The San Jose Earthquakes won their third preseason game on Friday night with a 6 - 0 victory over the Fresno Fuego at Chukchansi Park. Ryan Johnson scored for the third game in a row, while Arturo Alvarez netted a pair of goals. Darren Huckerby, Cam Weaver and Pablo Campos added three more goals for the Quakes.
San Jose jumped on the board first with a goal from Johnson. Johnson received a long pass from Quakes goalkeeper Andrew Weber, broke loose into the box and shot the ball past Fuego goalkeeper Brandon Cave.
A few minutes later Weber was tested and came up with a big stop. Jesus Santiago broke loose and charged toward the goal, but Weber made a spectacular save to keep the Fuego off the scoreboard.
The Earthquakes struck again in the 26th minute, as Alvarez found Cam Weaver on the right side and he crossed the ball to an open Huckerby. The Englishman then hammered a shot into the center of the goal for a 2-0 advantage.
San Jose continued to pressure the Fuego and it paid off with another goal late in the first half. In the 39th minute, Johnson made a pass to Alvarez, who broke away from three defenders and rifled a shot to the upper right hand corner of the goal that Cave could not stop.
Minutes into the second half, Huckerby got free on the left wing and crossed the ball to Alvarez in front of goal. He blasted a shot into the back of the net for his second goal of the night. In the 58th minute Alvarez played a ball down the line and Weaver dribbled past the Fuego goalkeeper and scored the fifth goal for San Jose.
Former Fuego player Pablo Campo capped the scoring with a goal against his former team. He broke away from a few defenders and scored his first goal in an Earthquakes uniform with 20 minutes left in the match.
The Earthquakes continue the preseason next Friday, Feb. 27 with an exhibition match against the Colorado Rapids at Buck Shaw Stadium. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. PT. Season tickets holders can attend the match free of charge, while general admission tickets for non-season ticket holders are $10.
San Jose Earthquakes vs Fresno Fuego
February 20, 2009 - Chukchansi Park; Fresno, California
Scoring Summary: SJ - Ryan Johnson (Andrew Weber) 4; SJ - Darren Huckerby (Cam Weaver, Arturo Alvarez) 27, SJ - Arturo Alvarez (Ryan Johnson) 40, SJ - Arturo Alvarez (Darren Huckerby) 49, SJ -Cam Weaver (Arturo Alvarez) 58; SJ - Pablo Campos (unassisted) 70.
Misconduct Summary: FF- Blanco Milton (caution) 34; SJ - Darren Huckerby (caution) 44; SJ - Kelly Gray (caution) 74; SJ - John Cunliffe (ejection) 80
San Jose Earthquakes - Andrew Weber, Eric Denton, Nick Garcia, Jason Hernandez (Ancil Farrier) 60, Kelly Gray, Darren Huckerby (Alfonso Motagalvan) 66, Simon Elliot (John Culiffe) 60, Ned Grabavoy, Arturo Alvarez (Shea Salinas) 60, Cam Weaver (Pablo Campos) 60, Ryan Johnson (Davide Somma) 60.
Fresno Fuego - Brandon Cave (Mads Aastrup) 45, Raul Rivera (Adam Arteaga) 79, Paul Moran (Kiel McClung) 54, Gaston Cignetti (Devon Grousis) 72, Eddie Gutierrez, Jesus Santiago, Adrian Alvarado (Pablo Segura) 72, Milton Blanco, Orlando Ramirez, Fabricio Codeceira (Rory Agu) 79, Amaury Nunes.
