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Cochrane scores late as Earthquakes shake winless streak

Aug 4, 2008 - 12:20 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- It took nearly two months but the San Jose Earthquakes finally returned to the win column.

Ryan Cochrane scored in the 89th minute to snap a tie as the San Jose Earthquakes ended an eight-match winless streak with a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday.

The Earthquakes (4-9-6), who rank last in the league in goals and had tallied just three times during their winless streak, recorded their first victory since a 2-0 triumph over the Columbus Crew on June 7.

"It feels good to win in front of our fans," San Jose coach Frank Yallop said. "It was a terrific game for us. We were obviously not happy for the two goals that L.A. scored, but sometimes you're a little bit vulnerable. We had a terrific comeback in the last couple of minutes of the game and it showed character in the team."

The late drama by Cochrane saved the Earthquakes, who held a 2-0 lead, from a disappointing result.

Arturo Alvarez, playing in his first game with San Jose since he was traded from FC Dallas, put the Earthquakes in front early.

Darren Huckerby pushed a pass to Scott Sealy at the top of the 18-yard box and Sealy quickly tapped a pass over to the newcomer Alvarez, who directed it just inside the far right post to give San Jose a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute.

"It felt really good to get the goal," Alvarez said. "It's not a bad way to start. Hopefully I can bring in more goals."

As the first half was drawing to a close, Huckerby stepped up again for San Jose when he easily dribbled around Los Angeles defender Chris Klein, who slipped and fell. Huckerby quickly capitalized as he sent a lob to the far post over Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin off the crossbar into the net.

"I was looking to pass it to Scott (Sealy), but he got blocked off so I took the ball to the corner and it worked," Huckerby said. "I thought we played really well today. We did what we needed to do today and we deserved to win."

But the Galaxy (6-8-5) responded immediately as David Beckham sent a cross into the middle of the penalty area that Landon Donovan headed past a diving Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon to halve the deficit in the 42nd minute.

The action in the second half continued at a fast pace and in the 76th minute, Edson Buddle fought his way past a defender in the middle of the field and fired a left-footed shot from the top of the 18-yard box past Cannon to tie the game at 2-2. It was Buddle's 12th goal of the season, which puts him one behind Donovan for the league lead.

"We battled for everything, but we were just unfortunate," Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit said. "Their team fought back and battled for it so you have to credit their team. I think we did everything to get a good result, but unfortunately, it didn't happen."

But the Galaxy rally would be all for naught as Cochrane capitalized on a scramble in front of the Los Angeles net, burying a shot from 10 yards out into the right corner to give the Earthquakes a 3-2 advantage.

"I really don't know what happened," Cochrane said. "The ball was just loose and I was hanging around the area. I almost gave up on it, but I thought I would stay down there and hopefully something would come up."

Los Angeles was outshot, 16-14, and dropped to 0-4-3 in its last seven games.