Category: MLS

Earthquakes defeat Timbers behind Amarikwa’s incredible goal

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

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.

Bingham Stands Tall in Earthquakes Shutout

Published on by bentleonard18Leave a comment

By Ben Leonard

photo credit: San Jose Mercury News–San Jose Earthquakes David Bingham (1) makes a save against the Colorado Rapids Sunday

SAN JOSE, Calif. —On a blustery, cold day at Avaya Stadium, the ominous grey chill seemed to freeze up the Earthquakes offense. Near misses and wasted possessions plagued San Jose in its opener, with a new-look offense in need of some tuneups.

In the face of these miscues, one man stood tall: keeper David Bingham. The Colorado Rapids pounded Bingham with shot after shot, but he fought through opener jitters to keep the Rapids off the board in a 1-0 Earthquakes victory. Bingham made leading save after leaping save, majestically leaping like a gazelle to break the Rapids’ hearts over and over again.

The Rapids got off a whopping 18 shots, including 10 inside the box, but the sure-handed Bingham didn’t give in — it’s not in his DNA. Bingham fought his way through four years in the lower level North American soccer league with the San Antonio Scorpions, even playing for Norway’s Strømmen IF, working his way up to San Jose last season to find his way into the starting lineup. As an MLS journeyman, he has become accustomed to dealing with adversity.

In last year’s season opener, his debut as a starter, Bigham found himself on the other side of things against Dallas, losing 1-0. Not one for drama, Bingham dismissed notions that his experience helped flip the script: “It’s the opening game of the season, so you’re excited for it, just like last season. This year obviously I have a year and 34 games under me, so that was nice, but at the end of the day, you have to be prepared for each game and I felt like we were today.”

Bingham was quick to credit his teammates’ stingy defense, especially from the dynamic duo of Victor Bernárdez and Clarence Goodson, who both came up with huge tackles to save goals, for his success today. “It’s huge. I think without either one of their tackles, I think they finish those chances. It’s great plays on their half, and you have two guys who have played for their national teams for years and years, so it’s great to have them healthy. When we’re healthy, we have one of the best back fours in the league.”

Bingham also did well in order to fight subpar conditions on the field. Heavy rain in previous days had softened the turf significantly, and there were lots of confetti and streamers littering the goalie’s box for the opening festivities. Several players lost their footing on the wet sod, killing several key chances. Bingham, however, thought it was just “part of the game” that it was a little sloppy in some places, something he just “had to deal with and move on from.”

Overall, Bingham was satisfied with the team’s performance: “I thought it was a good game defensively, [even though] we had some moments where we obviously weren’t up to par. But I think it’s most important to get the win, and we got the shutout today, which is nice. we know what we need to work on going forward, and we’ll work on it this week to take a step forward for next weekend.

 

 

 

 

Wondolowski Header Hands Earthquakes A Win On Opening Day.

Published on by swhelchLeave a comment

By Shawn Whelchel

photo credit: San Jose Mercury News– San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper David Bingham (1) dives to make a save grabbing the ball away from Shkelzen Gashi (11) of the Colorado Rapids on Sunday

SAN JOSE–Chris Wondolowski’s header was all the San Jose Earthquakes would need to secure a win on opening day of the 2016 MLS season, as a strong defensive effort from David Bingham would keep the Colorado Rapids off the scorecard for a 1-nil victory at Avaya Stadium.

Bingham had an outstanding day guarding the net for San Jose, making five saves on 18 shots from the Rapids, while showing off his hands and athleticism repelling a second-half flurry from the visiting team.

San Jose would secure their lone goal with the help of a new face-and their old reliable captain-as Alberto Quintero would feed a beautiful ball into the cutting Wondolowski for the go-ahead score at the start of the second-half. Despite a second-half outburst from the Rapids which saw them line-up 13 of their 18 total shots on the day, San Jose walked away victors for their 13th consecutive match without a loss against Colorado.

The Quakes got off to a sluggish start on the slippery turf at Avaya on Sunday, doing most of their work on the defensive side as the Rapids looked to be the aggressors early on.

Bingham received no grace period to start the season, being thrust into action to stop multiple Rapids’ attempts throughout the half. Kevin Doyle and Dillon Powers-who accounted for three of the Rapids five first-half shots- sent a trio of dangerous balls towards San Jose’s net. San Jose’s offensive attack couldn’t offer Bingham an extended spell either, as Colorado dominated the time of possession at 57.1 percent throughout the first 45-minutes of play as well, keeping the 26-year old Bay Area native on his toes.

While Bingham was busy showcasing his good hands, Colorado goaltender Zac MacMath had a relatively easy going early on. Quincy Amarikwa broke free on a dangerous run towards the goal near the 33′ minute mark, but was thwarted by a well-timed tackle by Rapids defender Jarred Watts near the goal. San Jose would loft up a few lazy shots throughout the frame, but failed to seriously threaten in a lackluster opening half.

But the revamped Earthquakes would shake off the season-opening cobwebs to start the second half, earning their inaugural 2016 goal off the head of the man who put through 16 for the team last year.

Just seconds after the sound of the whistle, newcomer Quintero- who was loaned to the team from Lobos BUAP in February-would feed the cutting Wondolowski a well-placed ball that would find the back of the net for a 1-0 advantage.

San Jose would continue to keep their newfound intensity up, with both Wondolowski and Tommy Thompson nearly missing a second goal for their club. But with time running out, Colorado launched a furious attempt to find an equalizer against Bingham.

Marco Pappa nearly connected with the back of the net on two attempts, including a free-kick attempt and a dangerous header attempt at the 88′ mark that just scraped the left-side of the goal post before heading out of bounds. Dominique Badji would also threaten the Earthquakes lead with a dangerous sprint up the middle of the pitch for an uncontested try that sailed into the second deck. Badji would represent the Rapids last attempt before game’s end as well, with Victor Bernardez showing some defensive prowess to stop the midfielder’s attempt before Bingham would make his fifth and final save.

The win represents the second-straight opening day victory for the Earthquakes at Avaya, and sets them off on the right foot for the 2016 MLS season. San Jose has a week off before facing the Portland Timbers on March 13 at 4:00 p.m.