MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, MAY 29, 2004 - COLUMBUS CREW 1, SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES 0
COLUMBUS CREW HEAD COACH GREG ANDRULIS
On the game:
"I think five games in a row without a loss is nice, but the key is two back-to-back at home and that hopefully sets the tone for us for the rest of the year. Offensively we just never quite got in sync, but give our guys credit. They battled through the 90 minutes and found a way."
On this year's Crew team and the win:
"This is a new bunch of guys with a new attitude and it's a never-say-die group. I mean, the tone of the game was set early when Chad Marshall plays that ball off the line. I think the key to our streak, there is no question about it, is that defensively we haven't been giving up goals. San Jose was pretty dangerous tonight, but it was never a situation where they were really, really dangerous and that's a credit to the guys on the field doing a good job."
On the team's five-game unbeaten streak:
"It's 23 guys that come to work every day and are determined to get better, and putting out gutsy performance after gutsy performance."
COLUMBUS CREW DEFENDER CHAD MARSHALL
On saving Ian Russell's shot off the goal line in the seventh minute:
"I was hoping I could get to it. Fortunately it didn't have enough on it to get there. I was just happy I got to it. It turned out to be a good play and I'm happy about that."
On the team's five-game unbeaten streak:
"We've played well the last five games. It took us a while to get going and to gel but we've worked hard the last five games and have gotten some results."
On facing Landon Donovan for the first time as a professional:
"Just the name alone is scary. He's such a great player. He can change the game at any time."
COLUMBUS CREW FORWARD JEFF CUNNINGHAM
On scoring the game-winning goal:
"All the credit goes to (Eric) Denton. He played a great ball in. I just had to get my head on it and fortunately the ball went in the back of the net."
On San Jose:
"In my opinion, San Jose is the best team in the league. They are very organized and that was the difference. They made it very difficult to play. But the guys battled hard and it felt good to get a result."
On scoring in two consecutive games:
"The goals will come, but I am more happy with the team getting results. But we still need to improve and we know that."
COLUMBUS CREW GOALKEEPER JON BUSCH
On tonight's win:
"Tonight wasn't pretty but we're getting results. We have an attitude this year and we know we aren't going to give up anything easy."
On his third shutout in the month of May:
"I just do my job day in and day out. Tonight was more about the guys in front of me."
On breaking Brad Friedel's team record for shutouts (Busch now has 12, while Friedel had 11):
"It's nice, but my main goal is about winning games and championships."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On the game:
"I thought we played a good game tonight. From minute one to minute 90, we kept possession and attacked and we just could not finish our chances. I thought we could have been up 2-0 at halftime, but we were just lacking a bit of sharpness in their box."
On the Quakes' play:
"We came out and played like the home team tonight. We worked for each other and kept possession and kept going forward and we were defending well also. I am happy with the way our guys performed tonight, but it is just frustrating to lose a game like that."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER IAN RUSSELL
On chance in first half:
"Jamil (Walker) played me a great ball and I hit it where I wanted to. (Jon) Busch came out a little quicker than I thought though, so I did not hit my shot with as much power as I wanted and then they made a great play to keep it out of the net."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER JEFF AGOOS
On the Crew goal:
"Jeff Cunningham made a run to the near post and then he crept back and he got in between Jon (Conway) and me. Eric Denton sent in a good ball and that was it. It was tough to give up a goal like that when we had missed a lot of chances earlier in the game."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER RAMIRO CORRALES
On the game:
"We had the ball a lot tonight and we moved it around well, but we could not put the ball in the net. That is soccer though, when you don't finish your chances, it comes back to hurt you. I thought we deserved more tonight."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER TIGHE DOMBROWSKI
On first MLS appearance:
"It felt good to get in there tonight, but it was a little bittersweet because of the result. I felt comfortable out there and I think that the team was playing well at that point, so that made my job easier when I came in."
