This Week's Match-Up
After their first win of the season last Saturday at Spartan Stadium against the Kansas City Wizards, the Quakes will look for three more points when they travel to Utah this weekend. The Quakes are set to face Real Salt Lake at Rice-Eccles Stadium for the first time in team history on Saturday, April 30 at 6:30 p.m. PT. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net and broadcast on the radio on 1590 KLIV (English).
Earthquakes All-Time Record vs. Real Salt Lake
MLS Regular Season: 0-0-0
Home: 0-0-0
Away: 0-0-0
Shootout: 0-0 (1996-99)
Overtime: 0-0-0 (2000-2003)
Playoffs: 0-0-0; U.S. Open Cup: 0-0-0
All-Time Scoring: San Jose - 0, Salt Lake - 0
Injury Report/Suspensions
Probable: Ricardo Clark (Right - ankle sprain), Chris Aloisi (Right - ankle sprain)
Out: Danny Califf (Right - MCL knee sprain)
Last Match
Earthquakes 3, Wizards 2; Saturday, April 23; Spartan Stadium; San Jose, CA
The San Jose Earthquakes claimed their first victory of the 2005 season on Saturday night, coming from behind twice to defeat the Kansas City Wizards 3-2 at Spartan Stadium. The Wizards took an early lead in the fifth minute as rookie Scott Sealy scored his first career MLS goal following a Kansas City corner kick. The Quakes defense failed to fully clear the corner kick, and the Wizards Jimmy Conrad sent a shot into the middle of the Quakes penalty area that was knocked down by a scrum of bodies. Sealy was finally able to control the bouncing ball and turned with it before unleashing a shot from about eight yards away that beat San Jose goalkeeper Pat Onstad for a 1-0 lead. The Earthquakes managed to tie the game at 1-1 in the 14th minute on Ronald Cerritos' second goal of the season. Cerritos dribbled into the box alone and powered a low shot through the legs of sliding Wizards goalkeeper Bo Oshonyi before the trailing Kansas City defenders could catch up. Kansas City rallied back to take the lead 2-1 in the 34th minute, as Chris Klein ran onto a long ball that soared over the Quakes defense on the right side of the field and dribbled in alone against Onstad. Klein sent a low hard shot into the net past a sliding Onstad. The Wizards lead would only last six minutes, however. San Jose evened the match at 2-2 in the 40th minute on Brian Ching's third goal of the season. Brad Davis lofted a perfect free kick from 20 yards out on the right side of the field into the middle of the Kansas City penalty area. A sprinting Ching dove for the ball, and placed a diving header past Oshoniyi to tie the match. Dwayne De Rosario put the Earthquakes ahead 3-2 in the 57th minute on a long-range blast. After a good San Jose build-up, De Rosario received the ball near the middle of the field off passes from Ching and Cerritos. De Rosario moved toward the right side and then unleashed a hard, low shot from 25 yards out that struck the far post and deflected into the net. Just two minutes later, the Wizards had a prime opportunity to score in the 59th minute after Eddie Robinson was whistled for a penalty in the box for fouling Jimmy Conrad as they both went up to head a Wizards free kick. Josh Wolff took the penalty kick, but a diving Onstad pushed his high, hard shot up and off the crossbar where it was cleared away by the San Jose defense.
Reserve League
Earthquakes 0, Wizards 0; Sunday, April 24, 2005; Valley Christian High School; San Jose, CA
Despite many offensive opportunities on both sides, the San Jose Earthquakes reserves (0-2-1, 1 pt.) and the Kansas City Wizards reserves (0-0-2, 2 pts.) were forced to settle for a well-fought 0-0 tie at Valley Christian High School in San Jose. With the Quakes dominating most of the first half of play, both teams' offenses sparked to life in the second half of the match. In the 56th minute, the Earthquakes penetrated the Wizards goal area when defender Kevin Goldthwaite crossed a ball that rolled across the entire penalty box. With so many bodies in front of the goal line, the Quakes were unable to capitalize on the chaotic opportunity. The Wizards immediately fired back and stormed into Earthquakes territory. In the 57th minute, Kansas City had a great chance when defender Khari Stephenson quickly carried the ball into the box and took a low hard shot. Conway made a sprawling dive for the save. Seconds later, the Wizards were on the offensive attack again. Kansas City defender Dustin Branan connected with a cross from the left side, but his solid header shot sailed just over Conway and the crossbar.
Scoring Summary: None.
Lineups Earthquakes Reserves - Jon Conway, Wes Hart, Chris Aloisi, Ryan Cochrane (Brett Rodriguez 72), Kevin Goldthwaite, Ian Russell (Orlando Ramirez, 78), Tighe Dombrowski, Ricardo Clark (Chris Wondolowski 36), Roger Levesque, Julian Nash, Alejandro Moreno (James Twellman 45).
Kansas City Reserves - Will Hesmer, Brian Roberts, Shavar Thomas, Dustin Branan, Daniel Dobson, Preki (John Minagawa-Webster 45, Martin Hutton 85), Jack Jewsbury (Doug Lascody 45), Alex Zotinca (Pat McGinis 45), Khari Stephenson, Diego Walsh (Ryan Pore 45), Scott Sealy (Justin Detter 45).
Quakes assistant coach John Doyle, on reserve league game: "Today was our best game so far for the reserves. The guys displayed a great attitude and we created a number of opportunities to score, so I was happy with our play. I think that the difference between this game and the previous two was that we were focused and ready to play right from the start. In the past two games, we took a half to wake up. I think that the first team's win gave everyone a little shot of confidence and that helped today."
Misc. Notes
Ching Four For Four
Forward Brian Ching has now scored or notched an assist in each of the Quakes' four games this season. Against the Wizards on Saturday, Ching added a goal and another assist to his 2005 record, giving him three goals and two assists already on the year. The Earthquakes forward is the only MLS player to have either scored or recorded an assist in every game this season.
De Rosario On the Board
Dwayne De Rosario made his first start of the 2005 season against the Wizards in central midfield rather than his normal forward position. In the 57th minute of the match on Saturday, he provided the game-winning goal when he shot and scored from 25 yards out. De Rosario netted five spectacular goals in 2004, including the MLS Goal of the Year.
Cerritos Adds to San Jose All-Time Totals
Ronald Cerritos scored a goal and recorded an assist on April 23 against Kansas City to add to his Quakes career totals. With his second game in a row with an assist, the San Salvador, El Salvador native now has 40 assists in his San Jose career, placing him second in team history, just four behind Richard Mulrooney. Cerritos upped his career goals total to 57 as a Quake and leads San Jose in all-time scoring. He now has scored 67 goals in his MLS career, good for seventh in league history.
Quakes Finally Hammer Wizards At Home
The Quakes win over the Wizards last Saturday was San Jose's first home victory against Kansas City in the regular season since June 29, 2002. The Quakes tied the Wizards four times on San Jose turf in 2003 and 2004 and have now not lost to Kansas City in Spartan Stadium since a 3-0 defeat on August 16, 2000.
League Leaders
Fouls Committed, Fouls Suffered
San Jose has played in four tough contests so far in the 2005 season and lead MLS in both fouls committed (92) and fouls suffered (85) by wide margins. The Quakes have committed 16 more fouls than FC Dallas, who are second in that category, and have suffered 17 more fouls than the Kansas City Wizards, who are second in that category. In their season opener against New England on April 2, San Jose set the team record with 30 fouls committed. Individually, Brian Ching leads MLS in fouls committed with 18 while Danny O'Rourke is a close second with 16. Brian Mullan leads the league in fouls suffered with 17.
Quakes All-Time in April
The Quakes victory over Kansas City on April 23 gives them an all-time winning record in April with a 18-17-8 total in the month.
Quakes in the Community
Who: Craig Waibel
Location: Oakland Coliseum
Date: Wednesday, April 27th
Time: 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Details: Craig Waibel will be at the Muscle Team Games for the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Wednesday, April 27th. Craig will be hanging out with the kids and presenting an award to a Junior Muscle Team.
Who: Q
Location: MACSA - 660 Sinclair Drive, San Jose
Date: Friday, April 29th
Time: 3:00 pm
Details: Q will be at MACSA on Friday presenting Q's Safety School.
Who: Q
Location: Quarry Lakes in Fremont, CA
Date: Saturday, April 30th
Time: TBD
Details: Q will be at the Radio Disney event at Quarry Lakes in Fremont.
Top Real Salt Lake Players vs. Quakes
While this is the first MLS regular season match between the Earthquakes and RSL, some Real Salt Lake players previously faced the Earthquakes as members of different teams. Jason Kreis proved to be stellar against San Jose in his career with the Dallas. In 28 games, Kreis scored six goals and notched six assists shots against the Quakes.
Quakes Start History With Real Salt Lake
The San Jose Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake will match up for the first time in a regular season MLS game on Saturday, April 30. However, the two teams did face each other in the 2005 preseason when RSL defeated the Quakes 1-0 at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida on February 13.
First Time The Charm?
For the first time in team history, the Earthquakes did not come out victorious in their first match against an expansion team on Saturday against Chivas USA. San Jose defeated the Miami Fusion 2-0 at Spartan Stadium on May 16, 1998 in the teams first-ever meeting, and also downed the then-expansion Chicago Fire in the teams first meeting 1-0 on April 11, 1998. Against Chivas USA, the Quakes earned a 3-3 tie.
Earthquakes - Real Salt Lake Connections
RSL player Chris Brown was traded to the Quakes in the early part of the 2004 season and played with San Jose for the rest of the year. Brown was selected by Salt Lake in the MLS Expansion Draft...Salt Lake's Leighton O'Brien played in four games for San Jose in 1999...Real's Jeff Stewart attended college at nearby Santa Clara University and played with Quakes defender Ryan Cochrane on the Broncos...Salt Lake defender Rusty Pierce played with San Jose forward Alejandro Moreno at UNC-Greensboro in 1999...Brad Davis played on the MetroStars in 2002 with Salt Lake's Nelson Akwari, Brian Kamler, Clint Mathis, and Andy Williams...San Jose's Ricardo Clark also played for the Metros with Mathis in 2003 and Eddie Pope in 2003 and 2004...Ronald Cerritos was teammates with Matt Behncke, D.J. Countess, Jason Kreis, and Brian Dunseth during his stint in Dallas, while Brad Davis also played with Behncke, Dunseth, and Kreis in 2003 and 2004...Wes Hart of the Quakes was teammates with Salt Lake's Jeff Stewart on the Colorado Rapids in 2002 and 2003.
Quakes Set Unbeaten Streak Record At Home
The Earthquakes set an MLS record with their August 7, 2004 win against D.C. United, extending their unbeaten streak at home to 46 games when scoring first. That streak now stands at 48 games after San Jose's tie with the New England Revolution on April 2, 2005. It started on April 3, 1999.
Quakes Closing In On .500
The Earthquakes are closing in on bringing their all-time regular season MLS record to the .500 mark. The Quakes all-time regular season MLS record is 117-122-39.
Halftime Success
Despite relinquishing a halftime lead on April 2 against the New England Revolution in a game that ended 2-2, the Earthquakes remain amongst the best in league history in holding on to a half-time lead. Since the beginning of the 2000 season, the Earthquakes are 42-0-6 in games when leading at the half, including 8-0-1 in 2003 and 7-0-1 in 2004.
Making The First One Count
The Earthquakes were 25-2-2 in 2001 and 2002 when finding the back of the net first. The Quakes only gave up leads two times in 2002, losing 2-1 to Los Angeles on July 4 and falling 2-1 to Kansas City on July 27. The team continued that trend in 2003, possessing an 11-0-1 mark in the regular season when they scored the first goal. In 2004, the Quakes went 8-1-1 when scoring first, the top mark in MLS. The Quakes gave up their lead to Los Angeles on July 4, 2004 for the first time since July 27, 2002 against Kansas City. Dating back to the 2000 season, the Earthquakes own a 47-3-5 record in their last 55 matches when they score the first goal of the game. The Quakes are also impressive in the playoffs when scoring first, posting a 6-0-0 record.
Individual Tickets Now on Sale
Individual tickets for 2005 San Jose Earthquakes games are now on sale. Individual ticket prices for the Earthquakes 2005 regular season are $45 (VIP), $30 (West Sideline), $16 (East Sideline and Corners) and $13 (Endzone). Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Earthquakes Ticket Office at 100 North Almaden Ave., by logging onto www.sjearthquakes.com, or by calling Ticketmaster at 408-998-TIXS, 415-421-TIXS, 510-625-TIXS, 925-685-TIXS, or by visiting any Ticketmaster outlet, including Tower Records, Rite Aid and Ritmo Latino. Discounted tickets for groups of 15 or more are available by calling 408-985-GOAL.
