MLS San Jose Earthquakes

Earthquakes weekly update

Published on October 17, 2005 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Jose Earthquakes News Release


The Earthquakes concluded one of the most successful regular seasons in Major League Soccer history with a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on October 15, sending San Jose into an MLS Cup Playoffs match-up against the Galaxy for the fourth time. The Quakes travel to Los Angeles this weekend for Game One of the MLS Cup Western Conference Semifinals, which will be Sunday at 12:00 p.m. PT on ESPN2. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and 1590 AM KLIV.

Injury Report/Suspensions

Out: Troy Dayak (L - ACL tear); Craig Waibel (R - LCL/ACL tear); Brad Davis (L - groin strain)

Doubtful: Alejandro Moreno (R - ankle sprain)

Questionable: Chris Aloisi (R - hip flexor strain); Danny O'Rourke (back strain)

Probable: Wade Barrett (L - hamstring strain); Ronald Cerritos (L - ankle sprain)

Last Match

Earthquakes 3, Los Angeles Galaxy 1; Saturday, October 15, 2005; The Home Depot Center; Carson, Calif.

The San Jose Earthquakes defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 for their first-ever victory against the Galaxy at The Home Depot Center, extending their unbeaten streak to 14 straight games. With both teams playing down a man after red cards were issued to Kevin Goldthwaite and Tyrone Marshall in the first half. Mark Chung, Dwayne De Rosario, and Brian Mullan all scored for the Quakes in the win. With the victory, the Earthquakes finish the 2005 regular season with an 18-4-10 record and 64 points, the second best record in MLS history. The Galaxy went down to 10-men in the 17th minute following a red card to Marshall. After fouling Alejandro Moreno, Marshall then stomped on the Quakes forward to earn the ejection. The game returned to even strength, following the second yellow card of the game to Goldthwaite in the 22nd minute. Goldthwaite fouled Herculez Gomez, who was attempting to break away from the Quakes defense, to pick up his second yellow. The Earthquakes broke the scoreless match in the 42nd minute with a header from midfielder Mark Chung. Brian Mullan crossed the ball from the right side of the goal box and found the far post, where an open Chung dove to head the ball into the corner to give the Quakes the lead. The Quakes struck again just a few minutes later on a free kick from De Rosario. The Quakes midfielder took the kick from just under 25 yards out and smashed his strike into the top right corner of the net out of reach of Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, putting San Jose up 2-0 in the 45th minute. The Galaxy cut the lead in half with a Landon Donovan goal on a penalty kick in the 68th minute. Chris Albright was fouled in the box as he tried to cut to goal to set up the penalty. Donovan slotted the shot low to the right corner past Quakes goalkeeper Pat Onstad. With less than 15 minutes remaining, Mullan scored the Quakes third goal after a good build-up. Chung received the ball from Julian Nash and sent a cross to the far post for Brian Ching. Ching headed the ball down to Mullan, who blasted a shot into the near post upper corner for the 3-1 advantage.

Misc. Notes Viewing Party At The Brit The San Jose Earthquakes will host a viewing party in San Jose at The Britannia Arms of Downtown on Sunday, October 23 for the Quakes first playoff game. The Quakes take on their arch-rival, the Los Angeles Galaxy, at 12 noon PT at The Home Depot Center and the Brit will televise all the action on their big screen televisions. The Britannia Arms of Downtown is located at 173 West Santa Clara Ave in San Jose. Fans who attend the viewing party can enter raffles for autographed team merchandise and other prizes. The Tremorz will also be in attendance at the Brit mingling with fans and handing out prizes. The Earthquakes host Game Two of the Western Conference Semifinals on Saturday, October 29 at 7:00 p.m. PT at Spartan Stadium against the Galaxy. Season ticket holders should use their "Playoff Game A" ticket for this match. Ticket prices for the playoffs remain the same as regular season prices - $13, $16, $30 and $45. Tickets will be available by visiting the Earthquakes Ticket Office at 100 North Almaden Ave., by logging onto www.sjearthquakes.com, or by calling Ticketmaster at 408-998-TIXS, 415-421-TIXS, 510-625-TIXS, 925-685-TIXS or by visiting any Ticketmaster outlet, including Tower Records, Rite Aid and Ritmo Latino. Discounted tickets for groups of 15 or more are available by calling 408-985-GOAL.

End Of Historic Regular Season The Earthquakes ended a wildly successful, record-breaking regular season on October 15 with a 3-1 win over the Galaxy. In 2005, the Earthquakes finished the regular season with an 18-4-10 record, clinching the Supporter's Shield for the first time in team history, finishing the regular season as the MLS team with the most points. The Earthquakes 64 points are the second highest total in MLS history, as San Jose became only the second team ever to reach 60 or more points. Dominic Kinnear's squad broke the club record of 51 points set in 2003.

Fewest Losses In MLS History The Quakes set another incredible record in 2005, losing just four times through 32 game regular season. The Quakes finish of only four losses breaks the MLS record for fewest losses in a season, beating the old record of five previously held by the 2001 Miami Fusion and the 2004 Columbus Crew. However, the Fusion played only 26 games in 2001 and the Crew played 30 games in 2004.

Quakes Unbeaten Run A Team Record The Earthquakes unbeaten run reached 14 games with their 3-1 win over Los Angeles as the Quakes wrapped up the regular season on a winning note. The Quakes last lost on July 15 against D.C. United. The team's previous record was a 12-game unbeaten streak was set from April 28, 2001 - July 4, 2001 when they posted a 7-0-5 record. San Jose is 11-0-3 in their last 14 games and 15-1-6 in their past 22 games. The all-time MLS record undefeated streak is 19 games, set by the Columbus Crew from 6/26/04 - 4/2/05, and the Crew posted a 9-0-10 record for 37 points during that streak. The Quakes have already posted 11 wins during their streak and 36 points.

Playoff Format

A total of eight teams advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs, with the top four teams from the Eastern and Western Conference pairing off within their own Conference. The top team in each group will face the fourth place team, while the second and third place squads will square off. The Conference Semifinal series will be conducted under a home-and-home, aggregate goal format to determine which two teams will advance to the single elimination Conference final match. The higher-seeded team will host both the Conference Semifinal Game Two and the Conference Championship. Game One of the Conference Semifinal ends after 90 minutes ... If teams tied on aggregate after Game Two, 30-minute overtime period follows (played in two equal 15-minute halves), then by penalty kicks (if necessary) to determine Series winner ... Higher seed holds home-field advantage for Game Two ... Conference Championship Games and MLS Cup 2005, if tied after 90 minutes, determined by 30-minute, overtime (two equal halves) ... If neither team scores during that time, the series will be decided via penalty kick shootout held according to FIFA regulations.

Playoff Games At Spartan Stadium

The Earthquakes have been at the top of their game at home in the playoffs. Since 1996, the Quakes have posted a 6-1 record at Spartan Stadium and outscored opponents 19-6 in those seven games.

Road Playoff Games The Earthquakes have a struggled a bit on the road in the playoffs, compiling a 2-6 postseason record away from Spartan Stadium. The Quakes last won a road playoff game on October 17, 2001 when they defeated the Miami Fusion 1-0 in the MLS Cup Playoff Semifinals. The Quakes have also won two MLS Cups at neutral sites.

OT in the Playoffs The San Jose Earthquakes have been involved in four overtime games in their postseason history and the team is a perfect 4-0-0 in those matches. In 2001, the Quakes won two straight overtime games to win the MLS Cup. They defeated the Miami Fusion 1-0 on Oct. 17 in the MLS Cup Playoff Semifinals in Game 3 and then won the MLS Cup Final 2-1 in overtime over the Galaxy. Last season, the Quakes pulled off two OT wins also, defeating the Galaxy 5-2 in overtime in Game Two of their Western Conference Semifinal series to win the series 5-4 on total goals. The Quakes then defeated Kansas City 3-2 in overtime in the Western Conference Championship.

Playoff Experience Mark Chung is the Quakes most experienced playoff performer as he has appeared in 24 playoff games and has been in the playoffs seven out of nine years in his career. He has scored four goals and notched four assists in his playoff career. 2005 marks Danny Califf's sixth straight trip to the postseason and he has been a strong playoff performer, scoring three goals in the postseason. He has appeared in 19 games. Dwayne De Rosario has been strong in the playoffs also with three goals and one assist in 11 playoff games.

Quakes Overall In The Playoffs Entering the playoffs for their fifth straight season, the Earthquakes own an overall 10-7 record in the MLS Cup Playoffs, with 30 goals scored and 22 allowed in those 17 games. San Jose won the MLS Cup Championship in 2001 and 2003, both times beating the Galaxy en route to the title. In 2001, the Quakes defeated the Galaxy 2-1 in overtime of the MLS Cup Final, while in 2003 San Jose rallied from a 4-0 aggregate goal deficit to beat Los Angeles 5-4 in the Western Conference Semifinal series. In 1996, the Galaxy eliminated the Earthquakes two games to one in a three game series.

Spartan Stadium Dominance The Earthquakes made MLS history on October 8 tying Real Salt Lake 2-2 and becoming the first team in the ten-year history of the league to go unbeaten at home throughout the regular season. The Quakes finished the 2005 regular season with a 9-0-7 record at Spartan Stadium.

Record Home Unbeaten Streak Rolls Along The Quakes currently have an 18-game unbeaten streak at Spartan Stadium, as they have not lost since Sept. 8, 2004 in their home stadium. The streak is now the longest home-unbeaten streak in team and league history. The club had two 15-game unbeaten streaks at Spartan (8/21/99 - 7/4/00 and 8/25/01 - 9/7/02). San Jose set the MLS record for most consecutive games at home without a loss, breaking the Galaxy's record of 17. The Galaxy's record was set from 7/4/04 - 7/16/05. The Quakes have posted a 9-0-9 record at Spartan during the streak.

Onstad Completes Incredible Regular Season Quakes goalkeeper Pat Onstad completed one of the best seasons by a goalkeeper in MLS history, as the Canadian international recorded a league high 12 shutouts in 2005, and registered his 27th career MLS shutout to become the Earthquakes all-time leader in shutouts, surpassing Joe Cannon's 26 San Jose shutouts. Onstad finished the regular season as the league leader in shutouts, goals against average (0.97), wins (18) and save percentage (77.2). Onstad's twelve shutouts are the second most ever recorded in a single MLS season, and he is now the clear leader for the league's Goalkeeper of The Year award. Onstad put together the longest home shutout streak in club history, going 537 minutes from April 23 to July 23 without giving up a goal at Spartan Stadium.

Quakes MVP Candidate De Rosario Continues To Lead Club Quakes MVP candidate Dwayne De Rosario scored his ninth goal of the season on Saturday against Los Angeles It was the third straight game De Rosario has scored a goal, marking the longest goal-scoring streak of his career. De Rosario's free kick strike was an incredible blast, and the Canadian international finished the season as the league leader in assists with 13, just one assist shy of the team's all-time season assist record. Eddie Lewis holds the record of 14, which he set in 1999. De Rosario's nine goals are a career high, as he has never scored more than five goals in a season. He has scored five game-winning goals and notched five game-winning assists in 2005.

National Team Experience The Earthquakes had three players appear in the United States 2-0 victory over Panama in World Cup Qualifying on October 12. Brian Ching came on as a substitute in the 74th minute, while Ricardo Clark made his first-ever national team appearance, replacing Kyle Martino in the 68th minute. Danny Califf started and played 90 minutes for the U.S. in his first World Cup Qualifying game and first game with the national team since March 16, 2004.

Ching Keeps It Coming Earthquakes forward Brian Ching missed a total of 14 games with right hamstring injury before returning to the field September 3 in Dallas. Since then, Ching has proved that he is ready to contribute, recording an assist on September 21 and scoring the game-tying goal September 24 before scoring the game-winning goal October 1. Ching registered an assist on October 15 against the Galaxy, and has now scored a goal or registered an assist in the past six MLS games he has played in.

Kinnear's Winning Percentage

Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear's career winning percentage is .605 following the Quakes 3-1 win over the Galaxy. Kinnear is now second all-time in MLS in winning percentage, trailing only Bruce Arena, who has a .635 percentage.

Dominating On The Road -The Earthquakes finished the regular season on a six game road-winning streak. That winning streak marks a team record for consecutive road wins by the team. The team's previous record of four was accomplished from Sept. 13, 1998 - April 17, 1999. The Quakes started the streak with a win over the Colorado Rapids on July 20.

-The Earthquakes concluded 2005 with nine road wins, setting a new team record for road wins in one season. The previous record was set in 2003 when the team went 7-3-5 on the road.

-The Quakes longest all-time road unbeaten streak is seven games, set from June 14, 2003 - Aug. 16, 2003.

Goal Difference Record The Quakes have scored 53 goals in 2005 and allowed only 31 in the regular season. The team finished the regular season with a plus-22 goal difference, smashing the previous team record for goal difference in a season of 18, set in 2001 when the team scored 47 goals and allowed 29.

Tough D Despite giving up a lone penalty kick goal on Saturday against Los Angeles, the Quakes led MLS in 2005 with the fewest goals allowed (31). The Earthquakes also had the best goals against average (0.97). The Earthquakes 12 shutouts in 2005 are a new team record. The Earthquakes 31 goals allowed are just two more than the MLS single-season record of 29 that was set in 1999 by the Los Angeles Galaxy, and was equaled in 2000 by the Kansas City Wizards and in 2001 by the Earthquakes. The Quakes defense set a club record for the most road shutouts (4) in a season and tied a club record with back-to-back shutouts on the road (August 20 and September 3).

Firsts Keep Coming For Goldthwaite

In the past three weeks, Earthquakes rookie defender Kevin Goldthwaite has experienced a number of MLS firsts. Goldthwaite played in his first MLS game and registered his first MLS assist on October 8 while earning his first MLS start October 15. In his second MLS start on Saturday, Goldthwaite was ejected for the first time in his MLS career, earning two yellow cards and being sent off in the 22nd minute.

Dominating the West

The Quakes had great success against conference opponents in 2005, posting an 11-1-8 record against Western Conference foes, including wins in six of their last eight games against the West. Their only loss against the West came on May 21 against Los Angeles (2-1). The Quakes finished the year with a 7-3-2 record against the Eastern Conference.

Tight Games This season, San Jose had 24 of their 32 games either decided by one goal or finish in a tie. Also, 19 of the 32 games that the Quakes played in 2005 entered the halftime break with the teams tied.

One-Goal Games In 2004, San Jose had the worst record in MLS in one-goal games, posting a 2-9 record. The team turned that around in 2005, finishing 11-3 in one-goal games.

Pitching In In 2005, the Quakes have scored 53 goals with the goals coming from the entire team. Fourteen different players scored a goal for San Jose this season.

2005 League Leaders - Dwayne De Rosario led the league in assists (13).

- Alejandro Moreno lead the league in fouls suffered (102).

- Brian Mullan tied for third in fouls suffered (79).

- Dwayne De Rosario tied for first in game-winning assists (5).

- Dwayne De Rosario tied for third in game-winning goals (5).

- Pat Onstad tied for first in the league in games played (32) and minutes played (2880).

- Eddie Robinson finished second in the league in fouls committed (68).

- Ronald Cerritos led the league in offsides (41).

- Pat Onstad led the league in shutouts (12), goals against average (0.97), wins (18) and saves percentage (77.2).

Quakes Set Club Records In 2005 In addition to setting MLS records in 2005, several Quakes players made history and pushed their way into the San Jose record books, establishing new club records in several categories:

- Most Fouls Suffered (season): 102, Alejandro Moreno

- Most Fouls Committed (season): 68 (tie), Eddie Robinson

- Most Fouls Committed (game): 7 (tie), Brian Mullan (Apr. 2)

- Most Offside (season): 41, Ronald Cerritos

- Most Games Played in Goal (season): 32, Pat Onstad

- Most Minutes Played in Goal (season): 2880, Pat Onstad

- Most Shutouts (season): 12, Pat Onstad

- Lowest Goals Against Average (season): 0.97, Pat Onstad

- Most Wins (season): 18, Pat Onstad

Fouls, Fouls Suffered In 2005, San Jose finished as the MLS leader in fouls suffered (590), setting the MLS record for the most fouls suffered in a single season. The team also completed the season second in fouls committed (528). The Quakes fouls suffered and fouls committed numbers were both club records. However, the Quakes only received 54 cautions in 2005, ranking ninth in MLS.

Quakes In October All-time in the month of October, the Earthquakes are 3-3-6 in MLS regular season games and 8-7-6 overall in the month.

Earthquakes - Galaxy Connections

Chris Aloisi played in four matches for the Galaxy in 2004...Alejandro Moreno played with the Galaxy from 2002-2004, scoring 12 goals and notching six assists in three seasons...Earthquakes forward Brian Ching, midfielder Brian Mullan, and defender Craig Waibel were teammates on the Galaxy in 2001, and Waibel and Mullan also played together in L.A. in 2002...Danny Califf played for the Galaxy for five seasons (2000-2004), scoring five goals and registering four assists...Former Quakes Steve Cronin (2004), Landon Donovan (2001-2004), and Todd Dunivant (2003-2004) joined the Galaxy for the 2005 season...Dunivant played at Stanford with Quakes goalkeeper Robby Fulton and Quakes defender/midfielder James Twellman...Quakes defender Ryan Cochrane played at Santa Clara University with Cronin, who is from Sacramento, Califf...Galaxy defender Troy Roberts is from Fremont, CA.

History vs. Galaxy

The Earthquakes defeated the Galaxy in a dramatic 5-2 overtime victory in the 2003 Western Conference Quarterfinals at Spartan Stadium that saw San Jose recover from a 4-0 aggregate goal deficit to win what has been called the "greatest MLS game ever played"...The Quakes and Galaxy have met a total of 47 times, the most of any other MLS opponent, including MLS regular season games, playoff games and U.S. Open Cup matches. The Galaxy owns a 27-15-5 record overall in the series...Ronald Cerritos scored his first career goal in his MLS debut against Los Angeles on April 12, 1997...Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Conway made his MLS debut against the Galaxy on May 17, 2000 and earned a shutout after making seven saves...Dwayne De Rosario made his MLS debut against Los Angeles on April 7, 2001 and scored his first MLS goal on the same day in a 3-2 win...Cerritos racked up his 100th point on September 1, 1999 with an assist against the Galaxy...Pat Onstad notched his first MLS shutout on April 26, 2003 vs. Los Angeles...Mark Chung made his first appearance as an Earthquake against the Galaxy on May 21, 2005 and registered an assist in his Quakes debut...Danny Califf scored his first goal as a member of the Earthquakes against the Galaxy on August 27 at Spartan Stadium.

Los Angeles Leaders vs. Quakes

Cobi Jones is the Galaxy's current leading scorer vs. the Earthquakes with two goals and 11 assists in 33 career games...Landon Donovan scored a goal against San Jose on August 27, 2005 and on October 15, 2005...Peter Vagenas scored a goal and registered an assist against the Quakes on May 21, 2005...Joseph Ngwenya has scored one goal and notched one assist in four career games vs. San Jose, while Chris Albright has three career assists against the Quakes.

Top Quakes Performers vs. Galaxy Mark Chung has scored eight goals and notched five assists in 33 career MLS games against the Galaxy...Ronald Cerritos has scored seven goals and notched nine assists against the Galaxy in 27 career MLS games. He scored five of those goals and recorded eight assists in 18 games vs. the Galaxy while with San Jose...Dwayne De Rosario has scored four goals and notched four assists against the Galaxy in 12 career games...Brian Ching has scored two goals and recorded two assists for the Quakes against Los Angeles...Brad Davis has scored three goals and notched one assist in his career against Los Angeles.

Quakes Set Unbeaten Streak Record At Home The Earthquakes set an MLS record with their August 7, 2004 win against D.C. United, extending their unbeaten streak at home to 46 games when scoring first. That streak now stands at 57 games after San Jose's 2-2 tie with Real Salt Lake on October 8, 2005. The streak started on April 3, 1999.

Quakes Above .500

The Earthquakes have now gotten their all-time MLS record above the .500 mark. The Quakes all-time regular season MLS record is 134-125-47 for 449 points. They now have the third-best regular season record in MLS history.

Halftime Success

Despite relinquishing a halftime lead on October 8, 2005 against Real Salt Lake in a game that ended 2-2, the Earthquakes remain amongst the best in league history in holding on to a half-time lead. Since the beginning of the 2000 season, the Earthquakes are 48-0-8 in games when leading at the half, including 8-0-1 in 2003, 7-0-1 in 2004 and 7-0-3 in 2005.

Making The First One Count

The Quakes scored first and beat the Galaxy 3-1 on Oct. 15 at The Home Depot Center to continue their incredible run over the past 73 games when scoring first. Dating back to the 2000 season, the Earthquakes own a 61-3-9 record in their last 73 matches when they score the first goal of the game. In 2005, San Jose remains undefeated at 14-0-5 when scoring first. The Earthquakes were 25-2-2 in 2001 and 2002 when finding the back of the net first. The Quakes only gave up leads two times in 2002, losing 2-1 to Los Angeles on July 4 and falling 2-1 to Kansas City on July 27. The team continued that trend in 2003, possessing an 11-0-1 mark in the regular season when they scored the first goal. In 2004, the Quakes went 8-1-1 when scoring first, the top mark in MLS. The Quakes gave up their lead and lost to Los Angeles on July 4, 2004 for the first time since July 27, 2002 against Kansas City. The Quakes are also impressive in the playoffs when scoring first, posting a 6-0-0 record.

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Major League Soccer Stories from October 17, 2005


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