MLS San Jose Earthquakes

Earthquakes Weekly Update

Published on May 5, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Jose Earthquakes News Release


After opening Buck Shaw Stadium last Saturday with a 0-0 tie against FC Dallas, the San Jose Earthquakes play their second straight home game this Saturday, May 10 against the Columbus Crew. The match kicks off at Buck Shaw at 7 p.m. PT. Fans can catch the game on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and in Spanish on the radio on KLOK 1170 AM.

Earthquakes vs. Columbus All-Time MLS Regular Season: 11-15-1

Season Series: First Meeting

Home: 9-4-1

Away: 2-11-0

Shootout (1996-99): 3-2

Overtime (2000-03): 1-1-1

Playoffs: 2-2-0; U.S. Open Cup: 0-0-0

All-Time Scoring: San Jose - 50, Columbus - 55

Earthquakes Schedule for the Week of 5/5/08 Tuesday, May 6 - 7:00 p.m. PT - Santa Clara at Stanford at Maloney Field Wednesday, May 7 - TBD Thursday, May 8 - 10:30 a.m. PT - Training at Santa Clara Friday, May 9 - 10:30 a.m. PT - Training at Santa Clara Saturday, May 10 - 7:00 p.m. PT - Earthquakes vs. Columbus Crew at Buck Shaw Stadium live on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and KLOK 1170 AM Sunday, May 4 - Off

Injury Report Questionable - Ryan Cochrane (concussion)

Out - Jay Ayres (facial fracture)

Last Match

FC Dallas 0, Earthquakes 0; May 3, 2008; Buck Shaw Stadium; Santa Clara, Calif.

For their inaugural match at Buck Shaw Stadium, the San Jose Earthquakes were intent on delivering their first home win of the season. But the defensive units of both the Quakes and visiting FC Dallas proved too tough to break down, as the teams played to a scoreless tie before a sellout crowd of 10,515 at the Quakes' new home. San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon delivered his second shutout of the season, while Dallas counterpart Dario Sala, by far the busier of the two netminders on the night, recorded his third clean sheet. Kei Kamara had a clear look at goal after just eight minutes when Ned Grabavoy found him on the right side of the box, but the San Jose forward didn't strike the ball cleanly, allowing Sala to make a comfortable save. Ronnie O'Brien had a similar opportunity 10 minutes later after being put through by Ramiro Corrales, but the Irishman dragged his shot wide of the far post. San Jose kept piling on the pressure. Ivan Guerrero won a duel against Drew Moor deep along the left wing, but Dallas midfielder Pablo Ricchetti came to the rescue, cutting out Guerrero's cross. Dallas finally responded in the 28th minute when a long ball over the top found Kenny Cooper in a bit of space, but he could only hit his shot into the side netting. The Hoops had more success defensively as the half progressed, applying more pressure to San Jose's midfield. They were still forced to ride out some goalmouth scrambles as the half ended, but defended well enough to finish the half on even terms. The second half began much like the first, with San Jose doing most of the attacking. A deft chip from James Riley put Kamara clean through on goal in the 50th minute, albeit from a tight angle. But the Quakes' forward opted for power over placement, and his shot went well wide of goal. Kamara turned provider four minutes later, but his cross just missed Grabavoy at the far post. In a bid for an attacking breakthrough, San Jose manager Frank Yallop brought on Peguero Jean Philippe in the 55th minute. The move saw San Jose launch a barrage of dangerous crosses, but the combination of Sala's goalkeeping and some tough defending allowed Dallas to withstand the pressure. As San Jose pushed forward, opportunities began to appear for Dallas on the counterattack. A two-on-one break presented itself in the 62nd minute, with Arturo Alvarez spearheading the attack. But after doing well to free himself inside the box, the former Quakes midfielder hit his shot high. FC Dallas head coach Steve Morrow brought on Dax McCarty for Andre Rocha in the 69th minute a bid to gain more possession. Yallop countered by introducing Shea Salinas for O'Brien. Salinas had more of an impact, shaking free to deliver several dangerous crosses, but as they had all game, the Dallas backline remained solid, successfully dealing with everything the home side threw at them. The Quakes had the last best chance of the night in the 86th minute, when Salinas nodded down a Guerrero cross to Kamara, but the resulting shot was deflected just wide.

Last Match vs. Columbus

Earthquakes 2, Crew 1; Saturday, August 6, 2005; Spartan Stadium; San Jose, Calif.

The San Jose Earthquakes won their third straight game and extended their unbeaten streak at Spartan Stadium to 12 games with a 2-1 win over the Columbus Crew. Goals by Dwayne De Rosario and Brad Davis boosted the Quakes to the best overall record in MLS and secured their place alone at the top of the Western Conference, as Ronald Cerritos became the club's all-time assist leader with his 45th career Quakes assist on De Rosario's goal. San Jose got on the board first in the 13th minute on a beautiful De Rosario goal. The play started deep in the Quakes end of the field, as they masterfully moved the ball up the right sideline before Alejandro Moreno dished off a pass to Cerritos at midfield. Cerritos lofted a perfect pass over the Crew defense that De Rosario was able to run on to. De Rosario controlled the ball before sending a low shot to the left of sliding Columbus goalkeeper Jonny Walker for the 1-0 lead. The assist was the 45th of Cerritos' Earthquakes career, making him the club's all-time leader in assists and goals. In the 54th minute, Davis made a triumphant return to the Quakes lineup, scoring to give San Jose a 2-0 lead. After missing the previous six MLS games while with the U.S. National Team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Davis made his presence felt when he powered a wicked free kick from 25 yards out over the Columbus wall and into the top left corner of the goal for the 2-0 advantage. Davis drew the foul when he attempted to get past Crew defender Chad Marshall, who brought him down. Columbus cut the Quakes lead in half in the 78th minute on a quick counter attack goal by Chris Henderson. Following an incessant San Jose attack, the Crew played the ball out of the back to Kyle Martino near midfield. With the Crew frantically pushing forward, Martino slotted a nice through ball past the Quakes defense to Henderson, who gathered the ball at the right corner of the Quakes penalty area. Henderson cut back into the middle of the field, beating his defender before striking a low, hard shot that bounced off the ground and popped over the outstretched arms of a diving Pat Onstad.

Reserve League

FC Dallas 2, Earthquakes 0; Sunday, May 4, 2008; Stanton Field; Santa Clara, Calif.

The San Jose Earthquakes Reserves fell 2-0 to the FC Dallas Reserves Sunday afternoon at Stanton Field on the campus of Santa Clara University. FC Dallas scored two goals in the final minutes of the first half and then held off the Quakes in the second half for the victory. After a back-and-forth first half, FC Dallas struck for two quick goals just before halftime to get out to a 2-0 lead. On the first goal, Andrew Daniels got free on the right wing and whipped a cross into the box. Abe Thompson shook free from his defender for a sliver of space to re-direct the cross past Quakes goalkeeper Preston Burpo. Less than a minute later, Dallas connected for a second goal off the foot of Eric Avila. The Dallas midfielder received the ball 25 yards from goal and unloaded a long-range shot that beat Burpo and put his team up by two goals heading into the break. The second half saw both teams come close to finding the net, but a combination of luck and good goalkeeping kept the score line the same. With the loss, the Earthquakes Reserves fall to 1-1-1 on the season, while Dallas improved to 1-1-1 on the season. The Quakes Reserves defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy Reserves 2-1 and tied the Colorado Rapids Reserves 1-1 in their first two matches of the season.

Misc. Notes

Biggest Crowd at Buck Shaw

Saturday's game between the Earthquakes and FC Dallas was a standing room only sellout at Buck Shaw Stadium with 10,515 people in attendance. That crowd set a record for the largest soccer crowd in Buck Shaw Stadium history. The previous high was 8,800, which happened twice during the 1996 Women's College Cup at Buck Shaw. The game also marked the first appearance by the Quakes at the stadium. The Quakes have previously played games in the Bay Area at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto and Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Quakes played the majority of their home games at Spartan Stadium from 1996-2005. The team played the first three games of 1998 at Stanford, while Spartan Stadium underwent renovations, and then played at Stanford on July 4, 1999 in a doubleheader with the U.S. Women's National Team during the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. The Quakes also played an exhibition against Club America at Candlestick Park on Sept. 18, 2002. Earlier this season on Apr. 12, the team played its first ever game in Oakland at McAfee Coliseum.

Out of the Open Cup

The Earthquakes played Real Salt Lake on Apr. 30 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play-in game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The Quakes fell 4-0 in a match that saw teammates Ryan Cochrane and Jay Ayres hit heads going for a ball and leave the game in the opening 15 minutes. Kyle Beckerman scored two goals for RSL.

Hatzke Heads to Brazil

Quakes rookie Matt Hatzke has been selected to play for the United States Futsal National Team on its trip to Miami and Brazil from May 1-11. Under head coach Keith Tover, the U.S. trained in Miami for two days before heading to Brazil to play three matches against Brazilian futsal club teams. Hatzke is one of three players not playing for a professional indoor team on the roster. He will rejoin his teammates in San Jose on May 12.

Gustavson Signs

The Earthquakes signed goalkeeper Michael Gustavson to a developmental contract on Apr. 30. The former South Carolina and Clayton State goalkeeper has been training with the Quakes during the majority of the preseason. A former U.S. U20 National Team played, Gustavson played two seasons at South Carolina and was a two-time All-Conference USA Second Team honoree. He was also named NSCAA All-South Region in 2006. He started 38 games for the Gamecocks and recorded 10 shutouts. He was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year in 2005.

Lineup Shuffle

The Earthquakes used a different lineup for the first time in three matches on Saturday against FC Dallas. With Ryan Cochrane out with a concussion, Jason Hernandez slid over from right back to replace Cochrane. James Riley then switched from left back to right back, while Eric Denton moved to outside left back. It was Denton's first appearance of the season. The rest of the lineup remained the same.

Corrales Sixth in Appearances

By starting and playing 90 minutes against FC Dallas on May 3, Ramiro Corrales has now appeared in 126 games with San Jose. He is sixth in appearances in team history. Next on the list is Ian Russell (2000-05), who appeared in 131 games. Corrales has played 9,905 minutes for San Jose. By playing 95 minutes, he will become the sixth player in team history to reach 10,000 minutes played with San Jose.

Quakes-Columbus Connections

Current Quakes Ned Grabavoy and Kei Kamara played for Columbus during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Kamara played 36 games for the Crew and scored five goals, while Grabavoy also played 36 and had four goals and four assists. Grabavoy was acquired in the 2007 MLS Expansion Draft and Kamara came via a trade for Brian Carroll ... Columbus forward Alejandro Moreno spent the 2005 season with the Earthquakes and scored eight goals and recorded four assists in 31 games ... Eric Denton played 67 games from 2002-04 for Columbus, scoring three goals and recording seven assists. He was named the team's Defender of the Year in 2003 ... Columbus defender Danny O'Rourke was the Earthquakes first round draft pick in 2005 and played 13 games for San Jose in 2005.

History of the Quakes-Columbus Rivalry

The Earthquakes and the Crew have had a strong rivalry in MLS history, playing twice in the playoffs and competing in a number of memorable games ... In 2001, the Quakes eliminated the Crew from the MLS Cup Playoffs with two convincing wins, 3-1 and 3-0 en route to winning the MLS Cup ... Columbus turned the tables on San Jose in 2002 by knocking the Quakes out of the playoffs with a pair of 2-1 victories that both came on goals in the final 10 minutes of the game ... The Quakes have only won one game at Crew Stadium in their history, a 2-1 win on July 9, 2005. San Jose won at Ohio Stadium on June 1, 1996, before losing 11 straight times on the road to Columbus ... Quakes midfielder Ronnie Ekelund scored one of the best goals in league history against Columbus on Sept. 7, 2002. Richard Mulrooney lifted a free kick up for Ekelund, who half-volleyed a shot from 25 yards out into the upper corner. The Quakes went on to win 4-3 in overtime. That overtime win was the team's only regular season overtime win in team history. The team went 1-1-26 all-time in regular season overtime games. The league eliminated overtimes for the regular season following the 2003 season.

Columbus All-Time Leaders vs. San Jose

Alejandro Moreno has scored three goals and notched an assist against San Jose in his career in eight games. He scored the goals while playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Ezra Hendrickson has two career goals and four career assists in 23 games vs. San Jose.

Quakes All-Time Leaders vs. Columbus

Forward Peguero Jean Philippe has scored one goal and notched two assists in his career against Columbus, while Gavin Glinton and Ramiro Corrales have each scored a goal vs. Columbus. Corrales' goal was a last-minute game-winner for San Jose to help the Quakes complete a comeback from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. That game took place on May 4, 2002.

Cannon Amongst All-Time Leaders

Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon is among the all-time league leaders in Major League Soccer history in a number of goalkeeping categories. He is currently fifth all-time in MLS in appearances (221), fourth in minutes (19,905), fourth all-time in saves (921), third all-time in shutouts (58), fifth all-time in wins (85) and seventh all-time in goals against average (1.29). For San Jose, Cannon is first in club history in appearances (106), first in minutes played (9,711), first in saves (456), first in wins (47), first in shutouts (28) and second in goals against average (1.24) and saves percentage (74.6). He also holds the team's all-time record for saves in a game with 12 on July 8, 2000 at Colorado.

San Jose in May

The Quakes are now 20-20-1 all-time in May in MLS play.

Earthquakes Team up With Comcast SportsNet to Televise 15 Games

The Earthquakes announced Apr. 23 that the team has partnered with Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Comcast SportsNet West to televise 15 live games on local television during the 2008 Major League Soccer season. Quakes games will air both on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Comcast SportsNet West with John Shrader and Troy Dayak calling the action from the booth. Overall, 11 home games and four road contests will be televised between the two stations. The first road telecast will be Wednesday, June 18 at Real Salt Lake on Comcast SportsNet West.

Earthquakes Support the Nothing But Nets Campaign

The Earthquakes and Major League Soccer's community outreach initiative, MLS Works, are teaming up with the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign in an attempt to cover an entire continent with long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets. Malaria is the leading killer of children in Africa and every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria. Throughout 2008, Major League Soccer and national partner Makita industrial power tools - - along with other professional sports leagues including the NBA and the WNBA - - will engage teams and fans through a series of in-stadium events, halftime presentations, auctions and fundraisers. Longtime MLS partner Makita industrial power tools has made a commitment to save 10,000 lives by donating $100,000 to Nothing But Nets. In addition, Makita and MLS W.O.R.K.S. have created the "Makita Team Up For Nets" program that will challenge MLS fans to save additional lives. Makita and MLS W.O.R.K.S., through the Makita Team Up For Nets program, have developed three ways for MLS fans to make donations to Nothing But Nets. Makita will match the donations made between April 25 and June 30, 2008 via the following methods:

1. Buy any Makita tool and register it at www.makitatools.com - Makita will donate a net with your purchase and credit it to your favorite MLS team.

2. Donate at your MLS team's page at www.NothingButNets.net/mlsworks (drop down menu will enable fans to attribute their donation to their favorite MLS team).

3. Come to Buck Shaw Stadium on Thursday, May 22 when the Earthquakes take on the Houston Dynamo and donate directly.

Colonel's Corner

The San Jose Earthquakes announced Mar. 24 that the team has partnered with KFC to launch the Colonel's Corner promotion at every home game for the 2008 season. The promotion will give fans the opportunity to purchase great seats for only $15-the most affordable Earthquakes tickets in town. The Corner View Section 107 at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara and sections 231 and 232 at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland will be officially branded as the KFC Colonel's Corner. Fans can purchase tickets regularly priced at $22 for Buck Shaw Stadium and at $30 for McAfee Coliseum for only $15 at participating KFC restaurants. The Colonel's Corner vouchers can be purchased at 26 participating KFC restaurants across the South Bay and will be redeemable for any game, subject to availability. The vouchers can be redeemed at Earthquakes Offices or at the stadium on the day of the game. KFC will have 500 tickets available for each game. For more information on KFC Colonel's Corner promotion and participating stores please visit sjearthquakes.com.

Quakes Above .500

The Earthquakes all-time MLS record is above the .500 mark. The Quakes all-time regular season MLS record is 135-129-47. They had the third-best regular season record in MLS history at the conclusion of the 2005 season at 134-125-47.

Halftime Success

The Earthquakes remain amongst the best in league history in holding onto a half-time lead. Since the beginning of the 2000 season, the Earthquakes are 49-0-8 in games when leading at the half, including 8-0-1 in 2003, 7-0-1 in 2004, 7-0-3 in 2005 and 1-0-0 in 2008.

Making The First One Count

The Quakes scored first and beat Colorado 2-0 on Apr. 19, 2008 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park to continue their incredible run over the past 74 games when scoring first. Dating back to the 2000 season, the Earthquakes own a 62-3-9 record in their last 74 matches when they score the first goal of the game. In 2005, San Jose went 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.

Scoring First Under Yallop

During Frank Yallop's first tenure with San Jose, the Earthquakes were one of the best teams in the league when scoring the first goal. The team went 36-2-1 from 2001-03 when scoring the first goal of the game. 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. Yallop is now 1-0-0 in 2008 when scoring first.

Individual Tickets on Sale Now

Individual tickets for 2008 San Jose Earthquakes games are now on sale. Tickets for the Earthquakes long awaited return are available online at sjearthquakes.com, by calling (800) 225-2277 or by visiting your local authorized Tickets.com outlets. Prices for individual tickets range from $20 to $70.

Season Tickets on Sale Now

San Jose Earthquakes season ticket packages for the 2008 season are now on sale. The Earthquakes 2008 season ticket package features 17 games, including all MLS regular season games and special bonus games. Prices for the ticket packages are $306 for Goal View, $340 for Corner Flag, $595 for Field View and $595 for Sideline. Tickets for the Earthquakes long awaited return will be available online at sjearthquakes.com, by calling (800) 225-2277 or by visiting your local authorized Tickets.com outlets.

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Major League Soccer Stories from May 5, 2008


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