The New York Red Bulls will look to move a step closer to the Eastern Conference final tonight with a win or tie against the San Jose Earthquakes in the second leg of their MLS playoff series at Red Bull Arena (8pm, ESPN2).

The Earthquakes need a win tonight after dropping the first leg, 1-0, at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Red Bulls can advance with a win or tie tonight.

I will be providing commentary throughout the night so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Tonight's commentary is after the jump):

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FINAL– Lastly. Major kudos to the San Jose fans who made the cross-country trip here to Red Bull Arena. It's a nice-sized contingent of Earthquakes fans, and they will go home happy tonight.

That's all for me. Thank you for following along and be sure to catch our post-game coverage on SBI. Good night. 

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FINAL– The Earthquakes will take on the winner of the Columbus-Colorado series, with the winner of that series hosting the Eastern Conference final.

Yes, we could have a San Jose-Colorado Eastern Conference final.

Tonight's game has to go down as one of the best playoff games in league history. At least in the past five years. NY fans will remember it painfully, but the match just might wind up helping the team grow as it looks toward 2011. 

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FINAL– Angel just walked off the field at Red Bull Arena for what will likely be the final time. What a great four years he had for New York. Fitting that he scores in his final game. He won't soon be forgotten. 

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FINAL– What a frantic, dramatic and unforgettable end to the match. New York kept pushing and pushing, trying to break down San Jose, but it was the Earthquakes who succeeded in finding the net, doing so three times against a Red Bulls defense that had been so tough all season. 

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FINAL– EARTHQUAKES 3, RED BULLS 1. And San Jose wins the series, 3-2, knocking off the top seed in the East.

WHAT A GAME. WOW.

Bobby Convey was the star tonight, delivered when he had to, and had a hand in all three goals. 

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88th Minute– HENRY HIGH, with the free header. He got too high that time.

There figures to be a good amount of stoppage time.

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87th Minute– San Jose deserves all the credit right now for withstanding all that pressure and finding the gaps in NY's defense on the counter. Bobby Convey is having an amazing game and it's not looking good for the Red Bulls right now.

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85th Minute– NY is in a 3-4-3 right now, with Miller and Hall as fullbacks and Ibrahim target forward up top with Henry and Angel.

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84th Minute– Agudelo, Mendes and Albright come out.

Before you go too crazy about Agudelo coming out, keep in mind he's never played this many minutes before.

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83rd Minute– NY preparing a triple sub, with Henry, Ibrahim and Hall ready to come in. You have to wonder if Backe waited too long to sub.

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81st Minute- GOAL SAN JOSE!!! And it's WONDOLOWSKI with the finish, off a pass from Convey. WOW. Earthquakes take the lead!! San Jose 3, NY 1, 3-2 on the series now. WOW.

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80th Minute– Angel is hurt on a play that was blown dead before Busch ran into him. He's being treated on the side and will likely be replaced by Henry. This series is tied 2-2 right now, so we're looking at a 30-minute overtime period.

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78th Minute– GOAL RED BULLS!!!!!! And it's ANGEL with the finish, off a cross from Agudelo, who finds him all alone on the back post WOW, What A GAME!!! 

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77th Minute– GOAL EARTHQUAKES!!! And it's COnvey with his second, a close-range blast after turning on Ream and breaking in on goal. WOW. San Jose 2, NY 0.

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76th Minute– Here comes Henry, he's standing on the sidelines, ready to come in.

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74th Minute– Alvarez is ready to come in for San Jose. He's replacing a largely ineffective Geovanni.

Wow, what a suspect foul call against Agudelo, who shrugged off a defender with strength, but not really a foul.

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73rd Minute– Agudelo has a go from distance and misses just wide.

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71st Minute– The Henry chant begins. Wonder how long Backe waits.

Lindpere springs Agudelo, but the youngster's pass can't produce a real chance. NY is still looking for the go-ahead goal while San Jose looks for opportunities to counter.

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70th Minute– San Jose corner kick. Taking their time to take it.

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68th Minute– Ballouchy has been very active and now you wonder if Backe takes Angel off for Henry. 

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66th Minute– Agudelo earns a corner after battling MacDonald. You can really feel the passing of the torch tonight from Angel to Agudelo.

Corner taken short, Marquez's cross in is cleared away.

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64th Minute– One player who has been quiet tonight is Wondolowski. He's floating around central midfield, hasn't really had a look.

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62nd Minute– We've hit a bit of a lull as New York regroups and rests a bit. Can San Jose put together an attack? They've struggled to build anything.

Angel gets stripped of the ball.

Tonight's attendance is 22,849. Club record for a home playoff match.

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60th Minute– Red Bulls are on the attack, Ballouchy had a great look in front of goal, but had his shot blocked. NY is pressing hard. Can San Jose withstand this?

Angel just skied a long free kick into the stands and the fans aren't happy. He is having a bad night in what could be his last game for NY.

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59th Minute– Agudelo with a menacing run, but can't get a shot off. He's looked threatening a few times tonight and you get the feeling he'll get another great look before the night is done.

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57th Minute– Albright looks to be laboring a bit. You wonder if he can go 90 tonight. Hall would be a more athletic option, though not as good a defender. May not matter if Albright doesn't have the gas.

Still waiting on Henry.

San Jose has Arturo Alvarez as its bench attacking option. He figures to get in this game at some point.

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54th Minute– Marquez is wide by a foot. Good look, but couldn't sneak it inside the post.

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52nd Minute– When does Henry come in? I'd say 60th minute or so. Who for? Angel hasn't done anything, but you could see Ballouchy come out and Agudelo move to the left. You'd want Angel in OT and PKs.

Red Bulls dangerous free kick after a foul on Agudelo.

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51st Minute– Great atmosphere rom the crowd right now. ESC is rocking. Shame that some season ticket holders with midfield seats didn't bother to show up or give up their tickets.

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50th Minute– Roy Miller with the slalom run into the area, but his shot is high. Great look there.

Ryan Johnson is down on the ground. He's back up now. Looks to have taken a shot to the face or head.

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48th Minute– Red Bulls go colse and keep the pressure on. San Jose looks a little out of sorts defensively.

Albright is limping for NY. If he is hurt, Jeremy Hall would get the call.

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46th Minute– We're back and San Jose earns a questionable foul that gives them a free kick on the left side. It's headed clear for a corner.

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HALFTIME– Some thoughts on the first half of action:

Rafa Marquez really stepped it up after a slow start.

San Jose's counter looks very dangerous and could find a goal before the day is out.

Juan Pablo Angel has been invisible.

Juan Agudelo looks very good and USA fans have to be LOVING what they're seeing.

Some MLS Award voters have to be reconsidering their selection after watching Tim Ream's first-half performance.

Geovanni hasn't been that involved.

Convey looked sharp, but you wonder how the move to fullback will lessen his impact. 

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HALFTIME– San Jose 1, New York 0. Convey's goal ties the series, but New York dominated play for the last 25 minutes of the half. They couldn't find a goal though and may regret the wasted chances. 

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48th Minute– Convey shifting to left back will hurt their attack, and Richards has had success against Convey before. Conversely, Eduardo gives San Jose four players on the field who could be forwards.

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47th Minute– Eduardo getting ready to come in, look for Convey to move to left back.

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45th Minute– Three minutes of stoppage time.

Corrales has a hamstring injury. Play is stopped. Tough loss for the Earthquakes if he can't go.

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44th Minute– San Jose finds numbers getting forward again, but can't connect on the final pass. NY is living on the edge right now. Another SJ goal would be a killer.

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42nd Minute– Coundoul has that look tonight. For the shakiness he can exhibit at times, he can also deliver some outstanding games. He looks sharp tonight. 

RICHARDS WIDE!!! So close from the Jamaican after a great to spring him behind the D from Lindpere.

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42nd Minute– SAVE COUNDOUL!!!! What a stop to deny Ryan Johnson. WOW.

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41st Minute– Coundoul skies to grab a San Jose corner. Good work in the air on that one.

Can NY test Jon Busch? They've had possession, and some looks, but Busch hasn't been tested yet.

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39th Minute– AGUDELO OFF THE POST!! Great dribble to free himself in the area, but his blast hits the frame.

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36th Minute– Red Bulls get on the attack and Angel settles for a shot from distances that goes wide. He hasn't gotten going tonight, and has struggled for some time now. His chances will come, but it's about time for Angel to convert one. Right now Agudelo looks more likely to score.

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34th Minute– If you are following along tonight with the SBI commentary, please let me know in the comments section, and let me know where you're following from.

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32nd Minute– Yellow for Corrales,  who will tread carefully as he tries to stay with Richards while carrying that card. Won't be easy.

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31st Minute– NY must be careful when pushing forward because San Jose is breaking into its counter very quickly and finding numbers. That said, the Earthquakes can't afford to keep taking on so much pressure. Geovanni and Cronin need to help gain some possession.

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30th Minute– Red Bulls tee off on three shots, but all are blocked in front of goal outside the area.

San Jose is on its heels and Marquez is starting to impose himself on this match.

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29th Minute– Better from Marquez, who is starting to get more involved. 

Sam Cronin is playing well for San Jose tonight. Ream is looking strong for NY.

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27th Minute– San Jose finds numbers on the counter yet again, and there's Tim Ream to save the day.

Earthquakes corner.

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25th Minute– One player who looks good early is Agudelo. He's confident on the ball and shifty enough to create space for himself. Angel has yet to be heard from really.

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24th Minute– It's early, but Marquez isn't having a great game. NY needs him to dominate, and he's struggling right now.

Thierry Henry is warming up, but so are all the NY subs.

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21st Minute– Agudelo dribbles into the area, but can only muster a low shot Busch easily collects. New York is taking control, but needs to show some patience in the final third.

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18th Minute– Marquez has a go from distance, but it's just high. New York has settled down and is forcing the action, but San Jose is clearly out to push the Red Bulls defense tonight. The key for NY will be keeping possession. Marquez and Lindpere will be vital.

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17th Minute– The corner bounces to Agudelo, but is ultimately cleared away.

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17th Minute– Red Bulls corner.

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15th Minute– With Sealy and Wondolowski slipping forward from midfield, New York is having a tough time keeping up with off-the-ball movement by San Jose. Marquez needs to take control of the midfield.

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13th Minute– Angel sends the kick high into the stands. Not a great effort.

How long can San Jose keep up this pressure? And how long can San Jose's defense contain Richards and Agudelo?

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12th Minute– Agudelo draws a foul from McDonald and New York has a free kick from about 35 yards out, left of the arc. It's far out but Angel and Marquez could test Busch from there.

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11th Minute– McDonald just went down hard after going high for a challenge. He landed hard on his arm, but is up and walking to the sideline. San Jose would have Bobby Burling to replace him, but would feel the loss.

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9th Minute– Richards is being attended to. The fans in the stadium are chanting loudly, trying to wake up the Red Bulls, who haven't been bad, but who fell asleep in the area and left Convey a clear look at goal on a busted play.

San Jose is forcing the issue and New York looks frazzled.

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8th Minute– Dream start for the Earthquakes. How will New York respond?

Richards goes down and no foul is called. He's still on the turf, but San Jose is still playing.

SAVE COUNDOUL!!

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6th Minute- GOAL EARTHQUAKES. And it's Bobby Convey burying a loose ball to give San Jose a 1-0 lead and tie the series at 1-1.

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4th Minute– Wondolowski with a weak dribbler to Coundoul. Red Bulls need to keep tabs on him and Roy Miller must stay tight on the MLS goals leader.

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2nd Minute– Wondolowski is deployed on the right wing for San Jose, while Lindpere is in central midfield, with Ballouchy on the left flank.

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1st Minute– We are underway.

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PRE-GAME– Interesting to see three quarters of San Jose's defense consisting of former Red Bulls. Ramiro Corrales, Tim Ward and Jason Hernandez all started out with the MetroStars. Earthquakes defender Chris Leitch is on the bench and is another former Metro.

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PRE-GAME– Teams are getting ready to take the field after a rousing anthem. We're close to kickoff now.

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PRE-GAME– It's a chilly night and misty, but not really rainy. The field doesn't look bad and shouldn't be an issue, but we'll know for sure once the game starts.

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PRE-GAME– The Marquez-Geovanni battle will be fun to watch, and key to whether the Earthquakes can really generate chances against a Red Bulls defense that looked sharp in Game One.

The Richards-Corrales battle will also be one to watch. Richards was quiet last week, but the narrow field at Buck Shaw surely hindered him. Here, at Red Bull Arena, Richards will have plenty of room to operate. Corrales isn't fast, but he's smart and will need to have impeccable positioning to keep Richards from having a big game today.

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PRE-GAME– Juan Agudelo gets the nod tonight. Shouldn't be a surprise, but sort of is given Hans Backe's fascination with Salou Ibrahim. Ultimately, you couldn't leave the young striker on the bench. He gave San Jose's defense fits and will be key tonight, along with Dane Richards.

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PRE-GAME– Here are the starting lineups:

Red Bulls

————-Angel———–Agudelo————-

Ballouchy———Lindpere————–Richards

———————–Marquez———————

Miller——-Ream————-Mendes—–Albright

———————–Coundoul———————-

BENCH- Sutton, Petke, Ibrahim, Robinson, Henry, Tchani, Hall

Earthquakes

————Geovanni———-Johnson———————

Convey—————-Sealy————-Wondolowski

————————Cronin—————————–

Corrales——Hernandez—–McDonald———-Ward

————————-Busch——————————

BENCH- Edwards, Burling, Leitch, Ring, Stephenson, Alvarez, Eduardo

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