When San Jose Earthquakes defender Ryan Cochrane thinks back to the head injury he sustained two weeks ago during a U.S. Open Cup match, it qualifies as something of an out-of-body experience. His only memories of the incident are from watching it on video and the eyewitness accounts of others.
Given the horrific nature of his collision with teammate Jay Ayres, that probably qualifies as a blessing. Just 11 minutes into the Open Cup play-in game against Real Salt Lake, Ayres headed a ball straight up in the air, and when both players attacked the ball to complete the clearance, a head-to-head collision ensued. Manager Frank Yallop shakes his head and remembers "it was an awful sound. It shook our guys up, to be honest."
Ayres got the worst of it by far, suffering multiple fractures to his left cheekbone. He underwent successful surgery for late last week, and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.
Not that Cochrane got off easy either. In addition to being knocked unconscious, he received a cut that took 21 stitches to close. Yet unlike his teammate, the Santa Clara University product now looks set to return to the field.
To make sure Cochrane is fully recovered, the Quakes medical staff has made him undergo numerous mental acuity tests that measure memory and speed of reaction. Raising the stakes was the fact that Cochrane suffered a concussion last year as well, when he clashed heads with Chicago defender Bakary Soumare. It's a regimen that Cochrane isn't that fond of.
"It's a lot of stupid stuff," said Cochrane with a chuckle. "But Bruce [Morgan, the Quakes' trainer], he's going to make me do it."
While watching from the sidelines, Cochrane has been like a caged animal, unable to sit still as the rest of his teammates were put through their paces in practice. But he also admits that it took a while for the fog to lift, making the decision to rest him a prudent one.
"The first couple of days I had some headaches," said Cochrane. "But besides that, I feel good. I just want to get a little bit more fit this week before [Saturday's] game comes up."
Cochrane made enough of a recovery last week to make the substitutes' bench for San Jose's 3-2 loss to Columbus. It gave him a close-up view of a match that the Quakes appeared set to win, before a late meltdown saw them get torched for three goals.
"I think mainly in the second half, we sat back too much, and I think we stopped playing our game and stopped attacking [Columbus]," said Cochrane. "It opened up some spaces for them to go forward."
But now Cochrane feels ready to retake the field this Saturday against New England, and help his team eliminate some of the peaks and valleys that were so evident against the Crew.
"We've got to find some consistency," said Cochrane. "I think we played well against Dallas and didn't come out with a result. I think we could have gotten a result last game, and we didn't. It's just kind of been up and down. And we just need to be more confident. I think that's one thing that is lacking: Can we close out leads, or can we close out games? I think those are things that will develop over time."
If the Quakes can make progress on that front against the Revs, you can bet it will stick in Cochrane's memory.
Jeff Carlisle is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
