Author: smallforce

Toluca ekes by Quakes to CONCACAF semifinals

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Photo credit: pbs.twimg.com

By Pearl Allison Lo

Despite San Jose’s valiant effort and an erroneous call that would have given them a 2-1 lead, Toluca won on their sixth penalty kick in the second leg semi at home Wednesday.

Billy Schuler and JJ Koval made their first starts and held their own alongside teammates, in a game where the Quakes began without seven starters. Chris Wondolowski started on the bench with a sore groin.

Wondolowski’s shot bounced off goalie Alfredo Talavera and Alan Gordon scored off the rebound in the second half. However, the ref ruled that he was offsides.

The San Jose defense worked in tandem with goalie Jon Busch, who at times, was able to knock a shot just wide and pushed Juan Manuel Salgueiro’s shot above his head and behind the net. Busch also continued past first half stoppage time in preventing another attempt. At one point, the Quakes defensively stopped two shots by the same player with their bodies

A kick by San Jose’s Shea Salinas connected to Ty Harden’s head, gave Harden his first goal ever in the 56th minute. This first score of the game sparked aggressiveness by Toluca. Busch had to move forward out of the goal to make a save, after which he went down and was grabbing the back of his head. Pablo Velazquez also got a free kick.

Atiba Harris being helped off the field after a challenge, brought in Wondolowski and paused the new fast pace of the game.

In the second half, the Quakes cleared the ball off the goal line twice and both teams had a lot of free kicks at one point.

First, Cordell Cato cleared if off the line, but then the ball went off the chest off Isaac Brizuela, who afterwards kicked it past an approaching Wondo and a diving Busch to tie the game.

Sam Cronin also cleared the ball off the line after Edy Brambila entered the game.

The 9,000 foot elevation game then went into 30 minutes of extra time for the first time ever in CONCACAF knockout stages.

After the offsides call in overtime, Schuler had a shot off the net and Busch stopped another Toluca attempt with one hand.

Busch received a yellow card for time wasting.

The chants of USA could be heard as the teams proceeded to penalty kicks.

They went as follows: TOL – Raul Nava (save), Antonio Rios (goal), Velazquez (goal), Miguel Ponce (goal), Talavera (goal), Wilson Tiago (goal)

SJ – Wondolowski (save), Gordon (goal), Cronin (goal), Schuler (goal), Koval (goal), Shea Salinas (miss).

It was the rookie with Toluca Rios’s first Champions game. Busch got a hand on two balls that went in twice.  Against Ponce who was born in Sacramento, Busch was blowing into his hands after and Tiago’s ball bounced in after a touch by Busch. Salinas went down to one knee after his shot banged off the crossbar.

Game notes: San Jose continues with a game against the defending MLS Cup Champions, Sporting Kansas City Saturday at 5:30pm.

Reserves pull through for Quakes

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Photo credit: (Godofredo Vasquez/SFBay)

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Earthquakes finally broke through in the end, persisting for a 2-0 win over the Republic FC in Tucson Wednesday, ending their preseason with their best match score.

It was Sacramento’s first loss in four practice matches, who were almost able to hold on until the end. Fans supported all the way from pre-game warmups to after the 2-0 score.

The Republic were playing with two members from a Portland Timbers loan, which included goalie Jake Gleeson.

The Quakes had a number of chances, about five excluding the ones that the referee counted. Adam Jahn was involved in two of them.

San Jose made all their substitutions except goalie in the 71st minute.

Jon Busch did leave though, after Sacramento had a chance that hit the crossbar in the 79th minute. Busch departed due to a cut above his eye, while defending the net.

The Earthquakes broke through in the 86th minute. Alan Gordon played for the first time in the preseason and after receiving a cross from Walter Martinez, headed the ball to rookie JJ Koval, who headed the ball into an empty net.

Both Billy Schuler and Sam Garza experienced redemption with San Jose’s doubling goal. Schuler scored a minute into stoppage on an assist from Garza. Earlier, Schuler had a goal taken away due to a foul and Garza just moments before his post-regulation assist, had almost scored.

Game notes: Koval and Schuler were both credited with their first goal of the preseason. The former signed with the team February 19, after being selected in the year’s SuperDraft. Schuler joined the team Jan 14 via lottery.  Earlier in the day, the Quakes added German Andreas Gorlitz to their roster, pending administrative receipts. There were over 1,100 attendees of the Republic’s first match in front of a home crowd. March 11 at 7p, San Jose will face an even stiffer challenge as 8th seed in the quarterfinal of the CONCACAF Champions League, as they host first-seed Deportivo Toluca FC.

Quakes leave Portland positive

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Photo credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Earthquakes finished the Rose City Invitational 2-1, as they won over the Jamaican club Portmore United 1-0 Saturday.

It was the same score by which San Jose won their first game as they were back in their red and white kit as well.

Portmore made an early move in the 16th minute. Adoah Nickels came in to replace Alonzo Adlam, who was injured.

In the 39th minute, Adam Jahn won a battle up front and passed to Cordell Cato. Cato received the ball on his body and got it to the back of the net as goalie Kenmar Foster slid and the ball went off his teammate.

Cato also had a lot of touches in the first half and passes into the box, especially in the 13th-14th minutes.

The Quakes dominated the stat board in the first half winning corner kicks 7-1 and shots 15-5.

Game notes: Regarding lineups, Foster was Portmore’s third starting goalie of the tournament. San Jose’s Steven Lenhart was absent but looks like he would have played if it was a regular season game. Instead of being done with the preseason at this point, the Quakes will play one additional game, added Wednesday. This following Wednesday, March 5 at 7p, San Jose will travel to Tucson to face the Sacramento Republic FC. Tucson will also be home to the Quakes’ Player Development League. San Jose will be without Victor Bernardez, who will be participating in a game for the Honduran National Team. Also Thursday, the San Antonio Scorpions received Sam Garza and David Bingham via loan.

 

Vancouver moves to final

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By Pearl Allison Lo

Photograph by: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

The Whitecaps FC will face the Portland Timbers Saturday after a 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes Wednesday.

 The Quakes, who sported their blue and black kits this time, went with a slightly different starting lineup, while Vancouver went with an entirely new lineup.

San Jose’s Brandon Barklage had an opportunity to score in the 12th minute when he crossed the ball to Sam Garza at the endline. Garza prevented the ball from going beyond as fighting his defender, he kicked the ball back past teammate Adam Jahn to Barklage. Barklage’s subsequent kick was only stopped by Carlyle Mitchell at the goal line.

The winning goal came in the 27th minute. Omar Salgado passed the ball forward from midfield. Shaun Francis, racing Sam Adekugbe, who then lost his footing, passed the ball to Kenny Miller who was in a foot race again Barklage. Miller’s shot then went in over a rolled up Jon Busch.

San Jose goalie David Bingham came in for Busch in the 42nd minute.

San Jose’s Steven Lenhart and Chris Wondolowski were latecomers to the game, entering in the 72th minute.

At one point, the Quakes had a sequence which involved two throw-ins and two corner kicks.

Lenhart later had a wide header.

Off a goal kick by Bingham, Christian Dean got Lenhart who was going for the ball. Lenhart hobbled off the field and ended up out for the rest of the game. On the other end of the field, Bryce Alderson was penalized and Darren Mattocks took the ensuing penalty kick. The 2-0 score came as Bingham went the opposite way of the ball in the 88th minute.

Former Whitecap Shea Salinas came in as Lenhart’s replacement after the goal.

Game notes: San Jose will end the invitational facing Portmore United Saturday at 2:30pm.

Paparatto helps Quakes

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By Pearl Allison Lo

Two Portland Timbers went down in front of the net, and for Norberto Paparatto, it was from disbelief, as he headed the ball to give the San Jose Earthquakes a 1-0 win Sunday in both teams’ first Rose City Invitational game,

San Jose, while luckily and skillfully defending the multitude of chances in front of their net, were sporting their new red and white kit. It was their first win of the preseason.

Off a corner kick from Shea Salinas, Clarence Goodson took the pass from Sam Cronin, and headed the ball to Steven Lenhart in front of the net. Paparatto was trying to get the ball out in the 26th minute, as he collied with his goalie Donovan Ricketts. It would be the closest Ricketts would come to defending the ball during the game.

In the 7th minute, Portland’s Gaston Fernandez had a dangerous free kick. His teammates followed it by two more chances, the latter leading to a corner kick.

Though the Timbers controlled ball possession, once the ball got close enough to the box, it was stopped by Quakes players. Portland outshot San Jose 17-6 and Jon Busch made seven saves.

Both teams went from end to end at one point. Salinas nearly netted the ball, earning himself a corner kick. Victor Bernardez received a deflected ball, but Diego Chara blocked him. Maxilimiano Urruti got the ball up front and beat Busch who slid forward to defend, but a teammate got back and kicked the ball away before Urruti could get another chance.

Timbers’ Paul Kah nearly made it 2-0.

Busch, the other half of defensive equation, made crucial saves as well, in the final 15 minutes, including stoppage time. The quickness of Portland’s attack at one point, even stupefied Fernandez, who received the ball unknowingly, three times, spaced just a second apart.

After the 90th minute, the Timbers got the ball to a player right in front of the net twice, but they were unable to convert.

Game notes: The Quakes were without Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi and Portland without Will Johnson. It was the first time this preseason Busch played all game. It was a physical match, 27 fouls in all, with San Jose awarded four yellows. Last Thursday, the Quakes and San Jose Sharks played their own friendly of Olympic curling. The hockey team won 4-2. Wednesday at 5p, San Jose will next face Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Game 2 of the invitational.

Southern team wins Inaugural Central California Cup

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By Pearl Allison Lo

The Los Angeles Galaxy won 2-1 over the San Jose Earthquakes in Fresno’s pre-friendly Saturday.

San Jose remained winless in preseason despite the 1906 Ultras supporting them in person.

The game was a sellout with 12,659 fans. Chukchansi Park holds 12,500.

The Earthquakes’ reserve team lost 2-1 to the Fresno Fuego of the Premier Development League before the game. The Galaxy II beat the Fuego 2-1 Thursday.

Los Angeles goalie Brian Perk and San Jose’s Billy Schuler had an audible collision going for the ball in front of the net. Both were approached afterwards by their team members and play resumed.

The Galaxy’s Marcelo Savas scored the first half’s goal in the 31st minute. The Earthquakes’ Jon Busch stopped a chance from him in the 15th minute.

Teammate Gyasi Zardes took a scoring pass from Landon Donovan to double their lead in the 54th minute.

Zardes had another chance soon after that went just high. Busch dove to stop Zardes to open the second half.

San Jose’s goal came in the 67th minute, with Josh Morton aided by Sam Garza’s corner.

The Earthquakes came close to tying afterwards in the 75th minute and near the end.

Game notes: After San Jose’s Clarence Goodson and Chris Wondolowski returned to play last game, they were absent in this one. The Earthquakes’ next preseason friendly will be February 23 at 5p as they partake in the Rose City Invitational against the Portland Timbers first.

Dynamo win by two in Tucson

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By Pearl Allison Lo

Houston came back with three in the second half in a 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday, to close San Jose’s friendly play in Arizona, 3-1.

The Earthquakes’ Chris Wondolowski, Clarence Goodson and the Dynamo’s Brad Davis returned from National Team duty.

In the 13th minute, San Jose’s Jordan Stewart and Shea Salinas led a counterattack across the field.

After teammate Steven Lenhart headed off Houston’s second corner kick and Wondo got the ball, in a similar matter to the 13th, Stewart and Salinas combined to lead to a kick. Tyler Deric saved the ball, but then Wondolowski saw an opportunity after Deric fell and lost the ball, as he quickly raced to finish the play with a goal in the 21st minute.

In the second half, the Earthquakes replacedall of their first half starters.

San Jose’s Mike Fucito nearly had another goal for the second game, in the 57th minute. A long ball by A.J. Corrado led to AJ Cochran being Fucito’s sole field defender and Fucito had to switch from his oft used foot to avoid the quickly approaching Deric.

Bryan Meredith came in as the Earthquakes’ goalkeeper for David Bingham in the 60th minute.

In the 65th minute, Corrado passed to Shaun Francis who passed to Fucito in front of the net again. Before Fucito could pull off a shot, however, Servando Carrasco came up from behind with a challenge.

On the same play going the other way, Omar Cummings leveled the score at one apiece. He was able to score from his left foot with the help of a deflected shot off San Jose.

Cummings nearly had another chance two minutes later, but the ball was offsides and wide.

An offsides call gave the Dynamo the ball back. Draft pick Mark Sherrod passed to trialist Sito Seoane who scored as his defender and Meredith collided in the 74th minute to give Houston the 2-1 lead.

Tony Cascio, on loan from the Colorado Rapids, scored the Dynamo’s third goal and put the game further out of reach in the 84th minute. As Meredith approached him, Cascio punched the ball the opposite way.

Game notes: The Earthquakes will travel to Fresno for their next preseason friendly, Saturday February 15 at 7p versus the LA Galaxy.

Martins braces Quakes

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By Pearl Allison Lo

The first preseason game for the San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders was a Desert Diamond friendly in Tucson, Arizona Wednesday morning, resulting in a win for the team whose city won the Super Bowl.

Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei’s activity and the timing of the three goals summarized the flow of the game from Seattle to San Jose.

The battle for most yellow cards went to the Quakes, who had three in the game, including one in the 2nd minute.

Frei only needed to make one save in the first half, and it came against newbie Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi in the 24th minute, in his debut.

Obafemi Martins set up a tough hurdle to overcome, scoring in the 27th and 29th minutes.

San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham’s knocking the ball away and then out of bounds after a free kick attempt, set up the scene for the first goal. After the ensuing corner throw Jalil Anibaba bounced in, Lamar Neagle headed it to Martins who kicked the ball into the net. Anibaba was acquired from the Chicago Fire January 15.

The artful play that led to the second goal came after Neagle kicked the ball. Dylan Remick followed running in from the sideline and sent the ball in an arc over to Andy Rose. Rose then headed the ball to Martins who duplicated right up front to make it 2-0. Bingham was caught going back from defending Rose.

Sounders’ draft pick Jimmy Ockford had two friendly fire collisions in the second half. One was with fellow draft pick Damion Lowe, the other later with Frei after Mike Fucito’s goal.

Fucito was able to get one in the net for the Quakes in the 86th minute. Teammate trialist Andreas Gorlitz kicked the ball into the center and it bounced around blue and green jerseys, Atiba Harris and Fucito for San Jose. When it got loose, Fucito crossed it into Frei’s open side.

Game notes: February 3, the Quakes reported they signed Shea Salinas and Jordan Stewart to new contracts. The second and last Desert Diamond friendly as San Jose tries to even out, is Friday, February 8, at 2pm PST against the Houston Dynamo.

 

Conley checkmates Kings

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(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

By Pearl Allison Lo

The Memphis Grizzlies, who were on a four game winning streak heading into their last matchup versus Sacramento are on another one now, as Mike Conley led again in a 99-89 win over the Kings.

With their victory, the Grizzlies matched the sizzling Thunder for best record in the NBA the last 10 games, at 9-1.

Since the Kings and Memphis last met January 17, Sacramento has only won one game in the now seven games since and the Grizzlies have only lost once in the now six games since.

Conley led with 27 points and 10 assists. The last time Conley scored 20+ points was in the teams’ last meeting, where he scored 25 and led the game as well .

Two of Sacramento’s three missing starters returned and were the leading scorers with 20+ points, but they were the only ones who achieved double digits.

Rudy Gay returned to the lineup from an Achilles strain and produced 23 points on 10 of 16 shooting. Isaiah Thomas looked recovered as well, as he was the top scorer with 24 points on 10 of 21 shooting and four three-pointers.

In the first quarter, Conley had five of his assists while Thomas scored 10 of his team’s first 14 points, along with one assist.

The Kings’ last lead came with 5:58 left to go in the third. There were about eight ties and nine lead changes until then. Sacramento missed eight baskets and had four turnovers while the Grizzlies ended the quarter on a 10-2 run.

During a 30 point fourth for Memphis, Sacramento pulled to within three with a 9-2 run to make it 84-81 with 4:33 to go, but the Grizzlies “stole” the game for good with a 15-8 finishing run while four different players took the ball away from the Kings. Conley scored seven during that stretch and Tayshaun Prince scored six.

Game notes: The Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph had four steals and seven rebounds to go along with 18 points. Conley was 9 for 9 from the free throw line. Sacramento ends January Friday at 5:30 pm, facing the Dallas Mavericks.

Ducks win New Year’s Eve battle

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(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports)

By Pearl Allison Lo

 

ANAHEIM– Matt Belesky’s goal was the first consecutive goal for either team as the Ducks left for New Year’s Eve celebrations with a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Belesky’s goal came at 18:30 of the second period, as he was aided by Nick Bonino, who had just scored about three and a half minutes earlier.

Anaheim’s now 15-0-2 record at home is their best such start in franchise history, as they snapped the Sharks’ four-game winning streak after losing to them Sunday.

San Jose’s Logan Couture commented, “We didn’t play very well tonight, you know, the second period, we were awful, one of the worst periods for our season, if not the worst…”

The 5-on-5 on ice with two players in the box became a 5-on-4 when the Sharks’ Matt Irwin was called for holding at 5:38 of the first period.

The Ducks’ Kyle Palmieri scored the first and lone goal of the period at 16:24, aided by Beleskey and Cam Fowler.

Antti Niemi made consecutive saves against Anaheim’s Corey Perry with just over 2:47 left in the period. As the first shot bounced off Niemi, Niemi’s second save became a glove catch from straightaway.

Perry then had a slashing penalty with 15 seconds to go to give San Jose a power play.

After a faceoff with about 14.7 seconds left, Couture thought the puck went in the net but it bounced off the goal post and then after a teammate’s missed attempt, Patrick Marleau got the rebound off Jonas Hiller and put the puck inside. However, the goal went under review and it was ruled that time expired before Marleau made the shot.

The Sharks made up for it though by scoring 35 seconds into the second period to tie the game. Dan Boyle was helped by Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton on the continuing power play.

A bouncing puck on top of the net as Niemi tried to find it and Boyle tried to prevent the puck from going in, almost led to an own goal.

The Ducks thought they scored later near the net but Niemi was able to stop the puck with his leg against the goal post.

Anaheim ended up outshooting San Jose 25-8 in the second period, after the Sharks outshot the Ducks 17-8 in the first.

Francois Beauchemin’s first goal of the season put Anaheim up 2-1 at 11:00 of the second. It was the third attempt by the team during the possession and went between Niemi’s legs. Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg assisted on the play.

About a minute and a half later, Couture switched stick sides and then aimed at the top of the net to retie the game, aided by Marleau and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Ducks scored on the power play when Bonino was able to go around Niemo’s leg. Getzlaf and Fowler got their second assists of the game with Bonino’s goal to make it 3-2. This would be the first of four straight goals for Anaheim.

Before Beleskey’s goal, Thornton had an empty net but Ben Lovejoy was able to come up from behind and block Thornton with his stick.

Getzlaf got into a semi-breakaway and shot off the goal post and into the net to make it 5-2 at 1:14 of the third period. This gave him his fourth career 20-goal season and took Niemi out of the game.

Down shorthanded about 15 seconds later, Saku Koivu went into a clean breakway about a minute into San Jose’s power play. Koivu’s shot missed and Andrew Cogliano scored off the rebound against Alex Stalock, Niemi’s replacement.

The Sharks scored their second power play less than a minute later. Bracken Kearns got his second goal in two games against the Ducks as he tipped in Matt Irwin’s shot from the blue line in front of the net.

 

Game notes: Cogliano has started 500 straight NHL games, the fifth to do so in NHL history. San Jose starts the New Year playing the Edmonton Oilers January 2 at 7:30pm.