Quakes hit road block in Seattle

Late rally, sparked by Huckerby return, falls short against Sounders FC

Darren Huckerby, who scored the lone SJ goal, made his first start in two months.  (Getty)

Despite starting a lineup with two new players -- Antonio Ribeiro and Chris Wondolowski -- and a week featuring a pair of trades and an acquisition, the results on the field haven't changed. The Earthquakes have just two wins on the season.

Darren Huckerby, the 33-year-old former English star and MLS Newcomer of the Year with the Quakes in 2008 who was making his first start in two months, scored his first goal of the year in the 68th minute on a close-range blast set up by deft passing of Shea Salinas and Ryan Johnson to pull San Jose back within one.

Goals from Freddie Ljungberg and Fredy Montero on either side of halftime staked Sounders FC to a two-goal lead.

The positives were Cannon's six saves and Huckerby playing 90 minutes for the first time since April 11 after a quadriceps injury sidelined him. Not all hope was lost, but the loss had to be discouraging for the Earthquakes.

San Jose's Ryan Johnson missed a chance to knot the score at 2-2 in the 85th minute as Johnson's shot from 12 yards away on the right side slid outside the left post. Johnson's attempt was just wide left of a sliding Kasey Keller, Seattle's goalkeeper.

The match marked the second meeting of the season in Seattle for the two teams. The Earthquakes dropped a 2-0 decision at Qwest on April 25. It was Seattle's last win of the 2009 season and only win in its previous nine matches.

The Earthquakes front office, led by general manager John Doyle, has turned into the movers and shakers of the 2009 MLS campaign, trading away defender Nick Garcia and Ali Gerba to Toronto FC for a third-round 2010 MLS SuperDraft pick and shipping forward Cam Weaver to Houston for California native Wondolowski and a draft pick.

The team also has dealt with the comings and goings of Bobby Convey, Ryan Cochrane and Simon Elliott due to injury and national team commitments.

Almost nothing has gone right for the Earthquakes this season with a core-shaking 15-match road winless streak coming into Saturday's match. San Jose brought in an 0-9-6 record and a 25-10 goal deficit in that winless road span.

The Earthquakes haven't won a road game since 2-0 at Columbus on June 7, 2008.

San Jose signed international player Antonio Ribeiro, formerly with the USL First Division club Montreal Impact, on Friday night.

Cannon did everything in his power to keep the Quakes in the match. He made a pair of saves in the 23rd minute during a Sounders FC flurry, first turning back a Fredy Montero blast in the penalty area and then punching away a loose ball to end the threat.

Cannon came up with a diving save as Seattle's Freddie Ljungberg nearly snuck the ball through a wall of players on a 30-yard free kick in the 30th minute. Cannon had to dive at the right post to make the stop.

Cannon came up big again by bodying away a point-blank blast off the left foot of Montero in the 38th minute. Cannon absorbed the hard shot from Montero, who nearly turned a nice pass from Steve Zakuani into a goal.

Cannon couldn't hold off a left-footed drive from Ljungberg as Sounders FC went up 1-0 in the 42nd minute. Ljungberg took a pass from Sebastien Le Toux on the left wing and drilled a 10-yard shot off the outstretched left hand of Cannon at the left post, but the ball found the back of the net.

Montero cleaned up a header from Patrick Ianni at the left post, banging in a 5-yard shot to give Seattle a 2-0 lead in the 59th minute. The play started on Ljungberg's corner kick from the right side as Ianni's flicked header made it to the feet of Montero, who tallied his fifth goal of the season.

Matt Massey is a contributor to MLSnet.com

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