Huckerby gets his first in 1-1 draw with New York

Darren Huckerby celebrates after scoring his first goal as an Earthquake against the NY Red Bulls, Sunday, July, 27, 2008. Photo by John Todd — isiphotos.com/centerlinesoccer.com.

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Despite a dominating first-half performance from San Jose, New York made the most of an early own goal and held on for a point as the Earthquakes and Red Bulls battled to a 1-1 draw at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara.

“I think the first half was probably the best we’ve played this year,” said Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop. “We obviously gifted them an early goal, but there was only one team in the first half… I thought we were very good today, and I was really happy with the spirit and the togetherness and everything, the creation of chances.

“Finishing is the thing we can’t do now, but again, that will come.”

Recent signings Darren Huckerby, Scott Sealy, and Francisco Lima all made their home debuts for the Quakes. Joe Cannon, as always, was in goal, behind a revamped back line of Eric Denton, Nick Garcia, Ryan Cochrane, and Jason Hernandez. Huckerby and Lima joined Ramiro Corrales and Ronnie O’Brien in midfield, with Ryan Johnson starting with Sealy at forward.

On the other side of the ball, New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio opted for a 4-5-1, with new signings Juan Pietravallo and Jorge Rojas playing just their second games for the Red Bulls.

The game couldn’t have started worse for San Jose, as the Quakes gifted New York a goal just four minutes in as left back Denton, looking to stop an innocuous Red Bull attack, headed the ball back towards Cannon. As luck would have it, however, the ball looped over Cannon’s head and into the open San Jose net, putting the Quakes in a hole from the beginning. San Jose’s determination did not waver, however, and they immediately moved to take the game to New York.

“It was a tale of two halves. The first half wasn’t very good at all for us,” said New York striker Juan Pablo Angel, despite his side’s early lead. “We were very shaky, we couldn’t control the game, and after (San Jose) gave up the own goal, they played a lot better. In the second half, we were more solid in the back, but we still lacked a bit of creativity at the end.”

San Jose’s intense pressure resulted in a series of free kicks and corners, and finally paid off in the 13th minute. Off a long throw in by O’Brien, Sealy made a quick turn and fired, testing New York keeper Jon Conway with a hard, low shot which the diving keeper could only parry. A lurking Huckerby pounded the rebound into the back of the net for his first MLS goal.

“I have been watching Scott,” said Huckerby after the match. “He tends to turn and shoot pretty early so I knew he was going to shoot, but I didn’t know if the goalkeeper was going to drop it or not. He dropped it and I don’t tend to score many tap-ins, but it counts the same as a long shot, so I’m pretty pleased with it.”

The Quakes threatened again in the 21st minute, as a Ramiro Corrales through ball put Ryan Johnson behind the Red Bull defense. Johnson took a touch to carry the ball into the box, but was thwarted in his attempt to shoot by a saving tackle from Red Bull defender Jeff Parke, the first of two he would make on the afternoon.

“Jeff (Parke) played great,” noted New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio. “He stopped Johnson in the first half, and Sealy in the second. I just said in the locker room that (Jeff) kept us in the game, and he contributed in a great way with those two tackles.”

San Jose’s next opportunity came off a 30th minute corner kick, with the ball dropping nicely for Sealy near the penalty spot. His first touch got away from him, however, and the ball was cleared easily.

Sealy got another chance just two minutes later, as Huckerby picked the pocket of Hunter Freeman, sending the ball rolling dangerously across the top of the New York penalty area. Huckerby and Sealy converged on the ball there, with Huckerby pulling out at the last moment to allow Sealy to shoot, but the Trinidad international rocketed the ball just over Conway’s goal.

The New York defense continued to falter in the 36th minute. Despite several chances to clear a loose ball in the box, Sealy and Huckerby were able to take advantage of their opponents’ lack of composure by combining to create a shot from the left side of the box that Huckerby put just past the upper corner at the far post.

The teams remained deadlocked 1-1 at the half, despite San Jose’s dominance. The Quakes outshot New York 9-2, and the Red Bulls didn’t put a ball on net throughout the first 45. New York looked to beef up their anemic attack by bringing on forward John Wolyniec for defender Andrew Boyens and midfielder Mike Magee substituting for Seth Stammler.

“It’s always hard playing as a lone striker,” said Angel, New York’s lone Designated Player following the retirement of Claudio Reyna. “We’re still missing a few players. Normally we have Dane Richards on the right side, and we can stretch teams’ defenses, but today it was hard in general. We found it difficult to create something at the other end.”

San Jose also made a halftime substitution, with the Quakes bringing on Ivan Guerrero for Denton at left back. “It wasn’t about Eric’s own goal,” said Yallop. “Eric’s a good defender, he’s done well this year, but I just felt that I wanted to get Ivan pushed forward… Ivan did OK with that position - he plays there for his country, so he’s familiar with it.”

Despite the additional attackers, chances at goal were few and far between during the opening ten minutes of the second half. Former Quake Kevin Goldthwaite earned a yellow card in the 56th minute, and Cochrane was similarly rewarded for taking down the Red Bulls’ Jorge Rojas just outside the San Jose penalty area  two minutes later. The San Jose wall blocked the ensuing free kick, and their attack looked dangerous on the ensuing counter, but Sealy’s header off an O’Brien cross only won a corner for the Quakes.

The team threatened again in the 63rd minute, when a Sealy backheel freed Johnson down the right side. Johnson dashed into the box but his shot was well saved by Conway.

New York nearly broke the deadlock in the 70th minute. Juan Pablo Angel, who had largely been shut down by San Jose’s defense, beat the offside trap to run onto a diagonal through ball into the left corner. He pushed a perfectly weighted ball into the center of the box, timed to meet the arrival of an onrushing Wolyniec, but the ball was intercepted at the last moment by Garcia, who knocked the ball wide of the goal.

New York nearly returned San Jose’s earlier favor with an own goal of their own in the 73rd minute. Magee, facing goal, tried to clear a San Jose cross by putting it over the end line, but instead forced Conway to make a diving save to his left.

A draw was of little benefit to either team, so play opened up considerably in the closing minutes. “I told the guys at half time, ‘If it’s still tied, we’ve got to go forward,’ and we did,” said Yallop. “We got countered a few times but Joe was great today, handling was excellent as always. We never felt really threatened, with probably the best player in the league on the field, for them.”

San Jose set the stage for their final attacking push in the 76th minute, with rookie winger Shea Salinas coming on for O’Brien, who left the field to a standing ovation after a strong performance bossing the team’s attack. The move nearly paid immediate dividends, when a Salinas through ball launched a sprinting Sealy into the box. Sadly for the Quakes, it was once again time for Parke to play hero with his second saving tackle of the night. Lima earned the second standing ovation of the day when he made way in the 85th minute for Jovan Kirovski.

The two teams traded opportunities in a stirring exhibition of end-to-end soccer as the match reached its end. A San Jose counter in the 86th minute resulted in an 18-yard shot from Johnson, but keeper Conway was equal to the task. At the other end, Wolyniec ended a New York counter by laying off the ball for Magee at the top of the 18, but Cannon put an end to that threat. The match ended after Conway punched clear a Corrales corner kick.

The Red Bulls’ Osorio was satisfied with the result. “In the second half, we had the better chances, we played better, we controlled the game, and in counter attacks, with a bit more quality we could have had the three points. But in general I would say it’s a fair score, 1-1. In the long run, it will prove to be a good point, provided that we win our home games.”

Osorio was also impressed with the play of San Jose’s trio of newcomers. “With their new signings, they should have a good second half of the season,” Osorio said. “Darren (Huckerby) is a threat, not only because of his pace but also because of his ability to come inside and combine with the strikers. Lima has a good left foot, good quality, and is also a good free kick taker. Sealy is a very good forward, and a proven goal scorer in this league, so I think they’re on the way up and they’ll be a difficult team to play against, as they proved today.”

Yallop was a bit more circumspect about the result, but expressed optimism about the team’s direction.

“We’re building a team here that’s going to be good for many years, hopefully, and… I look at the performances of individuals and the team, and we’re not far off. I think that we’ve got a pretty solid team. We need to add in certain areas and juggle around the cap and all that stuff, but I thought we were the better team today with the ball.

“(The result is) disappointing to me, but I guess the reason why is that we’re not quite a team, with three new guys. I don’t want to make any excuses, which I never do, but I can look at it and think, maybe this is the reason why we’re not quite on the same page all the time.”

The Quakes will get another chance to put all the pieces together next Sunday, August 3, against the L.A. Galaxy at the McAfee Coliseum in Oakland.

Center Line Soccer’s Joe Nuxoll has a photo gallery from the match here. Also, click here for Harvey Rañola’s post-game interview with Scott Sealy.