28 JULY 2007 - The San Fernando Quakes found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline at the hands of Northwest Division champions BYU Cougars from Provo, Utah, ending their hopes of winning the PDL Western Conference title.
Chukchansi Park in downtown Fresno, the home of Southwest Division champions Fresno Fuego, was the venue for the Quakes first playoff campaign. A baseball stadium with a soccer pitch in the outfield, Chukchansi was unconventional as far as locations are concerned, but despite having to cope an Astroturf semi-circle covering the infield and corner flags in the dirt, the Quakes approached their first ever playoff campaign brimming with confidence, coming off the back of a 10-game unbeaten streak and with a 100% undefeated home record at Granada Hills.
Unfortunately, the bad luck bug bit before the game even started. Promising striker Ben Corrodi, who was poised to finally make his Quakes debut after a season-long layoff through injury, suffered a back spasm in the warm-up and was unable to take his place in the squad. Similarly, midfielder Daniel Paladini looked likely to be forced out of the starting eleven due to a knee injury, but fortunately was able to make the bench, having been given the all-clear from doctors the day before.
Nevertheless, coach Juan Florez named his a strong eleven to start the game against BYU – Western Conference Goalkeeper of the Year Kevin Guppy; defenders Chad Borak, Derek Hanks, Robert Pate and Mike Zaher; midfield quintet Sean Franklin, Sung-Hyun Kim, Mat Davis, Dylan Leslie and Oscar Sims; and striker Ryan Shaw in his familiar lone role up front at the pinnacle of the now-familiar 4-5-1 formation.
In 105-degree heat, and with a crowd which gradually increased to almost 3,000 fans by the end of the game, the Quakes started strongly: within two minutes, Shaw had tested BYU goalkeeper Brandon Gilliam, the first of several breakaways he enjoyed during the first half.
For the opening half hour, the Quakes dominated play. Ryan Shaw found himself running at Gilliam’s goal twice more off through-balls by Dylan Leslie and Sean Franklin, only for his efforts to be smothered by the goalkeeper. Mat Davis had a goal-bound shot cleared off the line by BYU’s Hugh Van Wagenen, and Sung Kim broke down the left on several occasions, only to find his way to goal blocked by the persistent and organized BYU defense. As the half wore on, though, and with the Quakes out-shooting the Cougars by a 2:1 ratio, frustration began to creep into the Quakes camp, as their inability to find the back of the net began to show in the play. This was compounded by the erratic performance of referee Colin Arblaster, whose whistle seemed very much to favor BYU, and who continually made calls which could be called ‘unusual’ at best, including showing a yellow card to Ryan Shaw for time wasting after his passing the ball to the BYU goalkeeper after being caught offside was deemed as ‘kicking the ball away’.
The second piece of injury-related bad luck came midway through the first half. Right winger Sean Franklin, who had been terrorizing the BYU defense with his speed and skill, went down under an innocuous-looking challenge from BYU defender Brock Trejo; as Trejo cleared the ball, he caught Franklin on the arm with his follow-through, and it was immediately apparent that Franklin was in some distress. After a few moments of treatment on the field, Franklin was gently led away; the prognosis: a broken right arm, and a dislocated right wrist. Daniel Paladini came on to replace him, but with Franklin’s departure and Paladini’s less-than-perfect knee, heavily strapped, the powerful threat down the right side was diminished considerably.
BYU did mount a couple of first half attacks, including one header off a corner from striker Tyson Miller which forced Guppy to make a superb flying save to tip the ball over the bar, but despite the constant pressure, the first half ended 0-0; as the sweat-drenched teams wearily left the field for the locker room, it was apparent that the heat and fatigue was going to be a factor for both the Quakes and the Cougars in the second half.
If the first half was a tale of bad luck, the second half was ruined for the Quakes by bad calls. Referee Arblaster persisted in calling fouls on Quakes players for the most inconsequential tackles, breaking up the flow of the game and making it impossible for either side to get into any kind of passing rhythm, or to include any physical aspect to their play. Before long, the continual fouls turned into yellow cards, with both Dylan Leslie and Chad Borak receiving unnecessary cautions for challenges which, in other games, would most likely not have even been called as fouls, much less bookable offences. It was off the back of Borak’s foul that BYU scored their first goal: in the 64th minute, a quick free kick to the right found Brock Trejo in space; he played a square ball across the penalty area to Steven Fellows, who calmly placed the ball past Guppy to give BYU a one-goal lead.
It was a body blow for the Quakes, who had been on top for the majority of the game, and things got worse ten minutes later. Daniel Paladini had received the Quakes’ fourth yellow card of the game, and the tension levels on the field began to bubble over. After yet another poor officiating decision went against the Quakes, Dylan Leslie found himself unable to refrain from telling the referee exactly what he thought of his decision making processes. Having already been booked earlier in the half, the result of this show of dissent was a second yellow, quickly followed by the inevitable red card, and as Leslie angrily trudged from the field, and the Quakes were down to ten men.
Florez had changed things around in the second half, bringing Pato Gutierrez, Marcus Chorvat and Alex Christensen into the game in place of Mat Davis, Oscar Sims and Sung Kim, but it was to no avail. BYU began to exploit the space in the middle of the field created by Leslie’s absence, and Fellows scored his second goal for the Cougars four minutes after the red card, doubling their lead and making the Quakes’ task virtually impossible. A man short, two goals down, and with Sean Franklin on his way to Fresno Hospital’s ER department, the Quakes were now playing with frustration and anger in their minds, whereas BYU looked calm, solid, and competent on the ball.
In a last-gasp attempt to try to even things up, Florez moved Robert Pate up into an attacking role alongside Shaw and Gutierrez, and for a while the Quakes were playing in a highly unconventional 3-3-3 formation, looking for something, anything, which would bring them a glimmer of hope. Marcus Chorvat unleashed a blistering goal-bound 20-yard shot from the left side of midfield which stung the fingertips of BYU keeper Gilliam as he somehow managed to push it wide, and Pate had a headed opportunity late on which again Gilliam managed to smother, but in the end it was not to be. After four minutes of injury time, the referee blew the final whistle, the Cougars celebrated, and the Quakes dejectedly sank to the ground, their first playoff campaign ended in the most frustrating of ways.
Despite the bitter disappointment of falling at the first playoff hurdle, when one looks back on the 2007 season with a more realistic eye, it has been a superb year for a second-year franchise. A 100% undefeated home record. Just two losses – three if you count playoffs – all season. The second highest goal scoring tally in the division. Ending the year ranked 12th nationally out of the 63 teams in the PDL. Two players - Kevin Guppy and Sean Franklin - in the All-Western Conference team, and half a dozen others honored with PDL team of the week consideration. Decent crowds, albeit slightly down on last year’s annual average, and a professional product for the people of the San Fernando Valley which has markedly improved on all fronts from the inaugural season. Of course, losing is never a pleasant experience, but for a young team in a young organization, the on-field success is still something to be immensely proud of, and provides a solid foundation on which to build in the upcoming years.
In the other playoff semi final, hosts Fresno Fuego outclassed Tacoma Tide, eventually running out 4-1 winners after extra time, with goals from Amaury Nunes, Milton Blanco, Vitor Machado and PDL top scorer Pablo Campos. Although Fresno were clearly the better of the two teams, Tacoma were themselves hamstrung by poor officiating, after Ciaran O’Brien and Spencer Schomaker were dismissed: the former after an altercation with Fresno’s Milton Blanco, the latter after he complained to the referee about Fresno ‘excessively celebrating’ their third goal, and was unnecessarily given a straight red card for dissent.
Fresno subsequently beat BYU 3-0 in the Western Conference Final on Saturday, and will now face Central Conference and defending PDL national champions Michigan Bucks for a place in the national final. The other semi-final will be between 2006 losing finalists Laredo Heat and Brooklyn Knights, who knocked out regular-season champs Hampton Roads Piranhas on penalties in their conference semi.
On a personal note, I want to say thanks to everyone at the San Fernando Valley Quakes for making this last year such a wonderful season for me: Mat and Justin for giving me the ‘keys to the kingdom’ on the website; Shawn, Max, Steve, Norman, Ray, Zvi and everyone on the game day staff; Juan, for being open and accessible throughout the year; and the Quakes fans who have been with me through thick and thin this year in the stands at Granada Hills High, especially Cindy and Rollie Hanks, David and Sandy Guppy, Dick and Pat Guppy, and Alan Mirman. See you in 2008!
Match report by Jon Broxton
