Wondolowski helps San Jose earn draw at New York
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Red Bull New York's Kenny Cooper and Thierry Henry continued to terrorize opponents Saturday, but the San Jose Earthquakes countered with Chris Wondolowski to earn a 2-2 draw at Red Bull Arena.
Cooper scored his seventh goal this year off an assist from Henry and assisted on a goal for Dax McCarty, but Wondolowski assisted on a goal for Rafael Baca and scored his seventh of the season to cap a four-goal first half.
New York (3-2-1) and San Jose (4-1-0) had each won their last three matches in Major League Soccer, but settled for their first draws of the season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cooper and Henry continued to build on their dynamic partnership from the last three matches as Cooper turned an Henry pass into the goal less than 5 minutes into the match.
Over the last four matches, the duo has produced 13 goals (six for Cooper and seven for Henry), but New York was not able to maintain the lead for long.
Baca pulled the Earthquakes level in the 15th minute after a McCarty turnover, as Wondolowski made a nice pass in midfield to send Khari Stephenson into the right side of the area and his square pass set up an easy finish for Baca.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cooper turned provider minutes later for his first assist of the season, as he flicked on a Dane Richards cross to McCarty, who fired into the net from just inside the area in the 22nd for his first goal with New York.
The goals continued to flow as San Jose scored in the 35th minute on a strike from Wondolowski, his seventh of the year to tie Cooper and Henry for the MLS lead. Wondolowski finished a nice short pass from Shea Salinas with a header.
Cooper nearly added another first-half goal, but he drilled the frame minutes after Wondolowski's goal, and scoring chances were few and far between for the rest of the match.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Although no more goals followed in the first 45 minutes, San Jose lost Salinas to a fractured clavicle after Rafael Marquez fell on him, and Victor Bernardez to a strained MCL on the same play late in the half.
Both sides settled in after the break, and scoring chances were rare for both. Even through the final minutes of the match and stoppage time, both clubs were content for a point, as the second half failed to live up to the first.
San Jose returns home to Buck Shaw Stadium on April 21 to host Real Salt Lake in a battle of top two teams in the Western Conference, while New York visits D.C. United on April 22 for its next match.