Huckerby the hero in 2-1 win over Wizards

Darren Huckerby celebrates after scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 Earthquakes victory over the Kansas City Wizards, at Buck Shaw Stadium, in Santa Clara , Ca, Saturday, August 30, 2008. Photo by John Todd/isiphotos.com/centerlinesoccer.com 

Additional Center Line Soccer coverage includes:
- Photo gallery
- Audio interviews with coach Frank Yallop and players Darren Huckerby, Ronnie O’Brien, and Joe Cannon

(Para este articulo en español, haz clic aquí.) 

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - With seven minutes remaining in Saturday’s match with the Kansas City Wizards, the San Jose Earthquakes were staring the specter of past failures right in the face. The Quakes had controlled most of the match, and deservedly gone ahead, only to cough up their mojo and their lead in the second half. It had all the makings of another two points carelessly thrown away.

But on this occasion, the Quakes didn’t blink. Darren Huckerby popped up to score a priceless game-winner in the 83^rd minute to propel San Jose past the Wizards, 2-1, and place themselves in the thick of the playoff hunt.

“It was great to come back and win in the end,” said San Jose manager Frank Yallop. “I think it’s the sign of a good team that it sticks together and doesn’t quit. It was good.”

It was a result that not only extended the Quakes unbeaten streak to seven games, but rocketed them off the foot of the Western Conference table and into the rarefied air of (wait for it now) a fifth place tie with Los Angeles. Better yet, San Jose finds themselves just two points behind third place Chivas USA in the race for the last guaranteed playoff spot. Given the wave of momentum the Quakes are currently riding, midfielder Ronnie O’Brien thinks it would be most unwise to bet against the expansion side joining the postseason party.

“We feel like we can do it,” said O’Brien. “It’s down to us. We have a lot of home games and we’re actually playing everyone around us…It’s down to us to put a run together, keep getting points and move up the table.”

While most matches start out with a bit of caution, the pace of Saturday’s match was frenetic from the outset. The game was just 20 seconds old when Huckerby’s darting run allowed him to tee up Scott Sealy in the box, but Wizards’ goalkeeper Kevin Hartman charged off his line to stuff Sealy’s shot. San Jose’s Ned Grabavoy collected the rebound but his shot was deflected over the bar by a Wizards’ defender.

As the half progressed further it was San Jose who began carrying the play, with Huckerby at the center of their best moves. The Englishman scooped a pass across goal to Ronnie O’Brien in the 21^st minute, but the Quakes midfielder could only slam his shot into the side netting.

A running battle between Huckerby and the Wizards’ Jack Jewsbury got more intense as the half went on. Jewsbury was whistled for several fouls, drawing the ire of the Kansas City bench who felt Huckerby was being rewarded for dives. Huckerby of course indicated it was nothing of the sort.

“I don’t think defenders are allowed to kick through you to get to the ball, and that’s what was going on,” said Huckerby. “It was just a little bit of banter. That’s all it was.”

The Quakes continued to create the better chances, and nearly broke on top in the 41^st minute when Grabavoy fed Alvarez on the left side of the box. The Quake forward’s cross was palmed away by Hartman and then fell straight to O’Brien, but with the goal begging the Irishman opted for placement over power, allowing Hartman to recover and touch his shot over the bar.

The Quakes wouldn’t be denied however, and two minutes later they went ahead. James Riley found O’Brien on the right wing, and rather than use his favored right foot, the San Jose winger cut inside and lofted a left-footed cross that Alvarez nodded home from six yards.

Having controlled the first half, the expectation was that the Quakes would deliver more of the same. Kansas City had other ideas, however. Wizards’ head coach Curt Onalfo brought on Carlos Marinelli for the ineffective Kurt Morsink at halftime, while Harrington and Jewsbury switched positions on the right wing. The moves paid off, as Kansas City were much more dangerous to start the second half, although O’Brien indicated San Jose’s approach was to blame as well.

“In the second half, we did what we said we didn’t want to do; we sat back, to be honest” said O’Brien. “We didn’t get on the ball for the first 15-20 minutes of the second half and let them get back into it.”

Aaron Holbein fanned on a Davy Arnaud free kick with the half just two minutes old, and five minutes later Arnaud nearly equalized himself, but his fierce drive was parried away by Quakes’ keeper Joe Cannon.

Alvarez nearly doubled San Jose’s advantage when his volley sailed just wide of Hartman’s near post, but Kansas City were soon back on the attack, and scored a deserved equalizer in the 64^th minute when Arnaud one-timed Harrington’s cross past Cannon from eight yards.

The goal sparked San Jose into action, with both Huckerby and O’Brien finding space out wide, and delivering hard crosses that had the Wizards’ defense scrambling.

Substitute Ryan Johnson was then sprung on a clear breakaway in the 69^th minute, aided by Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad slipping to the turf, but the Quakes’ midfielder could only shoot tamely straight at Hartman.

The home side continued to pile on the pressure, and they finally achieved a breakthrough in the 83^rd minute. Francisco Lima’s chip was nodded across goal by Johnson, and Huckerby was quickest to react, heading home the winner from point blank range. For Huckerby, it was all about having faith that his teammates would get him the ball.

“I knew the ball was coming in from Lima, and I just knew that [Johnson] was going to win the ball, I just knew it,” said Huckerby. “So I gambled, and knew he was going to win it. It was just a question of if he was going to put it in the right area, and he did. I ended up having just having a little tap in, so I really have Ryan to thank for that.”

The Wizards had one last chance to pull level in stoppage time. Cannon parried a low cross from substitute Roger Espinoza right to Chance Myers, but the Wizards rookie scuffed his shot and the danger was cleared, and the Quakes were left to celebrate another victory. And now that they’ve moved up a couple of spots in the standings, they’re confident their recent run can continue.

“We’re buoyant,” said Yallop. “I think we’re not worried about who we have to play now. We’ve already played all the best teams home and away. There’s no guarantee we’re going to win, but there’s a guarantee that we’re going to give everything we have and not quit, and keep going.”

With any luck, San Jose will keep going right into the postseason.