MLS San Jose Earthquakes

Earthquakes Weekly Update

Published on May 4, 2009 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Jose Earthquakes News Release


This Week

The San Jose Earthquakes hit the road this week for the first of three games away from home. The Quakes travel to the East Coast to take on the New York Red Bulls on Friday, May 8 at 4:30 p.m. PT at Giants Stadium. The game can be heard live on 1220 KDOW and will also be available on the Major League Soccer Direct Kick package.

Injury Report Questionable - Jason Hernandez (L - calf strain); Chris Leitch (concussion); Shea Salinas (neck strain); Out - Ryan Cochrane (L - ankle surgery); Darren Huckerby (R - quadriceps strain);

Last Game

Chivas USA 1, Earthquakes 0; May 2, 2009; Buck Shaw Stadium; Santa Clara, Calif.

The San Jose Earthquakes had been hoping to garner their first victory in over a month, but instead a crushing breakdown in communication condemned the Quakes to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Chivas USA. The Red-and-White's Justin Braun netted the game's only goal in the 53rd minute, but it had more to do with a Quakes' mental lapse than any brilliance on the part of the visitors. Jonathan Bornstein's harmless looking cross looked like easy pickings for the San Jose defense, but when neither goalkeeper Joe Cannon nor defender Nick Garcia dealt with the situation, Braun stole in to score his first goal of the year. The Chivas defense then made the lead stand up, with goalkeeper Zach Thornton earning his fifth shutout of the season. The Quakes came flying out of the gate, pressing Chivas high up the field, and they came within inches of breaking on top in the second minute. A sharp exchange of passes ended with Ramiro Corrales feeding Shea Salinas on the right side of the box, and his low shot was just touched off the post Thornton. The second half was barely two minutes old when the Quakes' Chris Leitch suffered an apparent concussion after getting tangled up with Chivas' Jonathan Bornstein. After a lengthy delay, Aaron Pitchkolan made his Quakes debut in place of Leitch in the 53rd minute, but before they knew it, the Quakes fell behind to Braun's opportunistic strike. San Jose attempted to get right back into the match, but Corrales could only volley Simon Elliott's free kick straight at Thornton. The Quakes thought they had scored an equalizer in the 81st minute, but Johnson was judged to have been offside prior to heading the ball in off a goalmouth scramble. The home side's last best chance of the net came in the 88th minute when Amarikwa won a duel with Shavar Thomas and found Johnson in the box, but the Chivas defense prevented the San Jose forward from getting a clean look at goal, and his shot went wide.

Last Match vs. New York (U.S. Open Cup Play-in Game)

Red Bulls 2, Earthquakes 1; April 29, 2009; Buck Shaw Stadium: Santa Clara, Calif.

The New York Red Bulls grabbed a 2-1 win over the Earthquakes in a U.S. Open Cup Play-in game at Buck Shaw Stadium. New York defender Mike Petke opened the scoring with the match just two minutes old, yet when San Jose's Pablo Campos netted a 71st-minute equalizer, the Quakes must have thought a comeback was in the making. But the Red Bulls' John Wolyniec scored the game winner from Dominic Oduro's deflected cross with just 10 minutes remaining to give New York the victory. In the second minute, goalkeeper Andrew Weber allowed a ball to run over the end line that was ruled a corner kick for New York. Davide Somma attempted to head out Danleigh Borman's service, but his clearance went off Wolyniec and straight to Petke, and the veteran duly hammered the ball home from seven yards to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. San Jose came within inches of equalizing four minutes later. San Jose manager Frank Yallop brought on Pablo Campos at halftime for Somma, and Bobby Convey entered the match 14 minutes later for Johnson. Neither switch had much initial impact as New York's defense looked organized and comfortable. That made the manner of San Jose's 71st-minute equalizer all the more surprising. The Quakes had just won a simple throw-in on the right wing when Leitch's modest throw suddenly found Campos in acres of space. The Brazilian had enough time to carry the ball into the box, and his low shot beat Cepero to the far post. The Red Bulls didn't have to wait long to make amends, however. With just 10 minutes of normal time remaining Oduro's cross from the right wing was deflected by the Quakes' Denton right into Wolyniec's path, and the New York forward stabbed the ball home from six yards for the game-winner. Campos nearly scored a spectacular equalizer in the 83rd minute, but his attempted bicycle kick from Convey's free kick went just over the bar, and New York held on for the victory.

Game Time Changes

The Earthquakes home game on Saturday, June 20 against the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has been moved to a 1:30 p.m. PT kickoff. The game will still be televised as planned, on ESPN 2 and ESPN Deportes. The October 10 road game in Toronto has also been moved to 1:00 p.m. PT.

Chris Leitch to Face Former Team for the First Time in MLS League Play

Earthquakes defender Chris Leitch will face his former team, New York Red Bulls, on Friday, May 8 in the regular season match at Giants Stadium. Leitch was traded to the Earthquakes on March 2, 2009 in exchange for allocation money and an international player slot. So far Leitch has recorded a career-high three assists in just seven appearances for San Jose. Leitch had two stints in New York, from 2003-2004 and again from 2007-2008. He started and played a full 90 minutes on Wednesday, April 29 in the U.S. Open Play-in Game at Buck Shaw Stadium where San Jose fell to the Red Bulls 2-1.

Red Bulls Leaders vs. San Jose

Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway has one win and one shutout in his two appearances against the Quakes in his career ... John Wolyniec is the team leader in goals and assists with one goal and one assist ... Mike Petke has notched one assist as well in his career.

Earthquakes Leaders vs. New York

Arturo Alvarez, Kelly Gray and Darren Huckerby have each scored one goal against New York in their careers ... Joe Cannon has registered seven wins and seven ties, five of which were shutouts in 18 appearances in his career against New York... Bobby Convey has scored one goal and notched three assists in his career versus New York.

Earthquakes-Red Bulls Connections

Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway played with the San Jose Earthquakes from 2000-2005, where he spent time on the team with current Quakes Ramiro Corrales, Arturo Alvarez, Joe Cannon, Ryan Cochrane, Kelly Gray and assistant coach Ian Russell. He was also coached by Frank Yallop from 2001 - 2003... Red Bulls defender Kevin Goldthwaite spent 2005 in San Jose, and also was in Houston with Ryan Cochrane and Kelly Gray ... New York defender Andrew Boyens played at the University of New Mexico with Quakes goalkeeper Andrew Weber and Mike Graczyk ... Red Bulls forward Dominic Oduro played with Quakes midfielder Arturo Alvarez from 2006-2007 in Dallas ... New York defender Mike Petke played for one season in 2003 with D.C. United, where he played alongside current Quakes midfielder Bobby Convey ... He also played in 2005 with the Colorado Rapids along with Quakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon ... New York midfielder Dane Richards is, like Quakes forward Ryan Johnson, a member of the Jamaican national team ... Quakes defender Kelly Gray was with Chicago in the 2002 season with Red Bulls forward John Wolyniec ... Wolyniec also played with Simon Elliott in Columbus in 2005 and under Frank Yallop in 2006 with the Galaxy ... New York assistant coach Richie Williams played at D.C. United in 2000 with Bobby Convey.

Cannon Amongst All-Time Leaders

Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon is among the all-time league leaders in a number of goalkeeping categories. He previously played for San Jose from 1999-2002. He is second in goalkeeper appearances (253), starts (252) and minutes played (22,785). He is now third all-time in saves (1,051), fourth all-time in shutouts (65), fifth all-time in wins (93) and tied for seventh all-time in goals against average (1.31) in league history. For San Jose, Cannon is first in club history as a goalkeeper in appearances (138), minutes played (12,591), saves (583), wins (55) and shutouts (35) and second in goals against average (1.28), and saves percentage (74.2). He also holds the team's all-time record for saves in a game with 12 on July 8, 2000 at Colorado.

Cannon in Quakes Record Books

Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon played 90 minutes Saturday, May 2 against Chivas USA to record his 138th career game as a member of the Earthquakes, which is good for fifth place in franchise history. Cannon has also recorded 12,591 minutes, good for second all-time in Quakes history. His 138 career starts are also fourth all-time in San Jose history.

Corrales Hits 150 with Quakes

Ramiro Corrales started and played 90 minutes on May 2 to record his 150th appearance in a San Jose uniform. With 150 appearances, Corrales is now second on the all-time appearances list. Richard Mulrooney (1999-2004) is the all-time leader with 163. Corrales also made his 134th start and has logged 11,941 minutes as a member of the Quakes. He is now in fifth place in franchise history in starts, and fifth all-time in club history for minutes played.

Quakes in May

The Earthquakes are 21-23-10 all-time in MLS games during the month of May.

Making the First One Count

The Earthquakes now own a 70-4-14 record in their last 88 matches when they score the first goal of the game after tying the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-1 on April 18. They finished 8-1-3 in 2008 when scoring first. They lost to Columbus 3-2 on May 10, 2008 after scoring first. 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's team was 8-1-3 in 2008 when scoring first and is 1-0-2 so far in 2009 when netting the first goal.

Halftime Success

The Earthquakes remain amongst the best in league history in holding onto a half-time lead after tying the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-1 on April 18, 2009. Since the beginning of the 2000 season, the Earthquakes are now 54-1-10 in games when leading at the half, including 8-0-1 in 2003, 7-0-1 in 2004 and 7-0-3 in 2005. Despite holding a halftime lead on May 10, 2008 vs. Columbus, the Quakes fell 3-2. That game marked the team's first loss since 1999 when holding a halftime lead.

Quakes Radio Segment on KNBR 1050

The Earthquakes have a weekly five-minute news segment every Friday on KNBR 1050 following the Razor and Mr. T show at 7 p.m. PT. John Shrader, the voice of the Earthquakes, will host the report that will include interviews, player features and team news.

Catch Yallop on SportsRamble

Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop will appear every Sunday during the season on KDOW's weekly sports show, Sports Ramble. Yallop will appear with host Chetan Chaudhari at 8:30 p.m. PT each Sunday to talk Quakes soccer.

Listen to Quakes "en Español" on sjearthquakes.com

The Earthquakes have launched Spanish-language web broadcasts this season. Fans can tune into every home game during the 2009 Earthquakes season by clicking on the "Multimedia" link at sjearthquakes.com. Carlos Cesar Rivera returns for his second consecutive season as the voice of the Quakes and his fifth overall. A native of El Salvador, Rivera hosts a popular sports talk show from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. PT Monday through Friday on 1370 AM that covers MLS, Mexican League soccer, as well as many other sports. Rivera, who has worked in radio in the Bay Area for over 25 years, has also called games for the San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants and the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks in his career

Stay up to Date on Insider News on MyQuakes

The Earthquakes are proud to announce the launch of MyQuakes.com, the official social network of the San Jose Earthquakes. The site is a place where fans, players, and staff interact and share all types of content such as photos, videos, blogs and more. Some features that members will enjoy are the following; a team blog on the main page that will update fans on insider team information, a forum on the main page where fans, players, and staff can create and respond to discussions, a fully customizable profile page, players and coaches pages, an option to create your own groups, a full event calendar, as well as live online chat.

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Major League Soccer Stories from May 4, 2009


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