By: Joe Lami

photo credit empireofsoccer.com: Bradley Wright Phillips of the New York Red Bulls knows it’s curtains as the San Jose Earthquakes deliver a 2-0 shutout against the Bulls on Wednesday night at Avaya Stadium in San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif.—On the same night the Golden State Warriors won their 73rd game of the season, and Kobe Bryant walked off the court for the final time, the San Jose Earthquakes quietly picked up three more points in the Western Conference with a 2-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night at Avaya Stadium.

The weekday match was huge for Dominic Kinnear and company, as they move up to fourth place in the Western Conference, just three points shy of first-place Dallas.

“I don’t want to get to philosophical, but as I was driving into the game today, I was thinking there’s no such thing as a bad win. There’s good wins and bad ties and all loses are bad, so anytime we can get a win and we didn’t play our best tonight, but in the end, three points is huge. To pick up wins midweek. When you look around and other teams are dropping points and you’re at the top of the standings, it gives you confidence.”

San Jose started their onslaught in the 33rd minute after a great chance by Chris Wondolowski after a Bulls midfielder slipped and coughed the ball up. Wondo nearly got the scoring started by missed on the breakaway just past the lower left part of the post.

Just six minutes later, Fatai Alashe opened up the scoring for the Quakes, netting his first of the season. The play was set up by Shea Salinas before Matias Perez Garcia got the ball to Alashe in the box. Alashe ripped a right footed shot that got deflected before finding the back of the net.

San Jose extended their lead in the 55th minute when Wondolowski netted his league leading 5th goal of the campaign in his sixth game. The header was knocked in after a beautiful cross from Salinas, who picked up the assist on the play.

Once again, the pitch became a factor at Avaya Stadium, as the Red Bulls had trouble staying on their feet as the game slipped away from them.  “We knew that coming here and we watched previous games and saw guys slipping all over. We warned our guys about it and talked to them about it,” said Red Bulls coach, Jesse Marsch. “With everything that’s going on, you have to make your own breaks. Part of making your own breaks, you have to play with no fear. We aren’t getting many right now and we have to find a way to will ourselves to a victory”.

The Red Bulls continue to struggle, sitting at the basement of the Eastern Conference with just three points.

San Jose continues their tough stretch of games on Saturday, as they travel to Portland to take on the struggling Timbers. “It doesn’t really matter who you’re playing. You just want to pick up points whenever you can,” adds Kinnear.