PASADENA, California (Ticker) -- The San Jose Earthquakes rocked
the Los Angeles Galaxy, 3-2, Saturday night at the Rose Bowl,
recording the team's first opening day victory in three years.
Earthquakes' midfielder Scott Bower recorded two assists in the
victory, which also marked the MLS debuts of San Jose's Landon
Donovan and Dwayne DeRosario.
The Earthquakes took charge from the opening whistle, amassing
six shots on goal in the first half while holding Los Angeles to
zero.
Earthquakes defender Troy Dayak, in his first MLS appearance
since 1997, opened the scoring in the ninth minute, finishing
off Richard Mulrooney's pass to put the Quakes up 1-0. Mulrooney
fired a well-placed corner kick towards the near post, where
Dayak darted past Ezra Hendrickson and Simon Elliott to nod the
ball past goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
Ronald Cerritos added another in the 24th minute, nodding Zak
Ibsen's cross into an empty corner of the net. Ibsen took a
give-and-go pass from Bower and crossed the ball to a wide-open
Cerritos, who redirected the ball toward the inside of the far
post.
San Jose, played with a surprising cohesiveness in their first
match, dominating the Galaxy with sharp passing and dangerous
runs. DeRosario netted his first MLS goal in the 27th minute,
finishing Bower's pass from close range. Ian Russell and Bower
played several passes to each other while building the attack
from midfield, before finding DeRosario open at the far post.
DeRosario slotted the ball underneath goalkeeper Kevin Hartman
to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Galaxy mounted a desperate comeback in the second half,
slowly gaining control over the pace of play. In the 59th
minute, midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos missed a golden
opportunity directly in front of the net. Taking a neat through
ball from Cobi Jones, Cienfuegos danced around a pair of
defenders, creating an open point-blank shot on goal. The
Salvadoran mishit the ball, however, and his shot trickled wide
of the net.
Galaxy midfielder Victorine finally got Los Angeles on the board
in the 80th minute, slipping a loose ball through a crowded
midfield. Elliott sent a ball into the penalty area, where it
bounced loose and rolled to Victorine. The Olympic team
midfielder quickly fired a low shot that found the net for his
first goal of the 2001 campaign.
Cienfuegos atoned for his earlier miscue with a well-timed heel
pass at the edge of the box in the 83rd minute. Defender Adam
Frye rushed onto the unguarded ball, sending it past Cannon to
narrow the San Jose lead to one.
San Jose managed to hold onto the margin until the final
whistle, handing Los Angeles only its second opening night loss
in club history.
The Earthquakes (1-0-0, 3 points) will look to build on their
win on Saturday, April 14th, when San Jose hosts the Dallas Burn
(0-1-0, 0 points) at 10:00 p.m. ET. Los Angeles will seek to
regain the form exhibited in the Football Confederation's
Champions Cup this summer. The Galaxy (0-1-0, 0 points) will get
their opportunity on Saturday when they face the Kansas City
Wizards (0-1-0, 0 points) at 8:30 p.m. ET.