Sunday, October 11th, 2008

Saturday night at a packed Buck Shaw stadium against Chivas USA, the Earthquakes dominated the possession, they had more shots and they created numerous chances to score yet they still could not grab the victory. In the 7th minute Justin Braun ran onto a long ball over the top by Aleko Escandarian, took a nice touch and smacked the ball past Joe Cannon to give Chivas USA the game’s only goal. The Earthquakes were caught flatfooted in defense and appeals for off side were ignored. Replays showed that Braun had timed his run perfectly.

The rest of the half it was San Jose who created the chances, the best of which resulted in a last second tackle of Darren Huckerby by Francisco Mendoza as he was shooting the ball inside the box. Indeed Huckerby and O’Brien found space down the flanks and had chances. An O’Brien volley from 12 yards out was sent out of the stadium. Free kicks and corners were earned yet the Chivas defense held firm. Alvarez had a nice back heel in the box yet the Quakes couldn’t get the shot off. Defensively, the Quakes were rock solid, except for Braun’s one chance, and at the half it was San Jose with all of the momentum.

Darren Huckerby gave Alex Zotinca a hard time but Chivas' defenders held on.
Photo: Nap - The Project FC

The Earthquakes came out attacking in the second half. Huckerby was able to penetrate the penalty area and cross the ball from near the six-yard box several times yet no one could ever apply the finishing touch and take the goal. Scott Sealy found his blast in the area blocked by two sliding Chivas defenders. Francisco Lima sent a low rocket towards goal from the top of the box only to have a Chivas player clear it off the line. No matter what the Quakes constructed they could not finish the move with a goal.

Yallop brought on Jovan Kirovski for Eric Denton and switched to a 3-5-2 and continued to take the attack to Chivas who seemed content to soak up the pressure and send long balls up for Braun and Harris to chase. Braun did have an excellent header that Cannon did well to parry over the bar late in the match but it was the only real danger that Chivas created in the second half.

Jovan Kirovski replaced Eric Denton in the second half for a more offensive option but Chivas' defense remained compact and solid until the end - Photo: Nap - The Project FC

Yallop brought on Salinas for Sealy and a few minutes later Somma for Grabavoy as the Quakes continued to push for the goal. However, Alex Zotinca and rest of the Chivas defenders were always able to stop the Quakes from taking the final shot or pass. They bent and bent but never broke. The Chivas USA performance was all the more impressive since they were without Sacha Kljestan who was in D.C. with the national team, and Ante Razov, who wasn’t fit enough to be in the lineup.

The 1906 Ultras were still full of hopes before the game... Photo: Nap - The Project FC

After 93 minutes the referee blew his whistle on the match and probably on the Quakes playoff push. The hole that was dug in the first half of the San Jose season appears to be to deep to overcome. Points dropped in April, May and June have now come back to haunt the Quakes who have had a really good July, August and September. If only Huckerby, Lima, Alvarez and Sealy had been with the team for the entire season the situation could be much different, but that wasn’t a possibility.

Such is life as an MLS expansion team. Only Chicago, in the early days of the league, has been able to make it to the playoffs as an expansion team and they had a trio of Polish internationals that made that run possible.

Next for San Jose is a trip down to Houston midweek for the make-up game with the Dynamo. The Quakes may not be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet but it is extremely difficult to envision a scenario that has them getting in at this point.

Ben Sizemore (email)

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