Author: smallforce

Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS, GRAHAM HUGHES/AP PHOTO

By Pearl Allison Lo

The Montreal Impact turned what looked like an impending draw, into a 2-0 win over San Jose Saturday at Stade Saputo, in the 81st minute.

The game winning goal was started by the Impact’s Marco Di Vaio in the back right corner of the box. Quakes’ goalie Jon Busch knocked it away, but inadvertently into the path of Montreal Jack McInerney’s knee, which the ball bounced right back off, into the net.

Unfortunately, since the Colombus Crew and New York Red Bulls also won, Montreal was knocked out of playoff contention.

The Impact had four shots before Atiba Harris had San Jose’s first attempt in the 21st minute.

In the 44th minute, the Quakes’ Jason Hernandez was walking and then suddenly fell backwards. It was later determined that he suffered a right knee sprain. He was replaced by Ty Harden for the second half.

San Jose’s Matias Perez Garcia entered to play for the first time after a knee injury more than a month ago in the 78th minute.

Perez Garcia’s free kick in the 83rd minute was the Quakes’ first shot on goal and ended up being the only one.

In the 88th minute, Di Vaio got the assist this time as he kicked the ball behind his back to Dilly Duka. Duka, working against Sam Cronin, was able to use a fake to get past him and shot the ball in between Cronin and Ty Harden past an outstretched Busch.

Despite the final score, San Jose was leading the second half battle.

Game notes: Uruguyan Pablo Pintos made his Quakes debut as he started the game. The Impact’s Ignacio Piatti led all players with five shots. On Tuesday, San Jose season ticket holder Debbie Freeman will install Earthquake Stadiums’ first seat, her own, before sitting in it. The Quakes take on the Colorado Rapids Saturday at 6pm.

 

By Pearl Allison Lo

In the very tight race at the top of the MLS table, San Jose still managed to rock the boat as they pulled the Sounders to a 1-1 draw Wednesday.

Seattle got back into a tie with Real Salt Lake for top of the Western Conference and now three teams in the league have 42 points. On the other end, the Quakes are part of a three way tie for third worst in the league, but San Jose held their own.

To possibly make a point, the Sounders’ Clint Dempsey was on the bench and did not seem like he was going to play at all. However, one Chris Wondolowski scored, Dempsey was subbed in six minutes later.

Seattle’s Chad Barrett alluded to the early confidence, “Once we got the lead I thought we were going to carry it out for three points. Definitely two points dropped.”

Ironically, the result kept the two stingiest teams in MLS during the second half even, despite both giving up a goal.

In the 46th minute, the Sounders’ Andy Rose passed the ball to Obafemi Martins who spotted Barrett ahead, with just his defender Jordan Stewart and goalie Jon Busch before the net. The five other red jerseys shown on screen when Barrett got the ball, would race in vain, as Barrett won the challenge against a forward-racing Busch.  It was Barrett’s 50th career goal and second goal in as many games.

Wondo set his goal in motion when he passed to Cordell Cato. Cato used fancy footwork against DeAndre Yedlin to cross the ball past a diving Stefan Frei. Rose didn’t quite get enough foot to stop the ball & Wondo knocked it in in the 65th minute.

Martins received a yellow card in the 77th minute for a tackle that had Victor Bernardez pounding the ground with his hands. The end result was Shaun Francis coming in as Bernardez limped off the field with his right foot in the air.

The Quakes received their first corner in the 83rd minute.

They had a 4-on-2 chance later, braced by Seattle corners, but lost the ball.

The game ended with a Dempsey header caught by Busch.

Game notes: San Jose’s Jason Hernandez’s six game undefeated streak playing against the Sounders remained intact, now at 6-0-1 and the series between the team earned its first tie, now 6-2-1 since 2012. Seattle’s Marco Pappa led all with six shots in his return to the field. The Quakes’ Tommy Thompson made his first start as he played in his second game in a row, with 87 minutes logged. Teammate Adam Jahn then took over as he made a rare appearance. San Jose heads to Philadelphia next to face the Union Sunday at 5pm PST.

Photo credit: Russ Isabella – USA Today

By Pearl Allison Lo

CARSON, CA– It was another game in Los Angeles Galaxy’ Landon Donovan’s most memorable MLS moment, the California Clasico, as San Jose made their two chances count for a 2-2 draw Friday.

The Galaxy dominated but couldn’t find the edge they needed for a win. They had 24-3 attempts on goal, 10-2 in the first half.

The Quakes’ Chris Wondolowski scored first. After a blocked shot, Sam Cronin got the ball to Shea Salinas who ran it to Wondo. Wondo then used three touches to position himself and hit his mark straight into the right corner of the net in the 18th minute.

Los Angeles’ Gyasi Zardes finally got a ball through the net when he got a rebound off a San Jose defender in the 29th minute. Zardes’ goal was preceded by a Donovan pass to Robbie Keane. It was Zardes’ third straight goal in as many games. He had a missed header in the 28th minute and was constantly buzzing around the net .

The Quakes didn’t waste long to get back ahead. It started with a giveaway from Donovan. The ball then went to Atiba Harris, Wondolowski and the newcomer. Matias Perez Garcia’s shot hit goalie Jaime Penedo and bounced in in the 31st minute, for his first goal. Perez Garcia side slid in celebration and later seemed to be wiping away tears. Wondo now has an assist in three straight games for the first time in his career.

After the game regarding his goal, Perez Garcia said, “There was a good ball played into the middle and I didn’t have any doubts when it came to me and I just focused and hit it.” Wondolowski responded about his three assists, “”I always try to do whatever I can to help the team win, whether that is scoring goals, trying to set up goals or find the open guy. To be honest, all three of the goals that came from my assists were great finishes. I just made the pass to the open guy and my teammates did most of the work.”

It would have been a giveaway and another Zardes goal in the 41st minute, but he was offsides.

In the 49th minute, Galaxy Omar Gonzalez got a header off a corner from Stefan Ishizaki and bounced it in even again and made the score 2-2.

San Jose’s Victor Bernardez suffered a blow when he collided with a teammate in the 67th minute. He was down for awhile and ended up being subbed out for Ty Harden.

The Quakes got lucky again in the 92nd minute. It looked like Keane scored what could be the very last go-ahead goal, but it was called back by a foul.

Game notes: It was Perez Garcia’s debut as he was signed July 31st.  He ended up playing 83 minutes and  replaced Yannick Djalo, who could be out up to a month, after suffering a quad strain in the last game against Seattle.  It was both Donovan’s first game since he announced retirement and his 300th career start.  San Jose will host FC Dallas on Saturday the 16th at 7:30pm.

By Pearl Allison Lo

A game that involved a penalty goal by his own hand, Steven turned it around in a 1-1 draw between his San Jose Earthquake and the New York Red Bulls Sunday.

It was New York’s fourth draw in their last seven games.

The Quakes experienced deja vu in the 31st and 32nd minutes from the last game. Another team member, this time Lenhart, was called for a handball in the penalty box and Brandon Wright-Phillips got Jon Busch to react first. Wright-Phillips scored on the penalty kick to put the Red Bulls on the board first. It was Wright-Phillips’ 17th goal of the season.

In between the call and the kick, San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski received a yellow for arguing.

Lenhart got a yellow card in the 64th minute after numbering the amount of times he was fouled during the game, but nothing was done.

Things looked rather hopeless for the Quakes until Lenhart got some goonie magic going with an 85th minute goal to level the score. It was scored on his second touch in a row and was his first goal of the season.

Wondolowski and Phillips got the first four shots of the game.

In the 4th and the 7th minutes, Wondolowski’s chances started from the right side, originating from teammate Shea Salinas.

Wright-Phillips’ contributions came a bit later, with the first in the 23rd minute and the second in the 28th minute.

The Quakes’ Jason Hernandez had a perfect header to prevent a goal in the 31st minute as Busch was caught near the post defending as well.

Game notes: New York had 21 to San Jose’s seven fouls and the Quakes won duels 61 to the Red Bulls’ 42. San Jose returns home Wednesday at 7:30pm to host the Chicago Fire.

 

Photo credit: Godofredo Vasquez/SFBay

By Pearl Allison Lo

D.C. United’s Bill Hamid had a career high nine saves as he fought off an increasing San Jose second-half attack to preserve a 2-1 score for his team Friday, an identical score to their last game.

Hamid’s saves included saves against Chris Wondolowski near the goal, a near equalizer by Atiba Harris in the 66th minute and chances from Alan Gordon.

It may technically have been the best in the East versus the worst in the West, but despite the score, it did not quite play out that way.

San Jose’s Brandon Barklage had an inadvertent handball in the box in the 11th minute, which set up a penalty kick by Eddie Johnson. The ball by Johnson was followed by goalie Jon Busch and looked like it glanced off Busch as Johnson made it 1-0 in the 12th minute.

Luis Silva doubled the lead in the 25th minute. He took a pass from teammate Chris Rolfe on the left and got it past in time before a sliding Clarence Goodson into the net’s lower right corner. It was Silva’s fourth goal in as many games.

After major work on a run by the Quakes’ Jordan Stewart, the ball got to Khari Stephenson, who passed it to Wondolowski. With a lot of traffic in front, especially opposing traffic, Wondo got San Jose got on board with the help of a deflection in the 39th minute. This was a  minute after Wondo was called offside.

The Quakes’ Shea Salinas returned after three games nursing a lower abdominal strain to come in to play in the 67th minute.

Game notes: San Jose has now lost their last four regular season games by one goal. They did manage to score their first goal in four games with Wondo’s return. The Quakes play their only away game of the month next in New York, facing the Red Bulls at 4pm PST.

 

TONY OVERMAN — Staff photographer for The News Tribune?

By Pearl Allison Lo

Seattle goalie Marcus Hahnemann outshone the San Jose Earthquakes’ goalie David Bingham in the last part of the game, as the Quakes fell 4-1 in the U.S. Open Cup Tuesday.

Bingham, who made a number of outstanding saves, mostly in the second half and extra time, was unable to stop any of the penalty kicks he faced.

Hahnemann saved JJ Koval’s shot and the Sounders’ Lamar Neagle helped his team advance.

In the first half, a goal kick by Bingham went all the way to Atiba Harris. #24 Steven Lenhart then headed the ball and got his own ball back to score in the 24th minute against Hahnemann.

Seattle’s Kenny Cooper scored his 10th Open Cup goal by positioning himself on the left side of the field. Neagle, who received the ball from Leonardo Gonzalez, passed it to Cam Weaver and then received the ball back. The final play came as the ball went to Cooper who was closer to the goal now, as he scored in the 26th minute.

San Jose’s Clarence Goodson almost gave his team an own goal in the 43rd minute.

The Sounders had the majority of chances in the second half, outshooting the Quakes 21-9.

At one point, San Jose’s Khari Stephenson had a free kick attempt right outside of the box straightaway.

Seattle had at least 18 corners.

In the penalty round, Stephenson once again converted on a penalty kick, as he took the first shot. It was his second conversion in as many game as he scored against Sacramento Republic FC. The Quakes’ Alan Gordon’s shot hit the post and was saved.

Game notes: In the quarterfinals, the Sounders will face their nemesis Portland Timbers in the Cascadia Clash.

San Jose will still play also in another exciting match. For MLS, the California Clasico, against  rival Los Angeles Galaxy at Stanford Stadium, will be June 28 at 7:30pm.

Photo credit: The Canadian Press

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Earthquakes’ three-game win streak came to a halt as the Toronto FC Reds were victorious 1-0 Saturday.

Toronto FC’s Nick Hagglund did not show up on the score sheet, but had two looks on net in the 24th minute. In the 26th minute, after a corner, Hagglund, who was being guarded by Alan Gordon, was fouled in the box, leading to a penalty kick. Jermain Defoe slightly curved the ball to the left and scored to make it 1-0 in the 27th minute. It is the second penalty kick San Jose goalie Jon Busch has faced in as many games.

Hagglund also missed a header in the 29th minute and assisted on an attempt by Defoe in the same minute, that was blocked.

The Reds dominated the first half with shots on goal 4-0 and having an overall 11-1 shots margin.

Dominic Oduro made his debut for Toronto FC in the second half.

From the 74th to the 77th minutes, the Quakes had four different players attempt shots and had two corners.

The Reds’ Daniel Lovitz had to leave the game in the 79th minute due to an injury.

San Jose’s Tommy Thompson made his Major League Soccer debut in the 88th minute and is also the first homegrown player to play in a professional match .

The game ended in the 96th minute.

Game notes: Monday, the Quakes announced, that with both the team and the San Francisco 49ers getting new stadiums close by each other, they will be partnering to attract international soccer to the South Bay for the next five years. Thursday, San Jose announced they were expanding their youth development programs, creating Under-9 to Under-16 teams. The Quakes next play Sacramento Republic FC in the Open Cup Wednesday at 7:30p before the World Cup break. San Jose rounds out June with the California Clasico against the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium, June 28 at 7:30p