Discarded Soca Warriors' striker, Scott Sealey assisted on the opening goal as the San Jose Earthquakes scored a stunning 3-1 win over New York Red Bulls to advance to the MLS Eastern Conference final on Friday night. With the second-leg victory, the Earthquakes won the two-leg playoff series 3-2 on aggregate at the Red Bull Arena after losing the first-leg 1-0. San Jose started strong from the onset, predictably pushing hard for the early goal and getting it in the sixth minute through Bobb Convey.
New York got off to a strong start in the second half but the Earthquakes hung tight and compact and got a second goal in the 76th minute through Convey. Red Bulls pulled a goal back in the 79th minute but the Earthquakes answered back immediately Chris Wondolowski headed in the decider. San Jose will now meet Colorado Rapids in the Conference final after they defeated Columbus Crew 5-4 on penalty-kicks on Saturday night.
The Crew trailed 1-0 after the first-leg and won the second-leg 2-1 to send the tie into the dreaded penalty shoot-out. The Eastern Conference final will be played between November 11 and 14. Last night, Soca Warriors midfielder, Christopher Birchall and his Los Angeles Galaxy went into its Western Conference semifinal second-leg with slim 1-0 lead over Seattle Sounders with FC Dallas which drew 1-1 with Real Salt Lake in its second-leg semifinal on Saturday to win the home-and-away tie 3-2. The Western Conference finals are also carded for November 11 to 14 while the MLS Cup will be contested on November 21.
