SJ, TFC look to end year with postive
Both teams eliminated from playoff race last weekend
Related
BUCK SHAW STADIUM, Santa Clara, Calif.
Oct. 25, 2008 | 7 p.m. PT (CBC; CSN-W)
WEEK # 31 | GAME # 207
The two expansion teams for the last two years meet in their season finales at Buck Shaw Stadium when the San Jose Earthquakes entertain Toronto FC. Both saw their bids for a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs come down to the final weekend of the season before reaching an end, each team eliminated last Saturday evening. The Earthquakes return home for their season finale after a two-year hiatus off losses on both ends of a two-game road trip; Toronto FC comes into the game on a late-season four-game unbeaten run.
REFEREE: Michael Kennedy. SAR (bench): Fabio Tovar; JAR (opposite): Frank Anderson; 4th: Yader Reyes
MLS Career: 106 games; FC/gm: 31.4; Y/gm: 3.9; R: 19; pens: 40
INJURY REPORT: SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES - OUT: FW Gavin Glinton (R adductor release surgery); QUESTIONABLE: MF Ramiro Corrales (L MCL sprain) ... TORONTO FC - OUT: DF Todd Dunivant (ankle); QUESTIONABLE: MF Jarrod Smith (calf); DF Marvell Wynne (concussion)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD (league game): SJ: Ramiro Corrales, Eric Denton, Nick Garcia, Jason Hernandez ... TOR: Jim Brennan, Danny Dichio, Amado Guevara
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: SJ: Kelly Gray ... TOR: Kevin Harmse, Abdus Ibrahim, Tyrone Marshall, Laurent Robert, Carl Robinson
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME: Earthquakes 0 wins, 0 goals ... Toronto FC 0 wins, 0 goals ... Ties: 1
AT SAN JOSE: First meeting
• This is the second of two meetings between the teams, the only one set for Buck Shaw Stadium.
• This is the second-ever meeting between the clubs. The teams have yet to score a goal against each other after their scoreless draw at BMO Field.
• Coaches record: John Carver vs. SJ: P1 W0 L0 D1... Frank Yallop v TOR: P3 W1 L0 D2
LAST MEETING (MLS):
7/19: TOR 0, SJ 0
• The expansion teams of the last two seasons played to a scoreless draw in their first-ever meeting, July 19 at Exhibition Place.
• The Reds held an 11-4 edge in attempts at goal and a 4-2 edge in shots on goal -- and had the game's best opportunity in the 68th minute, when 16-year-old forward Abdus Ibrahim was fouled in the area. But Amado Guevara saw the resulting penalty kick saved by Quakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon.
• Cannon ended up with his sixth shutout of the year, tying him with Kansas City's Kevin Hartman and Real Salt Lake's Nick Rimando for the league lead.
• Here's Carver's team (4-4-1-1): Greg Sutton - Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Marco Velez, Jim Brennan - Rohan Ricketts, Carl Robinson, Tyler Rosenlund (Jeff Cunningham 70), Laurent Robert - Amado Guevara - Abdus Ibrahim. Substitutes Not Used: Nana Attakora-Gyan, Brian Edwards, Gabe Gala, Tyler Hemming, Julius James, Jarrod Smith
• Here's Yallop's team: (4-4-2): Joe Cannon - James Riley, Ryan Cochrane, Jason Hernandez, Eric Denton - Darren Huckerby (Kei Kamara 64), Francisco Lima (Kelly Gray 63), Ramiro Corrales, Ronnie O'Brien - Ryan Johnson, Scott Sealy (John Cunliffe 94+). Substitutes Not Used: Ned Grabavoy, Ivan Guerrero, David Monsalves, Shea Salinas
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
The San Jose Earthquakes saw their bid for a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs in their expansion season come to an end with a 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Wizards. The Earthquakes have 30 points from 29 games, nine points out of third place in the Western Conference.
LAST MATCH
• The Wizards were finishing off a run of five out of six games at home, where they had taken 10 of a possible 12 points. The Earthquakes were all but eliminated after their last-gasp 2-1 loss at Houston at midweek.
• The teams traded goals two minutes apart early in the first half. Claudio Lopez reached out to toe-poke an Abe Thompson cross, looping the volley over Joe Cannon into the goal, for the 18th-minute opener. But two minutes later, Scott Sealy brought San Jose level, heading home an Arturo Alvarez cross from the right flank.
• The Wizards moved back in front seven minutes later, again through Lopez's mastery. A through-ball from midfield from Jack Jewsbury was diverted with a nifty backheel from the Argentinean, and Davy Arnaud ran onto it in the area before slotting home for his sixth goal on the campaign.
• But the Quakes fought back to even the score once again in the 71st minute. A cross came in from the right that Kevin Hartman could not control, and after the ball pinballed around the box, substitute Shea Salinas drove high into the goal.
• Yet deep into stoppage time, the Wizards pulled out some late magic. Lopez swung in a corner from the right, it dropped to the edge of the six-yard box, and Herculez Gomez charged it to touch it home for his first goal since coming to Kansas City.
• Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop made one change to the team that lost 2-1 to the Houston Dynamo at midweek. Ryan Johnson came into the midfield in place of Ronnie O'Brien.
• Here's Yallop's team (4-4-2): Joe Cannon - Jason Hernandez, Ryan Cochrane (Davide Somma 63), Nick Garcia, Eric Denton -Ryan Johnson, Francisco Lima, James Riley, Darren Huckerby - Arturo Alvarez (Shea Salinas 65), Scott Sealy (Kelly Gray 86). Substitutes Not Used: Ned Grabavoy, Mike Graczyk, Jovan Kirovski, Ronnie O'Brien
• "We're not good enough. The table never lies, really," said Yallop. " ... It's heartbreaking for us to turn full circle from what we did five weeks ago."
TEAM NEWS
• The Earthquakes set off on their two-game road trip with two losses in three games after a nine-game unbeaten run, but still with a chance to make the playoffs. But two game-winning goals three minutes into second-half stoppage time, by Houston's Stuart Holden and Kansas City's Herculez Gomez, left the Quakes on the outside looking in.
• "I'm absolutely devastated that twice on this road trip we didn't have the (guts) to step up and get results. I'm pretty speechless. Me, and probably all our fans, are just wondering what happened," said goalkeeper Joe Cannon. "Tonight we just made way too many mistakes. They had way too much time on the ball and probably should have put the game away in the first half. For some reason we haven't been coming to play, and this game doesn't lie. The ball bounces a weird way for a reason.
• Said Yallop: "In the last two games, we've given up game-winning goals to the opposition, which you can't do at any level. We're trying to win the match, obviously, but set plays with everybody back you shouldn't be conceding goals like that."
• Still, three midseason acquisitions nearly led the Earthquakes to a playoff berth: In the 12 games since their arrival, Darren Huckerby scored six goals and added four assists, while Scott Sealy had three goals and three assists. Arturo Alvarez, who arrived a week later, has three goals and three assists with San Jose.
• "We just have to go back and focus on working as hard as we can next year and in the offseason to make sure the ball bounces our way next year," said Cannon.
• After going seven games without a goal, Scott Sealy has scored in back-to-back games, the latest coming against his former club. "It's no big deal, scoring is what I get paid to do," he said. "That's what I want to do regardless if we're playing Kansas City or any other team. It's disappointing that we weren't able to come out of here with a point."
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC got the win they needed to stay alive, but still were eliminated from playoff contention when other results went against them, defeating the Chicago Fire 3-2 at BMO Field on Saturday afternoon. TFC has 35 points from 29 matches, four points out of the wild card chase with a game to play.
LAST MATCH
• Toronto FC needed to win for just the second time in nine games -- and still get a lot of help -- if they were to remain in the playoff hunt. The Fire were coming off back-to-back draws as they were trying to secure home-field advantage for their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against New England.
• A long-range blast from Amado Guevara, from all of 25 yards, put TFC into the lead after just 12 minutes, the fourth goal of the season for the Honduran international. Then six minutes later the Reds doubled the count. Referee Jair Marrufo ruled Marvell Wynne had been hauled down as he cut into the box on the right, but Rohan Ricketts saw the resulting penalty saved by Jon Busch as the Chicago 'keeper dove to his right. But the rebound popped out right in front of goal, and Ricketts was there first to bundle it over the line.
• The Fire pulled a goal back in the 25th minute. A three-touch, crossfield passing play between Brandon Prideaux, Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Justin Mapp ended with Mapp being wide open on the left side. The veteran midfielder drilled a shot into the left side of the net past a leaping Greg Sutton for his second goal.
• Yet in stoppage time, the home side restored its two-goal margin as Ricketts completed his brace. A throw-in into the Chicago area was headed clear, but only as far as Carl Robinson, who pumped it back into the mixer. It went straight to Ricketts, who turned the ball home for his second two-goal game this season.
• The Fire pulled a goal back in the second half when a thumping, first-time strike from Cuauhtemoc Blanco from outside the area struck home for his seventh goal on the season. But Chicago could pull no closer -- though Toronto's playoff dreams were still dashed by the results later in the weekend.
• TFC head coach John Carver made four changes to the team that played to a 2-2 draw with FC Dallas, as four internationals returned to take their places in the spine of the team. Kevin Harmse and Tyrone Marshall returned to central defense and Carl Robinson and Amado Guevara to the center of midfield, in place of Nana Attakora-Gyan, Marco Velez, Tyler Rosenlund and Johann Smith.
• Here's Carver's team (4-3-1-2): Greg Sutton - Marvell Wynne (Nana Attakora-Gyan 46), Kevin Harmse, Tyrone Marshall, Jim Brennan - Rohan Ricketts (Johann Smith 90), Carl Robinson, Hunter Freeman - Amado Guevara - Chad Barrett (Carlos Ruiz 73), Danny Dichio. Substitutes Not Used: Brian Edwards, Abdus Ibrahim, Tyler Rosenlund, Marco Velez
TEAM NEWS
• Toronto is unbeaten (2-0-2) in its last four games, with all four results coming against playoff-bound sides like Houston and Chicago, and contenders New York and Dallas.
• "I lived every emotion on Saturday night because for a long time we were still in with a chance of the playoffs," said Carver. "I want to finish off on a high because it's important to leave positive thoughts in people's minds. We did that on Saturday for our home fans, but I want to finish it off properly by getting three points at San Jose. I'll be putting out my strongest team because I want to finish as high up the league as we can and that's all I've got my mind on. I'm a winner and I want to win every game that we play."
• Toronto FC has 35 points, a 10-point turnaround from their first season. Chivas USA improved 25 points from their inaugural season to their second season (18 to 43); Real Salt Lake improved by 19 points (20 to 39). The Miami Fusion and Chicago Fire actually went backwards in their respective Year Twos - the Fire going from 56 to 48 points, the Fusion from 35 to 29.
• "[It's] night and day compared to last year," Jim Brennan said. "The players that came in have a lot more quality, we're playing good football. This year has been good. It's been a big improvement, J.C. has come in and done a great job and next year he'll get us going again."
• Rohan Ricketts has scored four goals on the season - with two, 2-goal games. He scored a pair against Colorado on June 14, and then added a double against Chicago over the weekend.
• "I was concerned about his form with the ball. Not without the ball because all the stats told me he's still working as hard as he has been, he's still covering all the distance on the ground, but I was a bit concerned about his creativity and he hasn't been creative lately," Carver said. "He was one that was a big question mark, the only one, really. It was either him or Johann Smith. I sat and thought about it, left it as late as possible and decided to go with Rohan. ... He knew there was a little bit of pressure on him and he's come up trumps."
