The San Jose Earthquakes topped the Columbus Crew in the first game of the MLS Central Coast Showcase while Real Salt Lake drew with the Colorado Rapids in a Rocky Mountain Cup preview in Friday's MLS preseason play.
San Jose Earthquakes 2, Columbus Crew 1
Kei Kamara fueled the new-look San Jose Earthquakes with a pair of goals as the Quakes held off the Columbus Crew for a 2-1 victory in the first game of the MLS Central Coast Showcase at Alex G. Spanos Stadium in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Kamara kicked the scoring off in the 17th minute, taking a feed on the right side from Gavin Glinton and putting it low past Crew 'keeper Will Hesmer to put San Jose on top 1-0.
The Crew pulled even in the 34th minute when Eddie Gaven slipped the equalizer past Dan Benton. When Ryan Cochrane had trouble clearing the ball at the top of the Sane Jose box, Columbus took possession with Alejandro Moreno ultimately swinging the ball to Gaven who put it home to knot things up at 1-1.
In the 54th minute though, the Quakes took the lead back for good thanks to a dazzling goal by Kamara. The explosive striker collected the ball in space on the left side of the box, then faked one direction before sliding back the other and rifling the ball into the lower right corner of the net to seal the victory.
Columbus Crew (first half; 4-4-2): Will Hesmer, Frankie Hedjuk, Chad Marshall, Andy Iro, Sandro de Silva, Eddie Gaven, Duncan Oughton, Stefani Miglioranzi, Robbie Rogers, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Alejandro Moreno.
(second half; 4-4-2): Will Hesmer, Frankie Hedjuk (Ryan Miller 65), Chad Marshall (Ryan Junge 67), Andy Iro (Leonard Griffin 67), Sandro de Silva (Andrew Peterson 65), Eddie Gaven (Ricardo Virtuoso 65), Duncan Oughton (Brian Carroll 62), Stefani Miglioranzi (Kevin Burns 62), Robbie Rogers (Emmanuel Ekpo 65), Alejandro Moreno (Zola Short 62).
San Jose Earthquakes (first half, 4-4-2): Preston Burpo (Dan Benton 22), Jason Hernandez, Nick Garcia, Ryan Cochrane, James Riley, Shea Salinas, Ramiro Corrales, Ned Grabavoy, Ivan Guerrero, Gavin Glinton, Kei Kamara.
(second half; 4-4-2): Dan Benton, Jason Hernandez, Nick Garcia, Ryan Cochrane (Jay Ayres 71), James Riley, Shea Salinas (Matt Taylor 67), Ramiro Corrales (J.P. Rodrigues 82), Ned Grabavoy, Joe Vide (Ivan Guerrero 46), Gavin Glinton (Federico Arias 62), Kei Kamara (Yuri Morales 82).
Real Salt Lake 2, Colorado Rapids 2
In a preseason preview of one of Major League Soccer's most heated rivalries, Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids played to a 2-2 draw in an exhibition version of the Rocky Mountain Cup at the Central Broward Regional Park cricket stadium in Lauderhill, Fla.
The Rapids opened the scoring off a free kick in the 19th minute when Terry Cooke took the restart from the side of the penalty area and found Facundo Erpen who headed it into the net. RSL knotted the game up in the 40th minute when Yura Movsisyan took a pass from Nathan Sturgis and beat a defender and Hughes before easily tapping the ball into the open net.
Colorado regained the lead in the 52nd minute through first round draft pick Ciaran O'Brien. Jovan Kirovski played a perfect pass to the rookie at the top of the 18-yard box. The UC-Santa Barbara product took one touch and then fired in the go-ahead goal.
Real Salt Lake used a dead ball chance of its own to even up the proceedings, as Indra Sahdan Daud was fouled just outside the arc on the edge of the Rapids penalty area. Fabian Espindola ran onto Matias Cordoba's push restart, his low shot deflecting off a Rapids defender 10 yards out and beating Rapids 'keeper Bouna Coundoul for the equalizer.
Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando (Chris Seitz 45); Chris Wingert (Craig Ziadie 60), Matias Mantilla (Dustin Kirby 60), Nat Borchers (David Horst 60), Ian Joy (Tony Beltran 60); Andy Williams (Alex Nimo 60), Kenny Cutler (Matias Cordoba 60), Javier Morales (Kevin Reiman 60), Nathan Sturgis; Robbie Findley (Fabian Espíndola 46), Yura Movsisyan (Indra Sahdan Daud 46)
Colorado Rapids: Justin Hughes (Bouna Coundoul 46), Kosuke Kimura (Brandon Prideaux 46), Facundo Erpen (Cesar Zambrano 46), Stephen Keel (Jordan Harvey 46), Jose Burciaga Jr. (Chase Hilgenbrinck 46); Terry Cooke (Nico Colaluca 46), John DiRaimondo (Ciaran O'Brien 46), Nick LaBrocca (Brian Grazier 46), Colin Clark (Scott Campbell 46 / Christian Gomez 60); Nicolas Hernandez (Jovan Kirovski 46), Omar Cummings (Jacob Peterson 46)
