SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES 2, COLUMBUS CREW 0
COLUMBUS CREW HEAD COACH SIGI SCHMID
On his team's recent lack of goals:
"I can't say we're not getting the ball into the attacking end or that we're not creating chances. We're not catching a break and we gave up two soft goals."
On the play of several young defenders:
"I thought that Zayner played well. He got off to a fast start and I thought that he played well. I thought Iro did well coming in. It's like we said, we have confidence in them. The issue is not that we have to use young defenders. It was that we had to sub them in. So it restricted what we could do on substitutions. I thought those guys did well. When I look at the flow of the game, there is not a lot where I can say San Jose created a lot."
COLUMBUS CREW MIDFIELDER GUILLERMO BARROS SCHELOTTO
On the importance of the next match, at Kansas City:
"We need a win now. The next game in Kansas City is very important. We need a win, because it can get us back into first or second place."
COLUMBUS CREW GOALKEEPER WILLIAM HESMER
On San Jose's first goal:
"He takes a header, and I felt like it was coming right at me, it just took a little deflection off Ezra [Hendrickson] and went back the other way and I just couldn't get enough of a hand on it. It's one of those that you just want back. It's not an easy save, but it's a save that I feel I can make."
On whether there is more pressure on the defense when the goals aren't coming:
We don't go into a game saying we're going to win this one 3-2. We go into game's saying 'this is going to be a zero,' so every game there's pressure to get a shutout, then if they do score one, we say 'that's just one goal, they're not going to get another one.' That's where we've got to be mentally stronger. It's just one early goal; we can come back from that. Teams do it all the time, and we should believe that we can too."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH FRANK YALLOP
On the win:
"We're still learning about each other and tonight's a good victory for us because no matter how you look at it, Columbus is a good side in this league. Sigi's done a great job of building a team that's going to be a force, and I think to come in here -- yeah, they had injuries to the two center backs that go out, which makes a difference obviously -- but I still think they have enough talent to play well and I thought we did well on the defensive side of things."
On his team's performance in the match:
"That is what has been missing from us, and it might not be pretty, but we fought for every ball. We might have missed sometimes on tackles, we might have got into some challenges that were fouls, but it's football. The other team is going to handle it and move on. We've been overpowering in away games, and I thought that tonight was a good example of a fantastic away performance. We made it miserable for the other team to play against us. We took our chances when they came along and we didn't roll over. We fought to the last whistle and that was excellent."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER RONNIE O'BRIEN
On getting a win against Columbus:
"They've got a lot of good players that can win a game for them. We scored two goals and came in and did what we had to do and in the end, just sort of held on by defending really well, because as I said, they're a good, good team."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES GOALKEEPER JOE CANNON
On San Jose's defense towards the end of the match:
"That always tends to happen, I think, toward the end of the game. The other team starts throwing everything forward, and you just have to withstand the pressure. We did a good job of limiting their true chances in run of play, but I still think we gave them too many set pieces, and with a guy like Schelotto, I think we were pretty fortunate that Chad Marshall's out because he's their number one target, especially after all the corners and free kicks that we gave up."
On the team's performance on the road:
"We played a good game against Colorado on the road, and today we come out here and got the same kind of results. It does feel good though, obviously, if you look at the standings it's no mystery where we're at and so, it's good to make a leap and with a game in hand, and with the right results, hopefully we can get right back in the mix."
