Los Altos Hills, Calif. (Sunday, June 5, 2005) - A penalty kick proved to be the difference in the San Jose Earthquakes reserves 2-1 victory over the D.C. United reserves at Foothill College. The game marked the United reserves' first loss of the year and the Quakes second win. Both teams were forced to play down men after three ejections in the game. Chris Wondolowski's winning penalty kick goal was his fourth goal of the year for the Quakes reserves.
The Quakes got out to an early lead on a goal by Julian Nash in the first minute of the game. Ian Russell sent a corner kick in into the box, where Brett Rodriguez battled for the header and knocked the ball down to Nash. He then slammed the ball into the back of the net from within the six-yard box for a 1-0 advantage.
Soon after the Quakes had another great opportunity. Midfielder Danny O'Rourke took a free kick from the left midfield, but his bullet of a shot flew just right of the D.C. United goal.
In the ninth minute, a D.C. United cross fell loose at the top of the Earthquakes goal box. Alecko Eskandarian fired a shot, but San Jose goalkeeper Jon Conway dove to his right and buried the ball in his arms for the save.
Eskandarian had another opportunity midway through the first half as D.C. was awarded a free kick at the top of the 18-yard box. He blasted a shot that deflected off the Quakes wall and popped up in the air. Conway pushed through the D.C. United forwards and jumped up to punch the ball out of danger.
In the 39th minute, the Earthquakes had a great chance to score on a free kick. Kevin Goldthwaite took the left-footed shot from 25 yards out and the ball curved around the two-man wall, headed for the right corner of the net. United goalkeeper Troy Perkins dove to his left to make the save to keep San Jose's lead at 1-0.
In the beginning of the second half, Goldthwaite sent a long pass down the field to a streaking James Twellman on the left side in the 48th minute. After running past his defender, Twellman had just the keeper to beat. Perkins deflected the shot and Twellman touched the ball across the box for another Quakes forward, but Nash was unable to get around the United defense to the ball.
D.C. United got on the board in the 51st minute to tie the match at one. Nana Kuffour beat a defender on the wing and carried the ball towards the goal before sending it into the box. His cross connected with Jamil Walker, who sent his low diving header shot into the left corner of the net.
In the 57th minute Ian Russell was pulled down in the box by a United defender, and the Quakes were awarded a penalty kick. Chris Wondolowski stepped up for the shot and buried the ball into the left corner of the goal past the diving Perkins to give the Quakes the 2-1 lead.
Late in the match, D.C. had some chances to even the match, but Quakes goalkeeper Robbie Fulton came up with some big saves to keep United off the board. A Jason Thompson shot was also cleared off the goal line by Quakes defender Ryan Cochrane.
The match got physical in the final 20 minutes as three players were sent off. D.C. United went down to ten men in the 70th minute when David Stokes received his second yellow card of the game for a tackle on Wondolowski. Just five minutes Tighe Dombrowski of the Earthquakes was also sent off when he was shown two yellow cards on the same play. Jason Thompson of D.C. United was also ejected from the game in the 84th minute for a hard tackle on Twellman.
Scoring Summary:
SJ-Nash (Rodriguez, Russell) 1
DC-Walker (Kuffour) 51
SJ-Wondolowski (penalty kick) 57
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES- Jon Conway (Robbie Fulton 45), Wes Hart, Brett Rodriguez, Ryan Cochrane, Kevin Goldthwaite, Chris Wondolowski, Tighe Dombrowski, Danny O'Rourke, Ian Russell, James Twellman, Julian Nash (Orlando Ramirez 77). CAUTIONS: Hart, 52; Dombrowski 75. EJECTIONS: Dombrowski 75.
D.C. UNITED-- Troy Perkins, Kenny Arena, David Stokes, Tim Merritt, Jason Thompson, Nick Van Sicklen, Shawn Kuykendall, Nana Kuffour, Alecko Eskandarian (John Wilson 73), Jamil Walker (Dema Kovalenko 81), Matt Nickell. CAUTIONS: Stokes 4, 70. EJECTIONS: Stokes 70, Thompson 82.
Referee: Ramon Hernandez; Referee Assistants: Yader Reyes, Michael Donovan; Fourth Official: Colin Arblaster
Attendance: 207
Temperature: 78
