Z/Web

Great atmosphere, part of the double-header Sunday following the U.S. women’s match. With Chicago’s tie on Saturday, the Quakes needed a win to reclaim top spot in the league, as well as distance themselves from Colorado (whom they lost to last weekend). Things started out well as the Quakes pressured and had some near chances, but quickly went sour as a counter-attack gave a goal to New England. A fantastic through-pass by Steve Ralston beat two defenders and sent Pat Noonan in alone on goal. Quakes’ keeper Pat Onstad was out quickly to shut down the play, but Noonan flicked the ball over Onstad as he dove, and the ball trickled into the open net. It was against the run of play and so quick the home crowd was stunned. But just a minute later the Quakes struck back! Brian Mullan threaded the ball into the New England penalty area to an open Dwayne DeRosario. It took Dwayne a touch to settle the ball, but no one closed him down, and his second touch was to blast the ball high into the net giving the Rev’s keeper no chance. One-all into the half! The Quakes came out aggressively in the second half, and soon took the lead. DeRosario was again involved, this time in a run up the side. He opted to go toward the center, sliding the ball over to an open Ramiro Corrales. He waited, then put in a perfect ball to Landon Donovan in the box. Landon’s header was hard and on target, but a sprawling Adin Brown punched the shot away. The rebound, however, fell into a crowd of players in the penalty area. Ronnie Ekelund managed to get the ball to Landon, who was open, and he easily finished it into the far corner. With the lead the Earthquakes sat back more than they should have, but fortunately the Revolution’s offense sucked and the Quakes’ weren’t burned. They never really threatened, though the Quakes had a couple more near chances. Just before the end there was a scuffle between Brian Mullan and Rusty Pierce and both were given yellows — but it was Rusty’s second, and so he was off with a red card. Somehow the ref found five minutes of injury time to add on, but the Quakes dominated that, nearly increasing their lead. In the end the Revs just couldn’t compete. The Quakes win, going to 43 points, nine points higher than the second place team in the Western Conference and three higher than Chicago, the top team in the East. Awesome, baby. Playoffs here we come! Final: 2-1 San Jose.

Why do they bother with these games? Another blowout for the Americans, and I don’t remember Mexico ever having a shot on goal: they were scarcely in the U.S. half the entire game. I worry this will lead to overconfidence when the U.S. plays a real time in the upcoming Women’s World Cup. Of the five goals, three were penalty kicks (one shouldn’t have been given as an American handball wasn’t called seconds earlier). Late in the match an American player was red carded for a bad foul, but the Mexican’s couldn’t do much better with the extra person. Final: 5-0 U.S.A.