Misc. Notes
Quakes Preseason Matches
The Earthquakes have played five matches so far in the 2005 preseason at the IMG Academy. They opened their 2005 preseason exhibition game schedule on Sunday, Feb. 13 with a 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear took advantage of the game to spread the playing time around, fielding an entirely different lineup for the first and second halves. In the Quakes' second exhibition game, the club tied the United States Under-20 National Team 1-1 on a second-half goal from Chris Ronér with an assist from Wade Barrett. Down 1-0, the Under-20's responded quickly with a goal to tie the game. Again, Kinnear started a completely different lineup in the second half, as a total of 23 players saw action against the Under-20's. San Jose defeated the Chicago Fire 2-0 on Wednesday, Feb. 16 with goals by Brad Davis and Roger Levesque. In a match the following day, the MetroStars defeated the Quakes 1-0, as Kinnear used a starting lineup that included five rookies. Despite the young lineup, San Jose held the MetroStars, who had a number of starters in the lineup, to a tie at halftime. San Jose then showed some character in a 1-1 tie with the Kansas City Wizards on Sunday. Down 1-0 at halftime, Kinnear inserted a number of subs and the team responded with a strong effort that resulted in the tying goal by Chris Wondolowski.
Preseason Results (1-2-2)
Feb. 13 - 1-0 loss vs. Real Salt Lake
Feb. 14 - 1-1 tie vs. United States Under-20s (Ronér)
Feb. 16 - 2-0 win vs. Chicago Fire (Davis, Levesque)
Feb. 17 - 1-0 loss vs. MetroStars
Feb. 20 - 1-1 tie vs. Kansas City Wizards (Wondolowski)
Barrett is Official
After awaiting his international clearance to arrive, the San Jose Earthquakes announced officially Wednesday that the club has signed defender Wade Barrett to a multi-year deal, bringing the former Major League Soccer star back to his original team. Barrett played five seasons in San Jose from 1998-2002 before departing to play with AGF Aarhus in the Danish Superleague in 2003. Barrett played in 2004 for Norway's Fredrikstad Football Club (FFK) before rejoining the Quakes, who continued to hold his MLS rights. The Earthquakes originally drafted Barrett in the first round of the 1998 College Draft out of The College of William & Mary, and Barrett quickly established himself as a skilled and tenacious midfielder and defender. Following his successful five-year run in MLS, Barrett joined Aarhus, where he quickly solidified a place in the defense of the Danish club. He played in 19 games in the 2003-04 season for Aarhus, before being loaned to Norway's Fredrikstad Football Club for the 2004 season. Barrett returns to the Quakes aiming to continue to improve upon his already successful career in San Jose. The 28-year old Virginia native is still amongst the Quakes all-time leaders in several statistical categories. Barrett remains sixth in all-time assists (22), eighth in all-time appearances (112), fifth in all-time games started (106) and fifth in all-time minutes played (9,554).
Levesque, Dombrowksi, Aloisi in the Fold
The San Jose Earthquakes signed midfielder Tighe Dombrowski, forward Roger Levesque and defender Chris Aloisi to new contracts for the 2005 season last week. Dombrowski, 22, and Levesque, 24, have signed to become developmental players and will again be roster-protected for the 2005 season, while Aloisi has signed as a senior roster player. In keeping with club policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed. Dombrowski spent the 2004 season as a developmental player on the Quakes roster, and enjoyed a successful rookie season, appearing in four MLS games while also seeing time in exhibitions against Sporting Club of Portugal and the Canadian National Team. Levesque enters his third season with the Earthquakes after being selected in the third round of the 2003 MLS SuperDraft. The Portland, Maine native has spent parts of the past two seasons on loan with the Seattle Sounders of the USL First Division (formerly the A-League), helping Seattle to the championship game in 2004. He scored 10 goals and notched five assists for the Sounders the past two seasons. With the Quakes, Levesque spent much of 2003 recovering from a torn ACL injury before appearing in his first match on July 12. He played in two more matches that season, but did not see any MLS action in 2004. Aloisi, 24, joined the Quakes this year in a Jan. 12 trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy and is coming off a successful rookie campaign as a developmental player in which he started three games for L.A., while also starting and playing 90 minutes in the Galaxy's U.S. Open Cup match against Minnesota. The Syracuse University product is a versatile defender who is capable of playing anywhere on the back-line.
Quakes' Remaining Preseason Schedule
Dominic Kinnear's squad will train in Bradenton, Fla. until Feb. 24 as they continue to prepare for opening day on April 2. During their time in Bradenton, the Quakes have played five matches and posted a 1-2-2 record. They have one final match scheduled against the U.S. Under-17 team on Tuesday afternoon. The team returns to the Bay Area on Feb. 24 for several more days of training, before heading down to Southern California from March 2 - 9 for training and exhibition games at The Home Depot Center. While in Los Angeles, San Jose will play the Los Angeles Galaxy, CD Chivas USA and UCLA. The Quakes will make their final trek of the preseason to Charleston, South Carolina to play in the Carolina Challenge Cup against the Charleston Battery (USL First Division), D.C. United and the Columbus Crew. The games for the tournament will be played at Blackbaud Stadium, home of the Battery. The team will be in Charleston from March 17 - 26 and kicks off the tournament with a match against D.C. United March 19 at 8:15 p.m. ET. The Quakes next play Columbus March 22 at 6:00 p.m. ET and finish up preseason training with a game against the Battery on March 25 at 6:00 p.m. ET.
2005 Schedule Is Set
The San Jose Earthquakes announced their schedule for the 2005 MLS regular season on last Monday. For the first time since 1999, the Quakes open their season in the friendly confines of Spartan Stadium, as they play host to the New England Revolution on Saturday, April 2 at 7:00 p.m. PT. San Jose looks to get off to a hot start with three of the team's first four games at home, as they take on the Revolution, CD Chivas USA (April 9) and the Kansas City Wizards (April 23) in the first month of the season. For the first time since 1999, the Quakes will play a 32-game schedule with 16 road games and 16 home games. The fan-friendly home schedule features 14 Saturday games and just two Wednesday night games. Overall, the team plays 26 of 32 games on Saturdays and 28 of 32 games on weekends. Game times and the national and local television schedules will be released at a later date. The Earthquakes radio broadcast schedules will also be released at a later date.
Season Tickets on Sale Now
San Jose Earthquakes season ticket packages for the 2005 season at Spartan Stadium are now on sale. The Earthquakes 2005 season ticket package features 18 games, including all MLS regular season games and special bonus games. The Quakes season ticket pricing once again consists of a Youth (14 and younger) and a Senior (60 and over) discount in three price levels. Prices for the 2005 season ticket packages are $198 adult ($162 youth/senior) for Endzone, $252 adult ($198 youth/senior) for East Sideline, $450 ($396 youth/senior) for West Sideline and $720 for VIP seats. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Earthquakes Ticket Office at 100 North Almaden Ave., by logging onto www.sjearthquakes.com or by contacting the Earthquakes Ticket Office at (408) 985-GOAL.
