15 JUNE 2007 - The San Fernando Valley Quakes scored three goals in twelve second half minutes to register a 3-0 victory over the visiting Bakersfield Brigade at Granada Hills Charter High School tonight, consolidating their place at the top of the PDL Southwest Division standings and taking another step towards playoff qualification.
With one eye on the vitally important game against Ventura on Sunday, coach Florez switched his starting eleven around a little, bringing defender Mike Zaher and midfielder Marcus Chorvat into the fold, and dropping recent starters Mat Davis, Sean Alvarado and Oscar Sims to the bench. Florez also continued with the now familiar 4-5-1 formation which has worked well so far this season, encouraging the speed of wide midfielders Sean Franklin and Sung-Hyun Kim, with Ryan Shaw as a lone target man up front. Brigade, coached my former MLS star Francisco Gomez, started a strong team featuring 7-goal striker Santiago Aguilera Navarro and defensive stalwart Jay Gore.
In 85-degree evening heat, and in front of almost 200 fans, the teams started slowly, as if sensing the importance of the game, knowing that a slip-up for either team could seriously hamper their playoff chances. Ultimately, it was the Brigade who had the best of the first half; their passing was sharp and penetrative, and although goal scoring chances were rare, it was Bakersfield who continually looked the more threatening, dominating the central midfield battles, and spreading the ball to the wide players as they looked for a way through the Quakes defense. The Quakes, by contrast, looked somewhat sluggish on the ball; there was very little crispness to the passing, very little in terms of off the ball movement, and the three-pronged attacks of Shaw, Franklin and Kim were regularly snuffed out by a solid Bakersfield back line.
Bakersfield striker Moi Gomez tested Quakes ’keeper Kevin Guppy just once in the first half, and although Dan Paladini and Shaun Franklin both forced Brigade keeper Israel Cisneros to make two decent saves, there was very little goalmouth action during the first 45 minutes, and the teams retired to the dressing rooms at half time with the score a disappointing 0-0.
However, as the second half began, and as the sun set over the rooftops of Northridge, the Quakes began to take the upper hand. Both coaches began making changes - Bakersfield brought on Aguilera for Salvador Pinto, with the Quakes swapped Mat Davis and Juan Guerrero for Marcus Chorvat and Sung Kim - and ultimately it turned out to be San Fernando Valley’s substitutions which made the difference. Half way through the second half, the Quakes finally scored: Chad Borak emerged with the ball after a brief goalmouth scramble, and found Juan Guerrero standing unmarked by the back post. Guerrero, who had only been on the field for 15 minutes, poked the ball home from close range and put the Quakes 1-0 up, his first goal of the season.
The Quakes were now firmly on the attack. Six minutes later, the Quakes won a corner. Oscar Sims came on in place of Daniel Paladini before the kick was taken, and from the resulting set piece, the Quakes scored again; Sean Franklin’s perfectly flighted ball was flicked on at the near post by Dylan Leslie straight to big defender Robert Pate, who rose above the Bakersfield defenders and scored with a powerful header. 2-0, and Bakersfield were rocking.
Four minutes later, in the 80th minute, coach Florez took off a tiring Ryan Shaw and replaced him with striker Patrick Gutierrez, his first start for the Quakes. Within seconds, the Quakes won another corner, their third of the game. Franklin’s precision set piece found Gutierrez in space and, with his very first touch of the ball as a Quakes player, neatly headed the ball home to make it 3-0. Despite it being a virtual carbon copy of Pate’s goal, it was nevertheless quite a story for Gutierrez: two minutes played, one touch of the ball, one goal. Good averages!
Bakersfield’s second half performance was nowhere near as good as their first 45; beyond a couple of breaks down the wings, and a couple of slightly wayward long-range efforts, Kevin Guppy in the Quakes goal was rarely tested by the Bakersfield attack - although Frank Alesci did attempt to rather cheekily chip Guppy from the center circle following the kickoff after the Quakes’ second goal. One dark cloud cast over the proceedings was a rather nasty-looking injury to Brigade defender Jason Ashurst 20 minutes into the second half, who landed awkwardly after a heavy challenge from Derek Hanks and had to be carried from the field holding his ankle.
In the end, and despite a flurry of late desperate substitutions from Bakersfield, the Quakes held on for a comfortable, if a little flattering 3-0 victory; truthfully, the teams were much closer than the scoreline suggested, and the disappointing first half performance will certainly need to be addressed by coach Florez and his staff before the visit of Ventura County Fusion on Sunday.
Nevertheless, the victory keeps the Quakes firmly at the top of the Southwest Division table on 23 points, five points ahead of second-placed Fresno Fuego (who enjoyed a thumping 5-1 victory over Los Angeles Storm tonight), and eight points clear of Bakersfield, Ventura and San Jose, who are all jostling for third place. The Quakes now play host to the visiting Ventura County Fusion on Sunday, June 17th, in another massively important game. Kickoff is at 7:00pm, at Granada Hills Charter High School.
Match report by Jon Broxton
