By Matthew T.F. Harrington
The San Jose Earthquakes saw a sure-fire victory turn into an unsatisfying tie after two Quakes players managed to find the back of the net. Chris Wondolowski scored early, but a misplaced ball by Victor Bernadez led to an own-goal, resulting in a 1-1 tie between San Jose and Real Salt Lake Friday night.
Wondolowski’s fourth goal of the season in the 19th minute came on a play that could have just as easily been called back as offsides. The U.S. Men’s National Team forward snuck behind a pair of Salt Lake defenders but without the ball. Shea Salinas fired the ball forward, pinballing off the rearguards to the foot of Wondolowski. Wondolowski fired the shot dead-on up top put the Quakes up 1-0.
The Earthquakes (3-4-1) appeared on track to bounce back from a 2-0 loss to New York two weeks ago, but the Bernardez blunder in the 71st minute spoiled any chances for a three-point night for San Jose. Bernandez, under pressure from an RSL forward, tried to chip a harmless volley back to his goalkeeper to reset the play. Or so he thought.
Instead of remaining in net, Goalkeeper David Bingham chose an aggressive approach to cut the ball off himself. Instead, he watched as Bernadez’s routine pass floated over his head and into the back of a wide-open net for the home team’s equalizing score while snapping a stretch of three-straight scoreless contests for Real Salt Lake (2-2-4).
Neither team mustered much offense over the remainder of the contest. Now San Jose rolls into a meeting with another 10-point team, the Houston Dynamo, seeking to separate itself from the other three Western Conference teams fighting for sixth place and a playoff spot.
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