As a Chris Wondolowski shot sailed in the back of the Kansas City net, the Buck Shaw crowd emitted a grand sigh of relief as the Quakes deservedly came away with the full points in their match up against Kansas City. Although, their playoff aspirations are very far fetched, Wondolowski's 93rd minute goal allowed the Quakes to hold on to these hopes for at least another week.
The Quakes were the clear aggressors in the first 25 minutes and were unlucky not to take the lead in the 2nd minute in the match on a Cornell Glen goal that was called back due to what was ruled to be a foul by the Trinidad and Tobago International on Jimmy Conrad, the Wizards captain. The Wizards struck back on the counter attack in the 7th minute on a Claudio Lopez shot which forced Joe Cannon come up with a big save to keep Kansas City off the board. The first 25 would set the tone for the rest of the match which would see the Earthquakes push the issue towards the Kansas City net but be forced to deal with the dangerous Wizards counter attack throughout the match. As the game wore on, the play got more and more heated as the match saw a total of six yellow cards given out on the night, three on each side. This physicality underscored the desperation that both teams felt as they sought to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The presence of the Wizards counter forced Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon to come up big on a number of dangerous shots at the San Jose net as Joe finished the match with 6 saves on the night and the shut out. However, the golden moment for the Quakes came in the 93rd minute when Bobby Convey, hobbled from an earlier challenge dropped the ball down the box to Quakes captain Ramiro Corrales. Corrales then crossed the ball into the box to a streaking Wondolowski who got the slightest of headers on the ball and put it passed a diving Kevin Hartman.
After the match, Wondolowski reveled in his good fortune, "Mentally, I've always pictured this happening, but I don't think it could happen any better. You always dream of getting those last-minute goals, and fortunately I was able to get that."
The win was not without some minor costs as Cornell Glen who nearly scored two early goals for San Jose was forced to come off in the 39th minute with a right hamstring pull. Speaking to the media after the match, Frank Yallop stated that it is very likely that Glen may miss the Quakes next match as he stated that these hamstring injuries likely take 2 to 3 weeks to heel.
The victory marks the end of a topsy turvy homestand that saw the team make great strides in the second half against DC United in a match that finished in a 1-1 draw which carried to a 4-0 drubbing of Seattle Sounders FC, only to see the momentum stopped in a 3-0 loss to the Columbus Crew at Candlestick park. The team now prepares to go on the road this week to take on the New England Revolution to are fresh off back to back victories. The big question will be if the Quakes can finally sustain some momentum as each point is needed if the Quakes will have a chance at making the playoffs.
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BSB apologies for the lateness of this report due to some computer snafus that kept us out of the commission the last two days.. Look for our interviews momentarily.
Monday, August 24, 2009
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1 comments:
Hell yeah Wondo!
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