Nineteen-year old sensation Landon Donovan was a phenom from the start of his MLS debut with the San Jose Earthquakes in 2001. But no game demonstrated his stature more than on August 8, 2001 against the New England Revolution.
The week before, Donovan had absolutely dominated the All-Star Game on July 28. The young forward exploded to score four goals in the game before the home crowd at Spartan Stadium to prove to Major League Soccer that he ruled the field. He showed the world his skill once again at Foxboro Stadium against the Revs, scoring two goals and getting two assists in 90 minutes to tie the Quakes single-game record of six points.
The Wednesday night game at the Revolution's home field was kept quiet for the first 35 minutes of the match until Donovan finally broke through the New England defense. Quakes midfielder Ian Russell started the play after intercepting a Revolution turnover and sending a long ball in to Donovan behind the defense.
"I looked over my shoulder and I saw that their last defender was up a little, and I was able to get in behind him," Donovan described on August 8, 2001 after the game. "Ian played me a great ball and I got in alone."
The forward was left with only goalkeeper Jeff Causey to beat, and he slipped a shot past him into the net to give the Quakes a 1-0 lead. The goal was Donovan's fifth of the season and the ninth straight game in which he had either scored or earned an assist when he started.
Four minutes later Donovan was back on the attack and doubled his scoring luck, this time on a penalty kick. After Quakes midfielder Manny Lagos fired a shot at the goal, New England defender Mauricio Wright intentionally blocked the ball with his arm, resulting in a red card and a penalty kick for the Earthquakes. Donovan stepped up to take the kick and hammered home his second goal of the night for the 2-0 lead.
But the Revolution wouldn't let the Quakes go into the second half without a response. In the 44th minute, karma came back to haunt Lagos as he called for a foul on Leonel Alvarez in the 18-yard box to give New England a penalty kick of their own. Revs midfielder Cate buried the ball in the back of the net to make it a one-goal game by halftime.
Junior Agogo, making just his second start and ninth appearance of 2001 with the Quakes, gave the Earthquakes a more comfortable lead in the second half after a beautiful give-and-go run with Donovan, who was credited with the assist. Agogo started the play with a pass to Donovan at midfield, who then flicked on a pass to a streaking Agogo, who beat the offsides trap. The forward found himself alone with Causey and beat the keeper with a left-footed shot. The goal was Agogo's first in an Earthquakes jersey.
"It's all about getting minutes," said Agogo, who normally came on as a second-half substitute, after the game. "It is hard to come on at the end of games and try to score goals. When I start, I feel that I can produce goals for this team."
Donovan once again contributed to the offense when the Quakes scored their fourth goal of the night. Donovan passed the ball to Lagos at the top of the box in the 71st minute. Lagos picked out an open spot in the net and sent the ball past the goalkeeper to put the Earthquakes up 4-1 over the Revs.
With his second assist of the night and two goals, Landon Donovan had earned six points on the night. This tied the Quakes club single-game points record with Eric Wynalda's mark set on June 15, 1997 against the Kansas City Wizards.
Even with the three-goal lead, San Jose was not done scoring yet. Junior Agogo notched one more in the 80th minute for his second goal of the night to solidify the Earthquakes victory over the Revolution with a 5-1 score.
But the real hero of the night remained Landon Donovan, who was involved in four out of the five Quakes goals in the game.
"Landon is an outstanding talent," praised then-Quakes head coach Frank Yallop. "If given space, he is very dangerous. He does everything well: he passes on the run, he gets into space, and he creates chances. He does his best work around the goal."
Donovan finished out his rookie year in San Jose with seven goals and 10 assists in 22 appearances for the Earthquakes. He would complete his time with the Quakes in 2004 with a total of 32 goals and 29 assists in four years, and even equaled his six points in a single game on September 20, 2003 with a hat trick against Kansas City.
For all that Landon Donovan did for the Earthquakes club, the best memories will always be the exciting games of his youthful exuberance like on August 8, 2003.
