Opportunity Missed For Earthquakes
By Barbara Mason
sjearthquakes. com photo: Victor Bernandez finds the inside of the net for the San Jose Earthquakes first and only goal of Friday night against the Houston Dynamos at Avaya Stadium in San Jose
SAN JOSE–Under smokey skies the San Jose Earthquakes took on the last place Houston Dynamo Friday night in an effort to seize hold of sixth place in the Western MLS standings. Houston has lost or tied their last 6 games and San Jose at the moment is on the outside looking in when it comes to playoff hopes. A win tonight coupled with a Portland loss would put San Jose into 6th place. Portland, which has struggled with away games, is on the road against Seattle this Sunday.
It has been tough of late for the Quakes who had played to six draws in their previous 11 road matches. San Jose was able to beat Vancouver 2-1 last Friday which may get them back on the winning track especially since road wins are so very difficult. With the Quakes one point behind Portland for a coveted playoff spot the momentum of that Vancouver win may be just what the team needs. “We are poised to do well in this run to the playoffs,” said forward Quincy Amarikwa. The Earthquakes are 5-3-1 all-time at home against the last-place Dynamos.
It was a tough start for San Jose missing a nice set-up and then watching as Houston drove downfield scoring the first goal of the evening taking the early lead 1-0 when #6 Ricardo Clark scored. Late in the first half the Earthquakes had a direct free-kick, missing on the attempt that could have tied up the game. Houston would take the 1-0 lead into the locker room at the half. Although San Jose created three chances they only took one shot on target.
The second half saw San Jose with several great scoring opportunities but coming away empty. Houston took full advantage creating a great chance early in the second half that enabled #50 David Horst to extend the Houston lead to 2-0. The Earthquakes kept the pressure on Houston and finally found the net off the foot of #5 Victor Bernandez San Jose now trailing 2-1. The second half saw more possession time for the Earthquakes and the creation of more scoring opportunities but there would be no further scoring for either team as Houston went on to win the game 2-1.
Head Coach Dominic Kinnear was disappointed at the outcome of this game. “I’m disappointed, we had a lot of chances but it just didn’t happen,” said Kinnear. He referred a number of times to the lost opportunity to catch Portland but did give credit to Houston despite the fact that they are last in the conference. “They are a good team and work well together,” he said.
While it was not the end all be all for the Earthquakes a win would have been pretty nice and was essentially expected especially playing at Avaya. The most disappointing of all was the fact that this was only the second loss at home for the team.
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