HARRISON, N.J. ā All season long, San Jose have battled. On Thursday against New York, it wasnāt going to be any different.
Down 1-0 in the aggregate score, the Quakes fought to come out of their Eastern Conference semifinal second leg with a shock 3-1 defeat of the Red Bulls, winning the series 3-2 on aggregate to advance to the conference championship.
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āWe just battled and I loved it,ā San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch said after the match. āItās the story of my life.ā
Despite taking 23 shots, the Red Bulls only got five attempts on target. And while Busch gave the credit to the defenders ā āthe guys did a hell of a job blocking long-range shotsā ā the Quakes ākeeper also came up big a couple of times.
In the 33rd minute, Busch left his line to punch the ball away before New Yorkās Juan Pablo Angel could get his head on it. Then, in the 60th minute, Busch blocked a point-blank shot from Mehdi Ballouchy with his foot.
WATCH: Busch's critical save
With the win, the Quakes became just the second team to overcome a conference semifinal first-leg deficit since the current format was introduced in 2003.
āFor us itās just a mentality,ā said Busch. āWe donāt care where we play. Whether itās home or on the road. We actually enjoy a challenging game on the road ā and we did it again tonight.ā
Bobby Convey opened the scoring for San Jose in the sixth minute and doubled their lead in the 76th. But the Red Bulls came roaring back with a 78th minute strike by Ćngel to level the series at two goals apiece.
Convey, however, again rose to the occasion, serving a cross into the area that Golden Boot-winner Chris Wondolowski headed home to ice the series.
āWe get that early goal, and I think it rattled them a bit,ā Busch said. āWe get that second goal, and you think weāre in good shape, and then they come down and get one back right away. [But] credit to us, [we] didnāt put our heads down. We just keep fighting.ā
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