By Fitzgerald Cecilio

Defender Victor Bernardez drilled a free kick in stoppage time to lift the San Jose Earthquakes to a thrilling 1-0 win over the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy Sunday in the opening game of the two-legged series at the Home Depot Center.

Bernardez unleashed a kick through the wall of defenders from 31 yards out past goalkeeper Josh Saunders to secure the road win for the Supporters' Shield winners.

The Earthquakes will host the second leg of the series Wednesday at Buck Shaw Stadium, with the winner in the home-and-home affair taking on Seattle or Real Salt Lake in a two-game Western Conference final for a spot in the Dec. 1 MLS Cup final.

It was the fifth time this season the Quakes have scored a stoppage-time winner, including the May 23 meeting with the Galaxy at HDC, in which Alan Gordon headed home a 94th-minute decider as San Jose rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-2 triumph.

The match was a defense-minded affair, with the Galaxy having more and better opportunities.

Right back Sean Franklin, midfielder Marcelo Sarvas, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane tried to break the defense of San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch but failed.

With MLS scoring champion Chris Wondolowski silent for most of the game, the Quakes only got a scoring chance when Bernardez hit a free kick that Saunders parried at the start of the second half.

Robbie Keane nearly broke the tie in the 86th minute, but his 26-yard blast bounced off the crossbar before Bernardez hit the game-winning free kick past Saunders.

"Basically, you're trying to see through the wall," Saunders said. "The ball goes through the wall, deflects, takes a weird spin and you're trying to react based on what's happening in front of you. My play was not acceptable. I'll take the blame for covering the goal and, unfortunately, that's what happened."

For his part, Quakes coach Frank Yallop said the victory was a product by the team's focus on defense during training last week.

"I think it was a very mature away performance," Yallop said. "We didn't want to concede a goal. ... At this point, you've got to make sure you do that. We worked all week on defending."

 

 

 

Victor Bernardez Free Kick Carries Quakes Past Galaxy