The San Jose Earthquakes' Jekyll-and-Hyde season was encapsulated in a 3-3 draw Saturday with the Chicago Fire. The home side took the lead on three different occasions, only to see the Fire come back each time, with Chris Rolfe's strike with five minutes remaining giving the visitors the last word.
San Jose goals from Ryan Johnson and Bobby Convey, sandwiched around Marco Pappa's effort put the home side 2-1 up at halftime. Chicago equalized yet again through Brian McBride, only to see Arturo Alvarez's 75th-minute penalty give the Quakes the lead. But the ejection of San Jose's Shea Salinas for two bookable offenses breathed new life into the visitors, and the Fire made the Quakes pay courtesy of Rolfe's heroics, keeping Chicago unbeaten on the 2009 season.
Following last week's disappointing performance in Kansas City, San Jose manager Frank Yallop made good on his pledge to juggle his lineup. Simon Elliott slid into midfield, moving Convey to left back, while defender Ryan Cochrane and forward Pablo Campos made their first starts of the season.
Chicago made some changes of their own, with Tim Ward and Dasan Robinson stepping in for the suspended John Thorrington and the ill Wilman Conde.
The early exchanges were played out largely in midfield, but the first clear chance fell to the Quakes in the sixth minute. Ramiro Corrales' through ball found Campos on a clear breakaway, but the Brazilian took too long to shoot, allowing Bakary Soumare to nick the ball away.
Chicago hit straight back, with a long ball releasing Patrick Nyarko down the right wing, only to see him fouled by San Jose defender Chris Leitch, who received yellow card for his troubles.
Leitch soon made amends for his indiscretion. He delivered a vital challenge on Gonzalo Segares in the 12th minute after Justin Mapp's free kick skipped through the San Jose wall, and he then played a an even bigger part in the opening goal two minutes later.
Leitch's inch-perfect 50-yard pass found Huckerby in stride on the left, with the Englishman's exquisite first touch leaving Brandon Prideaux in his wake. Huckerby's low centering feed was then scrambled over the line by Johnson for his second goal of the season.
The teams then traded chances with both McBride and Huckerby going close. But the Fire's forward tandem of McBride and Nyarko was beginning to make some headway against the smaller Quakes backline, allowing the visitors to take control.
The Fire secured a deserved equalizer in the 41st minute. A pass to Logan Pause caught the Quakes defense overshifted, and his slide-rule pass found a wide-open Pappa, who fired his shot past Joe Cannon in the San Jose goal.
But no sooner had Chicago finished celebrating when San Jose reclaimed the lead. Convey pounced on a loose ball in the attacking half, and after evading two Fire defenders, slotted his shot under Busch to make the score 2-1 in favor of the home side.
Chicago head coach Denis Hamlett brought on Cuauhtémoc Blanco to start the second half in place of Prideaux, with Ward sliding to right back. Yallop countered by bringing on Eric Denton for Campos, and shifting to a 4-5-1 alignment.
The changes seem to benefit Chicago as they capped off a spell of sustained pressure with a brilliant strike from McBride in the 56th minute. A long pass was headed by Blanco towards McBride, and his deft takedown and quick turn saw him deposit his shot past Cannon.
Unlike the first half, there was no let up from Chicago. Blanco was sprung on a clear breakaway just minutes later, but Cochrane recovered to stifle the threat. Mapp then got behind the Quakes defense in the 62nd minute, only to see his shot go inches wide.
Yallop brought on Salinas for a tiring Huckerby in the 63rd minute, and but Chicago still had more of the possession with Pappa twice coming close.
That is until the 74th minute, when a ball over the top saw Convey get the wrong side of Robinson and then bundled over by the Chicago defender. Alvarez easily dispatched the spot kick to give the home side the lead for the third time in the match.
San Jose were then forced to play with 10 men when Salinas earned his second yellow card of the match for delaying a restart in the 81st minute, and Chicago quickly made the man advantage pay off, with Rolfe's bullet shot from distance giving the Fire a share of the points.
The Quakes remain at home next weekend, making the trek to Oakland where they will take on the LA Galaxy at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in the first game between the in-state rivals this season. The Fire also return home, playing host to the Kansas City Wizards at Toyota Park.
Jeff Carlisle is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
