San Jose Shuts Out Wizards
Published on June 8, 2002 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Two goals by forward Ariel Graziani, his seventh and eighth on the season, paced the defending champion San Jose Earthquakes to a 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Wizards in a battle of the last two MLS Cup champions at Spartan Stadium on Saturday night.
The Earthquakes maintained their perfect home record (5-0-0) on the campaign and padded their lead atop the Western Conference (four points ahead of the second-place Colorado Rapids). The Wizards are winless on the road in five games this season.
The teams engaged in an evenly played first half, which saw both sides playing high pressure soccer, with the Wizards enjoying the early success. In a rare sight at Spartan Stadium, the Earthquakes were pinned in their own half for the opening 15 minutes of the match, rarely crossing the halfway line. The Wizards did a fine job of controlling the match and closing in on the Earthquakes, often winning the ball near midfield.
Despite the early possession, however, Kansas City, was unable to generate concrete dangerous scoring opportunities. An Igor Simutenkov long distance shot (16th minute) and a Dario Fabbro header that finished wide (13th minute) proved to be the only threats at the San Jose goal.
In a match so evenly contested, it was a giveaway that led to the breakthrough goal. In the 40th minute, Wizards captain Preki tripped up on the ball and was dispossessed in his own half by San Jose defender Wade Barrett, who had closed in on him. On the left flank, Barrett then lofted a ball over the Wizards back line into the path of forward Ariel Graziani. The Ecuadorian international controlled the ball in the box and calmly beat goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi to the right post.
"We got the short end of the stick at the end of the half," said Wizards defender Peter Vermes. "We tried to give an outlet to Preki and he got stripped and sometimes that's going to happen. Aside from that one mistake, we played well in the first half and we pressured them good."
Entering the match, the Earthquakes were 25-0-2 when scoring first dating back to July 8, 2000. The home team made that trend stand in the second half. Just three minutes after the break, the Earthquakes doubled the score with its their two strikers combining on a breakaway.
Graziani fed teammate Dwayne DeRosario down the right side of the box and the Canadian international sent a shot on goal which was blocked by Oshoniyi. Graziani pounced on the rebound and knocked the ball into the back of the net just a few yards from the goal line. It was the 300th goal in San Jose team history.
In the best opportunity for the Wizards to get back into the game, defender Nick Garcia sent a header wide right of the target in the 62nd minute on a perfectly weighted service from Preki. Garcia beat the San Jose offside trap on the pass and was free to head the ball just 10 yards from goal.
San Jose put the game out of reach in the 75th minute with a spectacular strike from captain and midfielder Richard Mulrooney. In a display of accuracy, Mulrooney received a pass from Ramiro Corrales and from 20 yards out he lofted a ball into the top left corner of the net well out of the reach of Oshoniyi.
The Wizards would continue to press forward but could not break the best defense in MLS (11 goals allowed in 12 matches). In the 81st minute Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon preserved his fourth shutout of the season when he tipped a curling shot from Preki over the top left corner of the goal. Moments later, Cannon was again alert and snagged a glancing header by Fabbro.
The Earthquakes (7-3-2, 23pts) next prepare for a trip to Columbus, Ohio and a matchup against the Crew on Saturday, June 15 (7:30 p.m. ET). The Wizards (2-4-4, 10pts) also return to action next Saturday when they host D.C. United at Arrowhead Stadium (8:00 p.m. ET).
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