Metro, Quakes trade early goals in a 1:1 draw
July 27, 2008
There was one expansion team on the field tonight, and it didn't look to be the home side. Metro got the own goal four minutes in, allowed the equalizer soon after, and settled for a 1:1 tie against the supposed worst team in the league. Well, tonight that supposed worst team, San Jose, was clearly the better of the two sides, with only clutch defending by Jeff Parke, goalkeeping by Jon Conway, and the Quakes' own inability to finish, preventing Metro from suffering another embarrassing loss.
Metro came out in a 4-5-1 with Hunter Freeman at right back. Juan Pietravallo made his first start, in defensive midfield, as Seth Stammler was pushed to the right flank for the injured Dane Richards. Oscar Echeverry was also missing from the lineup, with reports circulating that he might be done for the year. We're keeping our fingers crossed.
The own goal was scored by Metro-for-a-minute Eric Denton, as he yielded to pressure from Stammer and headed a van den Bergh cross into his own net. But in the 13th minute, after constant pressure, San Jose answered. Conway saved the initial short-range shot from Scott Sealy, but Freeman lost Darren Huckerby on the rebound, and the Englishman knotted the game.
After a disturbingly lifeless first half, Juan Carlos Osorio replaced Andrew Boyens and Stammler (the latter had flu-like symptoms) with old cohorts John Wolyniec and Mike Magee. And while Wolyniec keeps fighting for every ball (he was brought down inside the box that on a different day might have been a penalty kick, and then had Metro's best opportunity of the early half, coming from an Angel pass along the sideline), Magee was just depressing. Invisible for large portions of the game, he had some opportunities late in the match to help his team, and proceeded to blow them all. Dribbling into the box and having a clear shot at the net, he decided to pass the ball, to Angel, who had a defender on him. It's sad, really. Magee showed so much promise from 2003 to 2005... Right now, he looks to be a shadow of his former self, to put it lightly.
On the other end, it was up to Parke and Conway to hold down the fort. In the 74th minute, Kevin Goldthwaite almost put one into his own net, but the ball went just wide. Metro now has to wait two weeks for its next league match... By then, its foothold at the bottom of the East might just be cemented.
Lineup: Conway, Goldthwaite, Boyens, Parke, Freeman, Mendes, Pietravallo, van den Bergh, Stammler, Rojas, Angel. Subs: Wolyniec, Magee.
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