Earthquakes Oust Red Bulls, Reach East Final

Nov. 4, 2010
MATCH STATSMLS SCOREBOARD

HARRISON,N.J. (AP) Chris Wondolowski scored in the 81st minute, giving the SanJose Earthquakes a 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls and ThierryHenry on Thursday night and a 3-2 aggregate win in the MLS EasternConference semifinal series.Bobby Convey scored twice, connectingin the sixth and 77th minutes, to help San Jose rebound from a 1-0first-leg loss in California on Saturday night. Juan Pablo Angel, inlikely his last game for the Red Bulls, scored in the 78th minute.New York, with Henry, Rafael Marquez and Angel, became perhaps the most expensive failure in MLS history."I can't be disappointed with thenumber of chances we had," Red Bulls coach Hans Backe said. "We couldnever forgive ourselves if we just played back (after Angel's goal) andjust defended. We had to just give it a go. Our mindset was to win."The Earthquakes will face the Columbus-Colorado winner in the conference final."Obviously, we need a couple of balls to bounce our way," Wondolowski said. "But I'm liking our chances."On the series winner, Convey floatedin a long pass toward the goal corner, Wondolowki broke in and headedthe ball into the short side past goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul."Bobby and I read each other realwell," Wondolowski said. "I started shifting inside and Bobby liftedhis head and saw me. I saw Bouna was coming out, so I just put it onthe frame."The match ended the first season at200 million Red Bull Arena. While New York improved from a last-place5-19-6 record last year to an Eastern Conference-best 15-9-6 thisseason under new coach Hans Backe, the Red Bulls were hoping for morethan a mere playoff appearance after the midsummer additions of Henry,the former French national team star, and Marquez, the Mexican nationalteam captain.Henry is second only to DavidBeckham on the MLS salary list at 5.6 million this year and Marquez isnext at 5.54 million. The 35-year-old Angel, who says he doesn'texpect to be back with the Red Bulls after four seasons in New York, isat 1.92 million."Everyone wanted New York to win this," Convey said. "We came in under the radar. But we're hard to beat."