2008 Sep 2 2008 Sep 2
Friendly:
San Jose Earthquakes 1 - 2 Seattle Sounders
Buck Shaw Stadium, San Jose, CA
San Jose: Michael Gustavson; Jamil Roberts, Jay Ayres, Ryan Cochrane (Gavin Glinton 46'); Ryan Johnson (Ned Grabavoy 70'), Adam Smarte (Ronnie Ekelund 74'), John Cunliffe, Shea Salinas (Ian Russell 88'); Mikel Arce, Kelly Gray, Jovan Kirovski. Substitutes not used: J. Batty, Hugo Sousa, Cory Woolfolk.
Seattle: Chris Eylander; Danny Jackson (Michael Rodríguez 56'), Taylor Graham (John Fishbaugher 76'), Zach Scott (Adam West 46'), Kevin Sakuda (Noah Merl 66'); Leighton O'Brien (Kevin Forrest 66'), Kenji Treschuk (Nik Besagno 56'), Youssouf Kante (Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar 46'), Josh Gardner; Roger Levesque, Sébastien Le Toux. Substitutes not used: Ben Dragavon, Jason Cascio, Andre Schmid.
Goals:
40' SJ: Roberts (Kirovski)
50' SEA: Treschuk (Levesque)
85' SEA: Alcaraz-Cuellar (Le Toux)
Additional match reports: Sounders, MLSnet.com, Mercury News, Center Line Soccer, Rocky Mountain News.
Match report from Jeff Carlisle, MLSnet.com Staff:
The San Jose Earthquakes have been tough to beat lately, as evidenced by their seven-game unbeaten streak in league play. But on Tuesday night, the Seattle Sounders showed the rest of MLS how it's done, as Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar's goal five minutes from time gave the visitors a 2-1 win against the Quakes in a friendly at Buck Shaw Stadium.
San Jose had jumped on top five minutes before halftime on a Jamil Roberts header. But Seattle equalized seven minutes after the restart through Kenji Treschuk, and with Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer making liberal use of his bench, secured the win through Alcaraz-Cuellar's late strike.
The Quakes fielded a lineup comprised entirely of reserves, but the Sounders stuck to their task and were the stronger team at the end.
Despite the wholesale changes to their lineup, the Quakes' tactical approach to start the game remained consistent, with San Jose testing the wings through Adam Smarte and Shea Salinas. Smarte was released by Mikel Arce on a clear breakaway in the third minute, but his shot was saved by Sounders 'keeper Chris Eylander.
Eylander nearly gifted the Quakes a goal three minutes later when he fell to the turf while attempting to claim an innocuous looking long pass. Arce pounced on the loose ball, but he had no shooting angle, and no San Jose player was able to touch home his teasing cross.
The Quakes went close again in the 16th minute, but Ryan Cochrane's header from a Jovan Kirovski corner kick was cleared off the line by the Sounders' Josh Gardner.
The Sounders eventually found their feet, and enjoyed some good spells of possession. One sequence ended with Gardner hitting a low shot that was saved comfortably by Michael Gustavson in the San Jose net.
San Jose were soon back on the attack, with Smarte shooting just wide of goal in the 38th minute after Kelly Gray's long pass had found him in space.
The Quakes finally broke through two minutes later, although the goal was due in part to a miscommunication between Eylander and defender Danny Jackson. Another long ball over the top saw the goalkeeper hesitate to come off his line, forcing Jackson to concede a corner kick. San Jose took full advantage, as Roberts headed home Kirovski's pinpoint delivery at the near post.
Seattle nearly hit straight back with a set piece opportunity of their own, but Taylor Graham's header hit the outside of the post.
The second half began with the Quakes' Gavin Glinton coming on for Ryan Cochrane, with Kelly Gray sliding into the center of defense. The Sounders countered by bringing on Adam West and Alcarez-Cuellar for Yousef Kante and Zach Scott, respectively.
The changes clearly benefited the Sounders, and it didn't take them long to draw level. In the 5oth minute, former Quakes forward Roger Levesque's flick-on found Treschuk wide open in the box, and the Sounders' midfielder made no mistake, side-footing home from six yards.
The Quakes nearly reclaimed the lead in the 61st minute when Salinas' deft pass put Arce in alone on goal, but his shot shaved the outside of the post.
The Sounders countered with Leighton O'Brien shaking loose in the box, but Gustavson did well to hold his low drive.
That proved to be O'Brien's last contribution of the night, as Schemtzer made numerous changes. San Jose counterpart Frank Yallop had fewer options, but did bring on current Quakes assistant coach Ronnie Ekelund to raucous applause in the 75th minute.
This provoked cries of "We want Yallop," from the San Jose Ultras, and while assistant coach and ex-Sounder Ian Russell made an appearance, the Quakes head man didn't oblige.
At this point, San Jose hoped for some late heroics from their former heroes, but it was Alcaraz-Cuellar who delivered the vital goal, firing home in the 85th minute from Sebastien Le Toux's centering feed.
The Sounders had a few more opportunities to pad their lead through Le Toux, but in the end, they did enough to claim the win.
Statistics:
San Jose Seattle
Shots: 12 13
Saves: 3 1
Corners: 8 7
Fouls: 11 11
Offsides: 4 3
Misconduct:
50' SJ: Johnson cautioned for a reckless tackle
Referees: Yader Reyes; Colin Arblaster, Joel Linn; Said Ravanfar
Attendance:
