SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The San Jose Earthquakes attempt to climb out of the Western Division cellar got another step up Saturday night as they beat a depleted New England Revolution 4-0 at Buck Shaw Stadium.
Ronnie O'Brien scored two goals and set up another, with Ryan Johnson and Scott Sealy also scoring as the Quakes scored three goals in 17 minutes late in the game. With the victory, San Jose has won two games in a row for the first time this season, and is now is unbeaten in their last five matches. New England's loss drops them to second place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Columbus.
The New England starting 11 was missing several key pieces from the squad that had came into the game with the best record in MLS, with Shalrie Joseph sitting out a red card suspension, Kheli Dube and Abdoulie Mansally out with injuries, and Michael Parkhurst resting after making his way home from Olympic team duty in China.
The only change in the San Jose's starting 11 that beat LA 3-2 last Sunday saw James Riley replacing Ryan Cochrane, who was serving a suspension for yellow card accumulation.
The Revolution seemed to miss Joseph the most, as San Jose enjoyed most of the possession, controlling the midfield and stretching the field with O'Brien working the right side and Darren Huckerby on the left.
The Earthquakes opened the scoring in the 11th minute, when Francisco Lima, at the top of the arc, found Ronnie O'Brien coming into the penalty area down the right side. From a tough angle, O'Brien hit what looked like a soft volley to the far post that fell just inside the woodwork for a 1-0 San Jose lead.
San Jose's other chances in the first half both came off corner kicks. In the 29th minute, Lima chested a cross down for an O Brien shot from 20 yards out that Reis saved easily. Just before halftime, another corner kick found Scott Sealy for a header from 12 yards out, but his shot flashed wide of the right post.
New England came closest to scoring in the first 45 minutes off free kicks. In the third minute, Mauricio Castro's effort from 22 yards was tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Joe Cannon. In the 36th, another free kick from Castro, this one from 25 yards forced Cannon to get down to make the save.
Looking for more attack, New England began the second half by bringing in Taylor Twellman, still recovering from a hip injury, to replace Castro, with Khano Smith dropping into midfield. They almost found the equalizing goal a few minutes later when Sainey Nyassi stole a poor San Jose back pass, forcing Cannon to come out to the penalty spot to stop his point-blank shot.
In the 55th minute, New England's injuries woes worsened when Matt Reis, who had played every minute of every MLS match so far this season, suffered a right adductor strain and was pulled for Doug Warren. For Reis, it ended his consecutive minutes streak at 7,795 minutes, a streak with began Sept. 3, 2005.
San Jose then put the game away with goals just a few minutes apart. In the 71st minute, Sealy, at the top of the penalty area, slipped a backheel through to Johnson, who had come on for Arturo Alvarez. Johnson's blast easily beat substitute 'keeper Doug Warren from 10 yards out.
In the 76th minute, it was Sealy's turn, taking a Huckerby pass completely unmarked and beating Warren cleanly from the top of the box to make the score 3-0 San Jose.
The Earthquakes got another goal in the 87th minute, when O'Brien cut in from the right wing and hooked in a left-footed shot from 25 yards out into the upper left corner of the goal.
The four goals was the most scored by San Jose in a MLS match this year, and comes after scoring three in a win against Los Angeles. They now travel to Los Angeles to face Chivas USA. For New England, they hope to get healthy quickly, as they face D.C. United on Wednesday night at home.
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