San Fernando Valley Quakes News Release - www.quakessoccer.com

Sunday, July 20, 2008

CALABASAS, CA -- The San Fernando Valley Quakes rallied from a one-goal halftime deficit to down the division leading Fresno Fuego 2-1 to win the division title and a playoff berth. Despite the loss, the Fuego would also still qualify for the postseason courtesy of other results.

In many ways, it was a perfect end to an almost perfect season. The San Fernando Valley Quakes entered the game against Fresno Fuego knowing that a win would give them their first ever divisional title. Ties and losses and games in San Francisco could all potentially have a bearing on the Quakes’ postseason fate, but the bottom line was simple: a win, and they’re in.

The Quakes took to the field on their hottest streak in franchise history: 11 games undefeated, and with six wins in their last nine games. With Brad Rusin still on trial with professional teams in Norway, and with defender Kyle Dagan on the injured list after spraining knee ligaments against Ventura on Thursday, head coach Juan Florez must have been pleased to have defender Chad Borak back in the lineup after missing the previous two games, and equally pleased to have Devin Deldo fit enough to take a spot on the substitute’s bench. The starting lineup was a familiar one, which had serves the Quakes well throughout the season: Kevin Guppy in goal; Chad Borak, Robert Pate, Matt Tracy and Jose Esquivel the back four; Taylor Canel and Diego Barrera anchoring the midfield; Fergie Agwu and Sung Kim down the wings; and Ryan Shaw and Jason Leopoldo up front.

Fuego, meanwhile, had a great deal of Samba flair in their team, which included two Brazilians and one Argentinean – although their main Brazilian, Pablo Campos, was missing from the lineup, him having signed a professional contract with Swedish club GAIS Gothenberg just a few weeks previously.

As the sun set over the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, cooling both the players and the 350-plus fans who packed the bleachers at Calabasas High School, the game kicked off and – true to form – the Quakes started poorly. It may have been nerves, or the sense of occasion, or a combination of the two, but Fresno had the Quakes on the back foot from the word go. Fresno midfielder Jesus Santiago stung Kevin Guppy’s hands with a long-distance shot after just a couple of minutes, while the other members of the Fuego forward line combined nicely on several occasions, and always looked threatening.

Slow starts have been a Quakes trademark in the 2008 season, and on several occasions their early reticence has been punished. So it was again here, as Adrian Alvarado connected with Cameron Hill’s cross to put Fuego into a 1-0 lead midway through the first half.

Fuego were dominant for much of the rest of the half. Orlando Ramirez and Amaury Nunes both had decent looks at Guppy’s goal, while at the other end only Taylor Canel and Ryan Shaw had any decent opportunities for the Quakes; Canel’s 35 yard drive was parried comfortably by Fuego goalkeeper Ryan Kenny, while both of Shaw’s efforts ended up wide of the mark.

Fresno maintained their lead until the break, and was playing with enough confidence and purpose to look as though they were easily capable of adding more to their tally in the second half. Fuego needed just a tie to clinch the divisional title for themselves, and with the Quakes looking lackluster in attack, it was difficult to see from where an equalizing goal would come.

The answer was Devin Deldo.

Having entered the game as a second half substitute for Ryan Shaw, Deldo picked up the ball in his own half and drove forcefully through a crowded midfield. After spreading the ball wide to Jason Leopoldo, Deldo fought off the attentions of more Fuego players and found himself in space in the penalty area. Leopoldo, who had barreled full-speed down the left wing, delivered a perfectly-weighted cross in to the 6-yard box, which Deldo headed powerfully past Fuego keeper Kenny to level the scores, finishing off the move he began.

With the game evenly-balanced at 1-1, the Quakes knew that if the score remained like this, Fresno would still win the division. The Quakes needed another goal, and it came from Sung Kim. Receiving the ball with his back to goal, Jason Leopoldo turned and placed a beautifully weighted pass inside Fuego defender Fernando Ferrari, right into the path of Kim, who had sprinted down the wing on the overlap. Bearing down on Kenny’s goal at breakneck speed, and with the Fresno defense in his wake, Kim steadied himself and calmly placed the ball past the exposed goalkeeper, to give the Quakes an all-important 2-1 lead.

At that moment, the game turned again, and suddenly it was Fresno on the attack, sending everything they had at the Quakes in an attempt to turn around the deficit. Fuego were utterly relentless in their forward motion; Fresno head coach Scott Alcorn sent on Nini Blanco, Drew Gleason, Gaston Cignetti and Memo Jalomo to add fresh legs to his forward line, and they might have equalized had it not been for Robert Pate’s desperate goal line clearance when Raul Rivera looked odds on to score.

The Quakes were reduced to packing the box, nine men behind the ball, but they defended like lions, getting in the way of every shot, going in hard into every tackle, as they tried to hold on to their precious lead. Quakes attacks in the last 15 minutes were rare, although at one point Jason Leopoldo would have been free and running on goal had referee Alan Brafman not pulled him up for a foul at the last second.

The seconds ticked down, regular time drifted into injury time, and the crowd screamed louder and louder for the final whistle to blow. Sung Kim literally had to be dragged off the field when he began cramping up in the final moments of the game. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the referee blew for time, and the Quakes had won their first ever divisional title. The crowd cheered, the Quakes players jumped and hugged each other; it’s the stuff that soccer is made of.

The Quakes finish the season on 30 points, one point ahead of Fresno in second place, and three points clear of San Francisco in third; they had been the only other team whose result could have thwarted the Quakes’ and Fuego playoff aspirations, but they were beaten 3-0 by San Jose in their game, and ultimately did not affect the outcome.

If a single game reflected a microcosm of the fifteen games that preceded it, this was it. A poor start – echoing the 3-1 and 5-0 losses the Quakes suffered in the early season – followed by a scintillating mid-season, and a frantic, nerve-jangling finale which all turned out right in the end.

Devin Deldo finished the regular season as the Quakes’ top scorer, with 8 goals, closely followed by Diego Barrera with 4, and Sung Hyun Kim with 3 goals. Kim also led the assists sheets, with 5, while goalkeeper Kevin Guppy had an impressive goals-against average of just 1.333. Head coach Juan Florez improved to an impressive 17-5-11 record in his two years charge, including playoff games.