Colorado Snatch Late Draw From San Jose

The 'Quakes defended a lead for the better part of 90 minutes only to give up a penalty in the final minutes and end with a 1-1 draw.

Sep 19, 2009 10:27:28 AM

More On : Colorado Rapids, San Jose

San Jose were seconds away from securing a morale-boosting home victory over Colorado, only to have it snatched away after a last-minute penalty award.

The Earthquakes took the lead eight minutes into the match off a Ryan Johnson header. However, deep into stoppage time Johnson committed a foul in the penalty box, and Conor Casey converted the kick to give the Rapids their equalizer and to give the match it's final 1-1 scoreline.

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Coming into the match, San Jose had not played a league game in three weeks. Their last MLS match was a 1-2 road loss to the New England Revolution at the end of August. Colorado lost 2-3 at Toronto last week, and they had so far only managed two road wins this season. Both teams had to do without key players. San Jose’s Darren Huckerby is out for the season and possibly retiring from soccer altogether because of a hip injury. The Rapids couldn’t use Cory Gibbs, Colin Clark, or Pablo Mastroeni.

First Half

The Earthquakes got off to a bright start, testing Colorado goalkeeper Preston Burpo just two minutes in. San Jose center back Brandon McDonald started the play with a long throw into Colorado’s penalty box. Midfielder Andre Luiz headed the ball across goal, and Shea Salinas volleyed a terrific shot. His effort crashed off the left post and back into the area. Striker Cornell Glen pounced on the rebound, but Burpo blocked the shot.

San Jose kept up the pressure, and in the 8th minute got their reward. Once again, McDonald threw the ball toward Colorado’s goal. ‘Quakes forward Ryan Johnson won the header, sending the ball over Burpo’s head and into the corner of the net. The Rapids were guilty of sloppy marking, giving Johnson too much space, while Burpo got caught off his line.

Searching for an equalizer, Colorado threatened the Earthquakes’ goal in the 23rd minute. Midfielder Kosuke Kimura took a quick free kick in San Jose’s half, finding teammate Mehdi Ballouchy on the right. Ballouchy played a quick one-two with forward Conor Casey before firing toward goal. His shot went just wide of the right post.

A few minutes later, Casey found strike partner Omar Cummings with an overhead pass. Cummings sped down the right flank onto the ball and drilled a powerful shot on target. San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon did well to block the shot.

In the 36th minute, San Jose’s Bobby Convey, playing on the left wing, received a pass from Johnson. Convey dribbled around three defenders and got off a good right-footed shot. The ball flew just over the crossbar.

The first half ended with San Jose still holding a 1-0 lead over Colorado.

Second Half

The Rapids attacked San Jose’s goal as soon as the second half got underway. Four minutes in, Casey sent a free kick forward on the right, and Kimura used his blistering pace to beat his opponents to the ball. He whipped a dangerous cross into the box, which Cummings headed to the far post. Cannon reacted to make the block.

In the 68th minute, the Rapids again tested the Earthquakes defense. Ballouchy kicked a ball high into the box from the right. A San Jose defender won the header but cleared the ball directly to Casey at the top of the penalty area. Casey’s bouncing shot seemed about to slip past Cannon, but the goalie’s quick reflexes kept the ball out of the net.

While Colorado mainly relied on long balls into San Jose’s half, the Earthquakes controlled the midfield and had several good spells of possession. They also went on the offensive repeatedly.

In the 82nd minute, a mistake by Kimura gifted possession to San Jose, who suddenly had two men against one in Colorado’s half. Substitute Chris Wondolowski raced toward goal, with Bobby Convey keeping pace on the right. Wondolowski passed the ball off to Convey, who got into the 18-yard box and sent a left-footed shot just wide of the left post. Had he composed himself a bit more, Convey could have easily doubled San Jose’s tally.

The Earthquakes’ 1-0 lead lasted well into the three minutes of added time, and the home team was seconds away from locking up all three points. Colorado had other ideas, though, and desperately continued pressuring the backline.

Colorado harried San Jose into giving up a last-minute corner, and the resulting kick had every player on the pitch jostling for the ball. A defender headed it away from goal, but Rapids’ substitute Pat Noonan popped the ball back into the box, where Johnson fouled Drew Moor to concede a penalty.

Casey stepped up to take the penalty kick, sending the ball straight in. Cannon got a piece of it even while diving to his left, but could not make the save. It was Casey’s 14th goal of the season.

The match ended with all square at one apiece.

"We played well on a bad field; I thought we pressed the issue,” said San Jose head coach Frank Yallop. “I feel if we finished the chances from Wondolowski and Convey, we would have killed the game off. But by holding to a one-nil lead, Colorado kept coming and coming and it paid off in the end. We can't fault our team on their effort, we were fantastic tonight and I think the crowd saw a team that really tried and played good football at times."

"The goal wasn't a huge surprise for us, we were positive in our approach to the game and we got rewarded for that,” said Colorado Rapids head coach Gary Smith. “We were a little slower in the first half, and in the second half we were able to come out much sharper and luckily it paid off in the end."

With this result, the Earthquakes (5-12-6, 21pts) remain at the bottom of the Western Conference. The Rapids (10-8-7, 37pts) are now tied with Seattle for third in the west. On Wednesday, San Jose will travel to Colorado for a rematch.

Jennifer Dawson, Goal.com

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