With their first win in three years behind them, the San Jose Earthquakes appear to have the confidence to approach the rest of the season.
The Earthquakes look to build off that victory when they visit the New York Red Bulls on Sunday.
After being held scoreless in its first two games of the season, San Jose (1-2-0) finally got on the board - and the win column - with a 2-0 victory at Colorado on April 19. The victory was the first since 2005 for a franchise that has returned to MLS after a two-year hiatus.
"I knew all along that we would be fine, but it is nice to get that first win so we don't have to think about it," San Jose coach Frank Yallop said. "We can't dwell on this one, though, because we have another tough one on the road we have to be ready for."
Ronnie O'Brien scored the team's first goal, then assisted on Kei Kamara's second-half tally for the Earthquakes, who were outscored 3-0 in their first two matches.
San Jose will play its second consecutive road contest and third this season when it visits New York (1-1-1). Prior to its hiatus from MLS, San Jose was 13-6-5 all-time versus the Red Bulls franchise.
"We're going to go there with the same attitude we had (against Colorado) and hopefully we can get something out of that," Yallop said.
New York, meanwhile, is coming off a 1-1 home draw with New England on April 19. Though the Red Bulls earned a point after losing 2-0 at FC Dallas on April 12, they were not pleased by allowing the Revolution to score while playing a man down in the second half.
"I have to be disappointed, yes, because we let two points go," New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "In general, I have to be optimistic and think that we are improving."
Even more disappointing for the Red Bulls is the expected absence of last season's top goal scorer Juan Pablo Angel.
Angel, who missed the match versus Dallas, left in the second half against New England due to what appeared to be a hamstring injury at the time.
After being checked out, Angel, second in MLS with 19 goals in 2007, was diagnosed with spondylosis, a degenerative inflammatory arthritis in his lower back. The club hopes to have him ready for Thursday's match at FC Toronto.
"We feel pretty strongly that we'll get this under control and we should be able to eliminate the problem for the future," New York trainer Rick Guter told the team's official Web site of Angel, who has one assist in two games.
Jozy Altidore will be on the field for the Red Bulls after scoring his first goal of the year last week.
"The effort was there from all the guys and we'll just try and build from here," said Altidore, who was second to Angel with nine goals in 2007.
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