Category: MLS

~ Photo credit: Atlanta United FC Twitter

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ The Atlanta United FC scored four goals in the second to overcome an early deficit Tuesday, winning 4-2 over the San Jose Earthquakes.

For a first time matchup, there were plenty of sparks on the Fourth of July. Two red cards and six yellows were issued. Quakes’ Kofi Sarkodie got his second yellow in the 32nd minute, putting San Jose a man down in the first half. Teammate Victor Bernardez got his red card in the 93rd minute.

Tommy Thompson kicked off the scoring with his first career MLS goal in the 2nd minute. He entered the league in 2014. Thompson led the Quakes in the game with four shots and two shots on goal.

The rest of the half consisted of Sarkodie’s first yellow in the 10th minute, a yellow card to Atlanta Anton Walkes in the 15th minute, a yellow card to San Jose goalie David Bingham in the 18th minute, Sarkodie’s red card and yellows to Atlanta’s Carlos Carmona and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez in the 42nd and 45th minutes.

Atlanta dominated possession in the game by a percentage of 67 to 33.

In the 55th and 65th minutes, Carmona and Josef Martinez made it 2-1.

Chris Wondolowski re-tied the game a minute later, with his second goal in as many games.

Anton Walkes and Martinez tacked on two more goals though, in the 81st and 89th minutes. Martinez now has four goals in his last five games. Miguel Almiron assisted on both of his goals.

Game notes: The loss ended a five game unbeaten streak for the Quakes and became a three game win streak for Atlanta. The last time Atlanta gave up two goals was April 8. San Jose will next play in the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals against the Los Angeles Galaxy July 10 at 7pm. The Quakes eturn to MLS play July 19 at 4:30pm versus the New York Red Bulls.  

 

 

Photo by San Jose Earthquakes: The fans give one of their favorite Quakes players a congratulations as San Jose gets a late goal in the 90th minute to get by the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 on Saturday night at Stanford Stadium

By London Marq

PALO ALTO–The Los Angeles Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes collided at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto for the California Clasico. A huge test for recently hired Quakes coach Chris Leitch. 50,000 jeering Earthquake fans created a raucous environment for the Galaxy in San Jose’s 2-1 win.

11 minutes in, Los Angeles would draw first blood with a goal from Van Damme quieting the crowd. From that point on, LA had the clear upper hand in the first half. San Jose’s play was lackluster, and they were seemingly unable to get out of their own way. While they had numerous chances in the scoring third of the pitch they failed to put any balls in the back of the net. The Galaxy fell into a level of complacency, and seemed content to hold onto their one goal lead.

The second half began with a sense of urgency for San Jose, but they still were having trouble finishing their chances. It took 30 minutes and some savvy footwork from Chris Wondolowski for the Quakes to get on the board in the 75th minute to tie it up. With 15 minutes left in the 90, LA became more aggressive trying to get their lead, that they had held for 64 minutes back.

At the end of the 90, four minutes were added to play. It seemed like we were dated for a draw. With two minutes left in additional time,  Shea Salinas bulged that back of the net. Sending LA home with no points in a dramatic finish.

These two teams meet again on nine days for the next round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. If this league match was a preview, it will surely be a fun one to watch.

 

San Jose Earthquakes forward Danny Hoesen, center, dribbles past Seattle Sounders’ Nouhou Tolo during the second half of a U.S. Open Cup soccer match Wednesday, June 28, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. San Jose won 2-1. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Chris Leitch’s debut as San Jose’s head coach was a successful one on Wednesday, as the Earthquakes advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders before 13,442 at Avaya Stadium.

“There were a little bit of excited moments in there. I think less nervous though just because, honestly, this is a good group and it’s a good staff,” Leitch said.”From the performance team to the assistants to the team administrators to really good staff, and it’s a damn good team. So when you have those things, you become less nervous for sure. But yeah, first game, hadn’t seen the bright lights on that field that close for a while, so you can get a little good energy I would say.”

Substitute Danny Hoesen scored the game-winning goal for San Jose in the 84th minute on an assist from rookie Jackson Yueill.

“Yeah, I’m feeling good,” Hoesen said. “I always watch my games back after the game, and I just thought I need to be more direct towards the goal. I’m feeling confident at the moment. I have the feeling that I can be dangerous every game and try and help the team. It’s starting to show now more than in the beginning and I’m happy with that.”

This is the first time the Earthquakes have defeated Seattle in U.S. Open Cup play since the defending MLS Cup champions joined the league in 2009. San Jose will face the LA Galaxy in a Cup quarterfinal match at Avaya Stadium on Monday, July 10, at 7:15 p.m.

Quakes midfielder Shea Salinas put San Jose up 1-0 six minutes into the game. Aaron Kovar tied the game for the Sounders with an unassisted goal in the 48th minute.

San Jose took 20 total shots with six shots on goal and nine corner kicks. The Sounders were held to four shots, two on goal, and two corner kicks.

Meanwhile, the Earthquakes look forward to Saturday night’s California Clasico match against the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium. The first 10,000 fans will receive a California Clasico-themed scarf.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, June 17, 2017

The San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting Kansas City played to a 0-0 draw in an MLS match played before an announced crowd of 18,000. It was the first tie game played between the two clubs since 2005.

San Jose earned a point in the Western Conference standings despite missing seven players to injury, two to suspension and another who is committed to international play.

“[Sporting Kansas City] probably had the better chances overall through the game,” Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear said while addressing the media. “We had some good moments. I think our final ball was off today and our crossing and shot selection. Let’s give them credit, they’re a good team.

“They had their best lineup out there today. I don’t know that anybody was missing for them. We went with a lot of guys who haven’t been starting a lot of minutes. It’s difficult. Not only are they putting out their best lineup, they’re a good team.”

Quakes goalkeeper David Bingham earned his sixth shutout of the season, and defender Andres Imperiale made his first MLS appearance for San Jose this season.

Jackson Yueill, the Quakes’ first-round SuperDraft selection, made his MLS debut for San Jose, entering the match in the 75th minute.

“It was awesome,” Yueill said. “I’ve been waiting for it for a while, so it was cool stepping out on the field against a top team like that. Getting a point is really good for us. I’m excited about that and will keep moving on.”

The Earthquakes remain at home to take on Real Salt Lake on Saturday, June 24, at Avaya Stadium. The match kicks off at 7:15 p.m. PDT and will air live on NBC Sports California, KNBR 1050 and 1370 KZSF.

By Mark Andreasen

San Jose, CA. – On a hot Northern California summer’s evening the San Jose Earthquakes came out in their alternate kits. Sporting the primarily white with red sleeve jerseys to defeat the 90 degree heat yet tie the Sporting Kansas City to a scoreless draw in front of 18,000 fans at Avaya Stadium in San Jose.

The team diverted early chances by Sporting Kansas City as the Earthquakes were pinned in their defensive zone for most of the first half. They avoided disaster early as two SKC shots hit post to stay out of the net.

In the opening two minutes Sporting KC hit the post on a shot by Dominic Dwyer and proceeded to get nine shots on goal to the quakes zero shots in the opening 45 minutes of action.

Yet as the sun went down and the temperatures dropped into the 80s,
George Best and Laurie Calloway would be proud to see the team in their tribute to the 1974 Quakes colors make a surge.

At 75 minutes Jackson Yueill made his MLS debut in relief of Tommy Thompson. Fresh off his game against the San Francisco Deltas, where Yueill scored a goal, Jackson set up a nice Quakes chance at the 79th minute mark and took a deep shot on goal a minute later.

The Earthquakes kept the heat on Sporting Kansas City with more chances in the  second half. Late in the game David Bingham turned a save into a San Jose chance. In transition Danny Hoesen took a spinning shot at 85:00 that was headed for the back of the net, yet deflected in the knick of time by Sporting Kansas City’s Goalie Tim Malai.

Like many a summer’s eve in the 70s, fans were fired up by “Crazy George” during pregame and throughout the contest. In the end they were treated to some excellent defense and some great saves in a shutout performance by David Bingham. As in the Earthquakes’ early days they fought hard, if not for victory then rather to a respectable draw.

The Earthquakes remain at home to take on Real Salt Lake on Saturday, June 24, at Avaya Stadium. The match kicks off at 7:15 p.m. PDT and will air live on NBC Sports California, KNBR 1050 and 1370 KZSF.

By London Marq (SRS staff writer)

SAN JOSE–It was night for American Soccer tonight as The 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup recommenced Wednesday night at Avaya Stadium. A lively evening crowd was treated to Round 4 between the NASL San Francisco Delta and the MLS San Jose Earthquakes.

The match started quick as the Quakes came up big early. Within the first seven minutes, two goals had bulged thte net. Courtesy of midfielder Jackson Yueill (4′) and midfielder Cordell Cato (6′) that lead to a 2-0 shutout for San Jose. Wasting very little time in the early part of the game Yueill the Quakes No. 6 Superdraft for 2017 found the back of the net scoring in less than four minutes and Cato followed with a goal for all the scoring in the match against San Francisco.

“Obviously it was a great start for the entire team. It was very important for us to go out and score. The free kick from Danny (Hoesen) hit off the wall and came right to me. I just saw the perfect opportunity. I couldn’t be happier in that moment. I’m just happy for that.” said Yueill of his goal.

“That goal made me more anxious to keep going. The next goal came and I was happy about that. After that we kept the ball and were able to stay composed. We didn’t risk too much after going up 2-0, which is really good from us. It was a good performance scoring two goals early.” Yueill said on how he set up the goal.

It was a sloppy night after that. While the Quakes were clearly dominant through out the match, it was a fun one to watch. Filled with spills and thrills (and yellow cards), Delta FC had opportunities until the very end. The Quakes next opponent for the Open Cup will be determined on Thursday night.

San Jose eases into the 5th round with a 2 – 0 victory. The Quakes have MLS league play agaInst Sporting Kansas City on Saturday at 5:45PM at Avaya Stadium catch staff writer Mark Andereason with all the coverage Saturday night.