May 14, 2004
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Former Santa Clara University defender Ryan Cochrane made his professional debut as a member of Major League Soccer's San Jose Earthquakes Wednesday night in a 4-1 victory over legendary Portuguese First Division team Sporting Club of Portugal at Spartan Stadium.
Cochrane, who entered the MLS draft following a successful junior season in 2003, helped lead the Broncos to the program's fifth College Cup appearance last winter. Santa Clara fell in double overtime to eventual champion Indiana in the national semifinals at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
With their two first round picks in the draft, the Earthquakes selected a pair of Santa Clara standouts, taking All-American Cochrane with the fifth selection and then drafting Broncos goalkeeper and U.S. Under-23 National Team member Steve Cronin with the tenth pick.
The game on Wednesday started quickly with Sporting pressuring the Earthquakes from the start. Sporting nearly scored in the 13th minute when Portuguese National Team star Joao Pinto blasted a shot from the 18-yard box that was knocked down by an on-rushing Cochrane.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first half, the Quakes ripped off four straight second half goals, aided by the insertion of second half substitutes Landon Donovan and Brian Mullan who scored two goals apiece. Donovan added an assist on San Jose's first goal of the game, which was scored by Mullan just two minutes into the second half.
"Ryan Cochrane had a great 90 minutes for us in his debut," said Earthquakes' first-year head coach Dominic Kennear. I thought he played intelligently and defended well."
The Earthquakes return to MLS action this weekend against the Dallas Burn when they travel to Texas to play in the Cotton Bowl. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. PT, and the game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net and 1590 KLIV (English). The team's next home game is scheduled for Saturday, May 22 against division rival Los Angeles.
International Exhibition
San Jose Earthquakes 4, Sporting Club of Portugal 1
San Jose, Calif.; Spartan Stadium
Scoring Summary SP--Muniz (Barbosa) 39; SJ--Mullan (Donovan) 47; SJ - Donovan (Russell), 55; SJ - Donovan (unassisted) 81; SJ - Mullan (De Rosario) 84.
SP - Nelson Pereira, Martinho Macana, Facundo Quiroga (Diogo Matos 90), Anderson Polga, Rodrigo Valenzuela (Paulo Sergio 57), Pedro Barbosa, Joao Pinto (Clayton Cruz 85), Paulo Bento, Marius Niculae (Elpidio Filho, 71), Liedson Muniz, Luis Filipe Fernandez (Hugo Vieira 77)
TOTAL SHOTS: 12; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 16; OFFSIDE: 3; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: Pereira, 3; CAUTIONS: Pinto, 76; Quiroga, 79; EJECTIONS: None.
SJ - Jon Conway, Wes Hart, Jeff Agoos (Roger Levesque 46) Ryan Cochrane, Ramiro Corrales, Ian Russell, Ronnie Ekelund (Landon Donovan 46), Richard Mulrooney (Tighe Dombrowski 46) Chris Brown (Arturo Alvarez 46), Dwayne De Rosario, Brian Ching (Brian Mullan 46)
TOTAL SHOTS: 14; SHOTS ON GOAL: 8; FOULS: 16; OFFSIDE: 3; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: Conway 3; CAUTIONS: Corrales, 63; Dombrowski, 68; Russell, 73; Donovan, 73; EJECTIONS: None.
Referee: Ricardo Valenzeula; Referee's Assistants: Chris Strickland, David Bragg; 4th Official: Yader Reyes. Attendance: 5,254. Temperature: 62 and Clear.