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MLS San Jose Earthquakes

Quakes Defeat LD Alajuelense 1-0 In Champions Cup; Eliminated From Champions Cup 3-1 on Total Goals

March 25, 2004 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Jose Earthquakes News Release


San Jose, Calif. (Wednesday, March 24, 2004) –The San Jose Earthquakes defeated Costa Rica's LD Alajuelense 1-0 in the home leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, but were eliminated from the tournament by a 3-1 total goal margin. Alajuelense defeated the Earthquakes 3-0 in the first leg of the series on March 17 in Costa Rica.

The Earthquakes started the match pressuring Alajuelense just seconds after the kick-off when Richard Mulrooney sent a cross into the box from the right side and Arturo Alvarez sent a blast just wide of the post. That would set the tone of the night for the Quakes, who constantly bombarded the Alajuelense net only to be thwarted by goalkeeper Ricardo Gonzalez's acrobatic saves and the crossbar two times.

After the Quakes attack, Alajuelense threatened in the 15th minute when Froylan Ledezma collected a loose ball in the Quakes penalty area and one-timed a hard shot over the crossbar. Earthquakes goalkeeper Pat Onstad kept the game scoreless in the 23rd minute when he dove to his left to knock Steven Bryce's long-range rocket out of bounds.

The Quakes had three rapid scoring opportunities in the 24th minute. Ramiro Corrales carried the ball deep into the Alajuelense penalty area before crossing it into the middle of the box. The ball trickled past several defenders and the diving goalkeeper before Jamil Walker re-directed it toward the net, where it was knocked away by a defender. Quakes forward Dwayne De Rosario was able to get to the rebound and sent a shot on the unguarded net that was deflected off the goal line by another Alajuelense player. He managed to control the rebound again, but a sliding Gonzalez denied his shot.

Five minutes later the Quakes had another fine chance when De Rosario won a long ball on the Alajuelense end and dished off to a streaking Arturo Alvarez on the left. Alvarez took a few dribbles before launching a shot from about 20 yards out that soared over Alajuelense's goalkeeper and rattled off the crossbar.

Just a minute later Alajuelense continued the flurry of activity and nearly scored on a dangerous blast by Bryce that Onstad just managed to punch over the goal and out of danger.

The Earthquakes continued pressuring Alajuelense to start the second half as Ronnie Ekelund sent a perfect through ball past the defense to an open De Rosario. De Rosario's shot from about 15 yards away was knocked away by Alajuelense's goalkeeper, allowing the ball to deflect to Mullan on the right side. With Gonzalez on the ground, Mullan's shot was cleared away from danger to Walker. Walker finished the frustrating sequence by sending a shot over the goal.

The Quakes hit the crossbar for a second time of the evening on a wicked shot by Corrales. Corrales played a nice give-and-go combination with De Rosario on the left side of the field at the 18-yard line. Corrales received the pass and took one dribble into the middle of the field before powering a shot off the crossbar.

San Jose continued to threaten Alajuelense, and nearly scored again in the 73rd minute. Mulrooney sent a cross into the box from the right side that second half substitute Brian Ching headed to the corner. A diving Gonzalez knocked the ball to Mullan, who powered a shot past the prone goalkeeper only to see it blocked by Alajuelense's Luis Marin. The ball went directly to De Rosario, whose blast was deflected by Cristian Montero.

In the 81st minute Gonzalez stymied Ekelund from close range. Ekelund received the ball after a nice build-up along the right side that saw Corrales send the ball Mullan who then found Ekelund alone in the middle of the penalty area.

The Earthquakes continued to attack and finally scored in the 90th minute on a goal from Mullan. A streaking Ching received a fine pass in the middle of the penalty area and slipped a pass to his left to an on-rushing Mullan who lofted a shot to the right of Gonzalez to give San Jose the win 1-0, but a 3-1 loss in the series on aggregate goals.

The Quakes open the MLS season on Saturday, April 3 in Washington, D.C. against Freddy Adu and D.C. United at 1:00 p.m. PT live on ABC. A week later on Saturday, April 10, the Earthquakes host the Chicago Fire in their home opener at Spartan Stadium at 1:00 p.m. PT, live on ESPN2

Notes:

-Quakes forward Landon Donovan did not dress for tonight's match due to flu-like symptoms.

-Midfielder Ian Russell missed the game due to a left hamstring strain.

-Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear earned his first official win as a head coach.

Quotes:

Head Coach Dominic Kinnear, on game: "I am very proud of the way the team played tonight and the way they responded after the performance last week. With a little bit of luck I think we could have advanced to the next round. I give credit to their team, they put up a hard fight, but the way our team approached the game tonight was excellent. I think that we are unlucky not to be advancing to the next round."

Kinnear, on offensive opportunities: "I would be concerned if the guys didn't respond after the performance last week, but the attitude was good. Looking ahead, if we hadn't had chances tonight, I would have been worried, but every player on the field tried to make an impact and I was very pleased with the performance."

Dwayne De Rosario, on offensive opportunities: "They speak for themselves. Everyone on this team had a chance to score tonight, but these things do happen. Our team played very well and everybody gave 100 percent and there is not much more that you could ask for from your fellow teammates."

Pat Onstad, on game: "When we play with the kind of intensity we played with tonight, we give ourselves a chance to win every game we play. It was nice to get a good performance under our belts and from a defensive stand point it was nice to get a clean sheet – we haven't had one of those all preseason so hopefully we can carry that into D.C."

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