By: Eric He
photo credit: squawka.com–San Jose Earthquakes Quincy Amarikwa is congratulated after scoring the Quakes second goal on Sunday at Avaya Stadium
SAN JOSE – Quincy Amarikwa’s wonder goal helped the San Jose Earthquakes prevail 2-1 over the defending-champion Portland Timbers at Avaya Stadium on Sunday evening.
Amarikwa scored in stoppage time of the first half on a perfectly placed chip shot from well outside the box to put the Earthquakes ahead 2-0.
“I made my second touch and looked up and I saw the keeper still struggling to get back to his end line,” Amarikwa said. “I figured if I could put it over his back right shoulder, I’d have the best opportunity to get a goal in that situation. Knowing there was a bunch of puddles on the field, I wasn’t sure if the best course of action would be to dribble, so I had a go and it went in the back of the net.”
Portland, which outshot San Jose 16-8 in the game, put forth a valiant effort in the second half, finally getting on the board in the 89th minute on a goal by Jack McInerney. It was too little, too late, however, as the Earthquakes hung on for the win.
“It’s nice to execute a nice game plan,” said captain Chris Wondolowski. “I thought we knew what we wanted to do.”
The Timbers started off controlling possession and outshot the Earthquakes 10-3 in the first half, but six of those shots were off-target.
Still, they had their fair share of scoring changes, but Lucas Melano banged one off the crossbar five minutes in and a sliding block from Clarence Goodson thwarted Fanendo Adi’s bid on a rush.
Meanwhile, San Jose made its attempts count.
In the 30th minute, Wondolowksi directed in a cross from Anibal Godoy for his second goal in as many games.
Then – in stoppage time – came the goal of the early MLS season. Amarikwa chipped one from 35-feet out on the right flank that eluded the diving Adam Larsen Kwarasey to give San Jose a 2-0 advantage heading into the locker room.
“It gives you chills when you see plays like that no matter what,” head coach Dominic Kinnear said.
When asked about the parallel between his shot and a Stephen Curry long-distance 3-pointer, Amarikwa did not hesitate.
“I’ve been watching Curry shoot from everywhere so I was like, ‘Oh man. If he can do it, I can get lucky one time,’” he said.
Wondolowski noted that it was a well-deserved goal for the scrappy forward.
“His work ethic is contagious,” Wondolowski sad. “He does so much that doesn’t show up in the box score. He doesn’t get as much credit as he should. That’s why I’m so glad he gets a world class goal where people can see how great he is.”
The Earthquakes notch their first win over the Timbers for the first time in five matches and start the season 2-0-0. They head into Saturday’s match against the Galaxy on the road with a head full of steam.
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