they were called for cross-checking in front of the net. The Sharks’ Joe Pavelski then lifted the puck in on the ensuing power play, off the final rebound off Quick, this one his glove.

Toffoli then made it another 6-3 game in the series. He intercepted a pass from Joe Thornton, and passed it across the ice to Dustin Brown, who dumped the puck into the empty net at 18:32.

Both teams committed seven penalties apiece in the third period. Most occurred after the final goal as to name some, five players were called for roughing at 19:36. San Jose’s Brent Burns and Los Angeles’ Robyn Regehr rounded out the game and were whistled for fighting at 20:00.

Regarding the game recap, the Sharks’ Logan Couture mentioned, “…the first two periods they were better than we were, so in the third we played better…” and Coach Todd McLellan commented, “we can talk about the ones we missed, but I’m a little more concerned about the ones we gave up.”

Game notes: Game 5 will be Saturday at the SAP Center at 7pm.

 

Sharks’s OT win breaks Kings’ home playoff win streak

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Photo credit: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

By Pearl Allison Lo

LOS ANGELES– Patrick Marleau scored his third playoff goal in Game 3 of this series to lead San Jose to a 3-0 series advantage with a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday.

Up until the Sharks’ win, the Kings had won all of their playoff games at home since June 11, 2012.

Besides two straight Los Angeles goals, the scoring went back and forth.

Marleau was aided by Scott Hannan at 6:20 in this much tighter game than the previous two. The goal was their only shot in overtime. Goalie Antti Niemi is now 12-2 in OT careerwise in the playoffs.

Teammate Logan Couture commented on overtime, “…they really took it to us for the first five minutes of that overtime, then we got a lucky bounce and that’s the way things go sometimes.”

On their second shot of the game and 11 seconds into their power play, San Jose’s Brent Burns scored at 3:16 of the first, helped by Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle.

The shot on goal margin for the Kings increased to 7-2, but they could not get the puck in the right spot.

The Sharks paid for a puck over the glass penalty by Jason Demers at 3:23 of the second. Los Angeles’s Tyler Toffoli was able to pass the puck just past Tommy Wingels, and Jarret Stoll shot right away to even the game at 1-1 at 4:48. Drew Doughty also assisted on the play.

The Kings’ Marian Gaborik then single-handedly intercepted one of the passes on his teams’ side and turned it into a 3 on 2 man advantage and goal at 7:59 for the 2-1 lead.

It was short-lived though. Marleau fished the puck out from alongside the boards and passed it to Jason Demers near the blue line. Demers then aimed at the net and Long Beach native Matt Nieto tipped in the puck, to even the game back up at two at 9:17. It was Nieto’s first career playoff goal.

Los Angeles got their fourth power play when James Sheppard was called for tripping. San Jose put the puck over the glass again, but the referees did not make the call.

The other half of Sheppard’s power play continued in the third. Seven seconds before it expired, Jeff Carter had a tip-in from Anze Kopitar and Doughty.

It took more than two power play opportunities following that goal, but three seconds after the second one at 9:17, Sharks’ rookie Tomas Hertl put the loose puck in, persisting several times after it went off goalie Jonathan Quick. Overall in the period, San Jose outshot the Kings 23-8. Hertl was aided by Wingels and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Kings’ head coach Darryl Sutter said, “It’s a tough field, and we won’t go away quietly.”

Game notes: The Sharks go for the sweep at Staples Thursday at 7:30pm.

Quakes able to stay even

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Photo credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

By Pearl Allison Lo

Against the Colorado Rapids going for their third straight win, the San Jose Earthquakes were able to keep a clean sheet in a 0-0 tie Saturday.

This was despite Colorado outcornering the Quakes 10 to 3, keeping by far the majority of possession time the whole game and having the only shot on target.

In eight games against the Rapids, San Jose is now 5-0-3.

The Quakes’ Alan Gordon started for the second straight game, and off a corner kick in just the first minute, had a header hit the bar. Not too far off, in the last game the two teams played, Gordon hit the post in the ninth minute.

In the 74th minute, the Rapids’ Vicente Sanchez started off with the ball, getting it to teammate Dillon Powers. Powers tried to return the favor in front of the net but Sanchez and the Quakes’ Victor Bernardez collided going for the ball. It was not clear whether or not it was from a foot from Sanchez or an awkward landing, but Bernardez had to have his right shoulder collarbone area freeze sprayed.

San Jose’s Adam Jahn entered in favor of Gordon in the 84th minute. It was Jahn’s first appearance of the regular season

As quickly as Jahn came in he though, he went out. He was issued a red card in the 87th minute, for a shoulder to the face of Jared Watts when trying to nab the ball, in the 85th minute. It is now the fifth red card that has occurred in nine matches between the teams.

Stoppage time for the second half lasted five minutes and San Jose’s Yannick Djalo ended up limping off in the 91st minute.

Game notes: The two teams meet again May 7, but the next game up for the Quakes is April 26 @ 7:30pm, as San Jose plays host to Chivas USA.

Ducks win Pacific; Sharks will face Kings

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Photo Credit: (USATSI)

By Pearl Allison Lo

ANAHEIM– The end of San Jose’s biggest game of the regular season equaled the Ducks’ second straight Pacific Division title, as the home team won for the last time this regular season series, 5-2 Wednesday.

The Sharks now know they will face a familiar Southern California foe in the playoffs, Los Angeles, for the second year in the row as well.

San Jose will have Joe Thornton, which was questionable as he crumbled near the end of the game. Afterwards, what happened was described as a “stinger,” as Coach Todd McLellan said “(Thornton) got hit up in the chest area.”

The game-winner was Patrick Maroon’s first career multi-goal game at 9:35 of the second and brought in goalie Alex Stalock. Teemu Selanne got his second assist and Hampus Lindholm chipped in on the attack. The Ducks never looked back afterwards. Rookie goalie John Gibson won his second game in a row and stopped 36 shots.

The team’s first power play opportunities came almost simultaneously. 15 seconds after the interference penalty to San Jose’s Brent Burns ended, Anaheim was called for too many men on the ice.

Gibson was able to fight off shots by Jason Demers earlier, but Demers broke through at 18:17 of the first, to score the game’s first goal. Joe Pavelski aided on the goal.

The Ducks’ Corey Perry, however, went stick to stick with Justin Braun and tied the game with three seconds left in the first period. Matt Beleskey and Francois Beauchemin got the assists.

Three individual mini fights broke out to cap the end of the first period and led to a Sharks’ power play to start the second period.

Anaheim got their first lead when Selanne passed the puck to Maroon. Maroon then went around the net chased to make the game 2-1 at 3:32 of the second.

17 seconds after San Jose killed their second penalty, Logan Couture re-tied the game at two at 7:23.

The Sharks’ goalie change didn’t halt the Ducks, as they moved further ahead when Beleskey got Perry’s rebound off Stalock. It was the game’s first two-goal margin at 16:46.  Ryan Getzlaf had the second assist.

Beleskey then went in the box with 24.8 seconds left and San Jose started the third period on the power play again.

Demers ran into Stalock who fell backwards and hit the goalpost. After he was down and later came back up again, Stalock was called for delay of game for the puck going beyond the glass at 12:35.

It looked like a 6 on 4 with 2:44 left, but Gibson came back and Jakob Silfverberg scored a shorthanded empty net goal at 18:22. Andrew Cogliano got his 20th assist.

Both teams were coming off 3-0 games as Anaheim killed all five of the Sharks’ power plays.

Game notes: The Sharks’ Bracken Kearns played after returning from Worcester Tuesday. Before the game, it was announced that the Ducks’ Luca Sbisa would not play because of an upper body injury. San Jose’s Marty Havlat and Raffi Torres were also ruled out. Anaheim’s Cam Fowler returned from his mid-March knee injury.  The Sharks’ second to last regular season game will be Friday at 7p versus the Colorado Avalanche.

Quakes victim of another penalty kick

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Photo credit: sjearthquakes.com/mlssoccer.com

By Pearl Allison Lo

Jon Busch found himself in a familiar situation after Dom Dwyer scored the game’s lone goal, as Sporting Kansas City found victory at home again over the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday.

In the 56th minute, off a corner kick, former quake Ike Opara had another close shot but Busch knocked it high. Upon second chance, with a multitude of people battling for the ball in front of Busch, Steven Lenhart was called for a handball. Dwyer, who took the penalty kick, picked the correct side as he scored to make it 1-0.

San Jose lost their 12-game unbeaten streak in regulation and has now not won at Kansas City in eight games since 2004.

KC had the majority of chances at net, reflected in the 11-3 shot total in the first half.

After a clearance, Sal Zizzo kicked it to the corner post away from Busch right in front of Opara. However, it bounced off the post again and then Opara kicked the ball left.

Dwyer had a breakaway but  kicked the ball wide in the 28th minute.

Ike Opara lost one of his contacts.

In the second half, the Quakes had opportune chances.

Chris Wondolowski just missed wide in the 71st minute.

He had another attempt in the 83rd minute on a free kick straightaway just beyond the box, but was high.

Benny Feilhaber was named Man of the Match by Sporting Kansas City announcers.

Game notes: San Jose next plays the New England Revolution for the teams’ final March match, the 29th at 7:30pm.