Category: San Jose Earthquakes

Quakes’ blocked shot eventually leads to game-winner

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Photo: Matthew Emmons, Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)

By Pearl Allison Lo

Four minutes of stoppage were golden for FC Dallas as Blas Perez scored in the 92nd minute to take down San Jose Saturday 1-0 in the teams’ season opener.

It was Perez’s 32nd career goal in what was looking to be a draw. Goalie David Bingham came forward to block Victor Ulloa’s kick from just past midfield. However, Bingham deflected the ball directly to Moises Hernandez. Hernandez then kicked the ball toward the goal and Perez redirected Hernandez’s shot into the net with a header.

Perez led all with three shots on goal.

Regarding the goal, Bingham replied, “It’s a learning curve. It’s a little bit of communication, probably more on my part. He didn’t hear me coming. He didn’t know there was no one around. So, he went to clear it and I was coming out and we had a little mix up and then the guy duffs a shot wide and Perez was there to put it back in.”

San Jose now has a 16-game regular season winless streak, their successful preseason in the rearview mirror for now. The game would have been a rare draw for them as well.

In the 20th minute, FC Dallas had a free kick. Mauro Diaz set up Perez on the left but Bingham cut the shot off.

Two minutes later, Fabian Castillo found Perez, who was waving for the ball in front of the net. Perez got it past Victor Bernardez, but could not get it past new acquisition Paulo Renato, who had set himself up behind Bingham and alertly cleared the ball.

The first half leaders were the Quakes’ Chris Wondolowski with four shots, one shot on goal and Perez with three shots, two shots on goal.

Both ended up finishing with five shots apiece.

The second half saw five yellow cards, all by San Jose or former players.

The first one came in the 50th minute by former Quake Atiba Harris.

Shaun Francis saw yellow in the 67th minute when he fouled to stop a counterattack.

In the 77th minute, Shea Salinas received a yellow after losing possession to Michael Barrios when Salinas was coming out of the Quakes’ end. Barrios had just entered the game two minutes earlier.

The last two yellows came in stoppage time.

Sanna Nyassi went for the ball and ran into Castillo instead in the 92nd minute.

During the frantic pushing time for the equalizer, Adam Jahn was penalized in the 94th minute for contact.

Talking about the offense, Quakes’ head coach Dominic Kinnear commented, “…away from home, especially in the first half and some other moments, we had some good looks and we were just missing that last little pass, last little bit of aggression to get something on net.”

Game notes: San Jose’s Marvell Wynne played the whole 90 minutes in his team debut. Teammates and MLS newbies Fatai Alashe and Innocent Emeghara came into the game during the 81st and 89th minute respectively. The Quakes are now below .500 on the road versus FC Dallas at 10-11-6. San Jose was also shutout in the teams’ last game, though by a lesser margin, that final 5-0. The Quakes will next face the 2014 Western Conference Champions, the Seattle Sounders, Saturday at 7pm.

Earthquakes Open Avaya Stadium with Preseason Win Over Galaxy

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By: Eric He

SAN JOSE — The game didn’t count in the standings, but in almost every other sense, it did.

The San Jose Earthquakes opened up Avaya Stadium with a bang, beating the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 in their final preseason tune-up.

“For a preseason game, it was a big event,” said Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear. “It was almost like opening day. You can just tell the field had something different about it when you walked out onto the field for warmups or the locker room to start the game. It didn’t have a real preseason feel.”

Second half goals by JJ Koval and Adam Jahn were just enough to defeat the defending MLS Cup champions, as the Earthquakes weathered off a late comeback attempt and a hailstorm in the final minutes.

“It was a great day for a lot of reasons,” Kinnear remarked. “Nice to see some goals. The home teams wins, which is good. Stadium is beautiful. The hail at the end was a bit unexpected, but it was a good day for everyone involved.”

Down 3-1, the Galaxy clawed within a goal in the 82nd minute on a tally by Robbie Keane. Taking a ball lofted ahead in the air by Stefan Ishizaki just to the left of the box, Keane left-footed it into the right corner of the net to cut the Earthquakes’ lead to 3-2.

Former Earthquakes striker Alan Gordon had a chance from point-blank to even the game in the 87th minute, but he skied it over the crossbar, and the Earthquakes hung on in three minutes of stoppage time.

A total of four goals were scored in the second half, two by each team.

The Earthquakes doubled their 1-0 in the 58th minute as the second half got under away. Midfielder JJ Koval, the Stanford product and Earthquakes’ ninth overall pick in the 2014 MLS Superdraft, hammered in a left-footed shot past Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Rowe. The ball ricocheted to Koval after a feed by Matias Perez Garcia into the box was knocked down by Chris Wondolowski, right onto the foot of Koval.

“It was a great ball by [Garcia],” said Wondolowski. “He saw my run and put it perfect. I saw [Koval] coming in make a late run at midfield – the amount of ground he covers is amazing – that was a great finish by him.”

He continued: “[Koval’s] engine has always been there. He’s always been able to cover an enormous amount of ground. His composure on the ball; he showed it on the finish. He made that look very easy.”

The two teams then traded goals in the 66th and 68th minutes. The Galaxy got on the board, cutting a 2-0 lead in half after Robbie Rogers, down the left side, found Jose Villareal with a cross, and Villareal headed it past Earthquakes goalkeeper Ryan Bingham.

But San Jose responded. Adam Jahn, who had substituted in for Koval in the 64th minute, headed in a goal off a corner kick by Garcia just four minutes later to give the Earthquakes a 3-1 advantage.

The high-scoring second half made up for a first half where the two teams were perhaps adjusting to the new field.

Kinnear thought so, remaking, “I thought we were a little bit frazzled in the beginning of the game. I thought guys got caught up in the moment a little bit and our positioning was a little bit off.”

There were no goals until the 42nd minute, when the Earthquakes struck first on an own goal by the Galaxy. Maneuvering around defenders in the area, Shea Salinas’ cross deflected off Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez and into the net.

Just a minute later, they nearly tallied a second goal before halftime. It was Salinas again who sent a cross into the box, and a header by Wondolowski sailed just high of the crossbar after Rowe got a finger on it.

Despite being outshot by the Galaxy 5-2 in the first half, the Earthquakes seemed more comfortable and fluid in the latter stages.

In the 22nd minute, the Earthquakes pressured after a few miscues by the Galaxy in their own end, but could not capitalize due to a couple of poor crosses.

The Galaxy had controlled the tempo in the early going, playing in the Earthquakes’ end and generating free kicks and corners. Gordon deflected a pass by Juninho just wide in the 15th minute.

The Earthquakes will take the next week to prepare for the regular season, which begins with a match at FC Dallas on Mar. 7. They will play their first regular season game at Avaya Stadium on Mar. 22nd against the Chicago Fire.

Wondolowski enjoyed christening the new stadium in the preseason finale, but to him, it was just a game that doesn’t count in the standings.

“It’s a great feeling to step out to your home stadium and have a nice lively crowd out there,” he said. “To have passionate fans is amazing. To be honest, I’m really looking forward to the 22nd [of March]. That’s when it really counts.”

Notes

For their “soft” opening, the Earthquakes capped the attendance to 10,000 fans, short of the 18,000 that Avaya Stadium holds. … Jahn finished the preseason with seven goals. … Newly-signed Portuguese defender Paulo Renato suited up on Saturday. Renato spent last season in Segunda Divisáo Série Centro, the third tier of Portuguese football. Renato started in place of the injured Clarence Goodson. … Shaun Francis started on defense in place of Jordan Stewart, who also has an injury. … The Earthquakes finish the preseason 3-1-2, with a record of 1-1-2 against MLS competition.

That’s Amaury to appear at Ricky’s Theatre and Grill this Saturday in San Leandro

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

Dear Fans and media your invited to attend Ricky’s Grill and Theatre Grill in San Leandro for the Lefty O’Doul Chapter and Sacramento Chapter joint meeting this Saturday January 24, 2015 at 11:00 AM. I’ll be your speaker that morning with Comcast TV analyst Shooty Babitt, the cost is $35 and the proceeds will benefit the retired members of the Cuban baseball Community. Join us for fun, humor, laughs, and of course my favorite Ricky’s famous Chicken Cesar salad can’t wait for that one especially as Ricky will be making up some great food. Here’s the full details below:

Lefty O’Doul Chapter and Sacramento Chapter joint meeting

WHEN: 11 a.m.-4 p.m., SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015.

WHERE: Ricky’s Sports Theatre and Grill, 15028 Hesperian Blvd, San Leandro, CA 94578
COST: $35 (includes lunch); choice of: 1) Ricky’s flame broiled cheeseburger and fries; 2) Flame broiled chicken breast sandwich and fries; 3) Buffalo wings; 4) Chicken Caesar salad; 5) Tri-tip sandwich and fries-BBQ or French Dip.
RSVP by January 19 with your lunch selection to mvogelsang@sbcglobal.net; make check payable to Pete McPhail and mail to PO Box 7653, Fremont, CA 94537.

CONTACT: Marlene Vogelsang, mvogelsang@sbcglobal.net

PROGRAM DETAILS: Our guest speakers include Ricky Ricardo, owner of the legendary Ricky’s; Amaury Pi-González, SABR member, Spanish language broadcaster and VP of the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum; and Shooty Babitt, ballplayer, scout and TV analyst. This will also be a members research reporting meeting, so please start thinking about your participation. We will hold our traditional book raffle as well as offer a very special “Cigar Fund” Silent Auction, featuring items of beisbol de Cuba, with proceeds to benefit “retired” members of the Cuban baseball community.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and is the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Quakes Close Out Buck Shaw Stadium With 0-0 Draw

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Jose Earthquakes shut out the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps FC, but failed to score themselves, shutting down Buck Shaw Stadium with a 0-0 tie in the final MLS game played on Santa Clara University’s campus in front of a sellout crowd of 10,525.

“Historically, we made it tough for other teams to play here,” said Quakes defender Jason Hernandez, a member of the Quakes since the first game at Buck Shaw, also a 0-0 draw in May 2008 against FC Dallas. “I’m glad we could at least finish on that note.”

While the Quakes (6-15-12, 30 points) couldn’t end a now-14 game winless streak along their residency of Buck Shaw, interim coach Ian Russell picked up his first point as a bench boss. Russell took over for Mark Watson, who was dismissed earlier in the week after it was revealed that current Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear would take over coaching responsibilities for the Earthquakes next season after a disappointing campaign this year.

“We’re all playing for jobs right now,” said starting goalkeeper Jon Busch. “Dom’s going to come in next week and you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The men in San Jose jerseys were desperate to earn job security, but Vancouver (11-8-14, 47 points)entered the contest needing points locked with the Portland Timbers in a tie for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with two games left to play. With that in mind, Russell and the Quakes made some tweaks to their usual formation to try to counter Vancouver’s high octane offense.

“We knew we wanted to finish off Buck Shaw the right way,” said Busch. “You could see it with the way Ian set the team up tonight. We were high-pressing them, trying to get turnovers.”

The result was a success, though not quite an overwhelming one, with the Quakes managing their first clean sheet since August 2nd at Levi’s Stadium against the Seattle Sounders but nothing on the scoreboard offensively.

“The whole back four was fabulous,” said Russell of his defenders. “I think it started with the first line with (Wondolowski), then the midfield five putting pressure on all the time. Then the back four really stood up.”

While there weren’t any Goonies-type shenanigans, San Jose isn’t despondent about the farewell for Buck Shaw, their home for the last seven seasons.

“In my five years, there have been so many come backs, late game heroics,” said Busch. “I honestly think it was written in the script to end 0-0 tonight. It wasn’t a lack of effort on the offensive side, we just couldn’t get one.”

“I played the first game here and the last game here,” added Hernandez. “Full circle. I’m very honored to be a part of this club for that long, leave this stadium with so many memories.”

Memories, however, aren’t enough to damper excitement for the Quakes shiny new stadium, with construction set to conclude in December on the 18,000 seat state-of-the-art field.

“We’re kind of glad to be out of this stadium,” said Russell. “We’ve had some good memories here, but when you have the nice big one down the street, I think we’re ready to go.”

With one more game left on the schedule, a match against last-place Chivas USA next Sunday, one last piece of business must be resolved.

Could the Quakes be opening Earthquakes Stadium with a special ceremony recognizing a club record being broken? Jon Busch needs only two more saves to tie the club benchmark of 137 in a single season set by Joe Cannon in 2000.

“For me it’s not about individual records,” said Busch. “If it happens next week, it happens. I don’t play this game for individual records, I play to win games and have chances at individual trophies. The team results are much more important than any individual accomplishments.”

Winless Skid at 13 After Earthquakes Fall to Real Salt Lake 2-0

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

Time is winding down for the San Jose Earthquakes to avoid starting next truly anew, free from any reminders of the struggles of the current campaign. Following a 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake Saturday evening at Rio Tinto Stadium, the Quakes are mired in a 13-game winless streak with three games left in the season. San Jose’s last victory came August 2nd in a 1-0 result against the Seattle Sounders, with the match serving as the inaugural event held at Levi’s Stadium.

Real took the lead on a 24th-minute strike from Ned Grabavoy, then Sebastian Velasquez beat San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch four minutes later for the final goal of the game. Salt Lake outshot the short-handed Quakes, more than doubling the Quakes attempts on net (9) with 20.

San Jose partook in its second-straight match short-handed with 17 players. Some notable faces like Atiba Harris (Saint Kitts and Nevis) and Cordell Cato (Trinidad and Tobago) answered the call for international play duties. Also absent from the backline was defender Victor Bernardez, joining his countrymen to represent Honduras in exhibition play.

The Earthquakes’ leading scorer, Chris Wondolowski, also was missing upfront after playing for the United States Men’s National Team in Friday’s 1-1 draw with Ecuador. The game, played at East Hartford, Connecticut’s Rentschler field, marked the final international appearance for former Earthquake Landon Donovan.

Up next for the Earthquakes is an international friendly, with the Quakes welcoming Victor Bernardez’s old Honduran side CDS Vida to Santa Clara. Following the friendly Tuesday, San Jose wraps up the home portion of the schedule with a Saturday evening showdown against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Saturday match-up, a contest pitting the Quakes against a desperate Vancouver squad looking to lock in the last spot in the Western Conference, marks the final game the Quakes will play at Buck Shaw Stadium. They’ll move to a new stadium expected to open at the start of next season. The Quakes still have one more road game, the best shot at snapping the winless skid. San Jose closes out the season at the Stub Hub Center against last place Chivas USA October 26th.

Timbers Rally to Eliminate Quakes From Contention

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The nightmare is over for the San Jose Earthquakes. Following a 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers (10-9-12, 42 points) Saturday night at Buck Shaw Stadium, the Quakes now officially have been eliminated from MLS Cup contention. No longer will a San Jose player have to talk about the faint possibility of making up points in the standings to make a postseason run in a campaign that from its onset seemed fated for a struggle.

There has been plenty of bad luck going around Santa Clara County. A smattering of injuries to backbone players, players like Steven Lenhart, Clarence Goodson and a litany of others, compounded with a lack of consistency among the healthy and an on-and-off scoring touch see the Quakes (6-13-11, 29 points) one spot ahead of Chivas USA, a team set to take a few seasons off following financial struggles, for dead last place in the Western Conference.

“A lot of good work and effort in front of our fans was all for naught tonight,” said Earthquakes defender Jason Hernandez. “They say you make your own luck. We try our hardest every night but we just can’t seem to get our heads above water. It’s very frustrating.”

Saturday’s game served as the perfect metaphor for the season. After a 56th minute Chris Wondolowski strike, his 14th of the season, handed San Jose the lead the Earthquakes looked on their way to their first win in 11 games. Perhaps in another season, that’d be the case. But in the year of misfortune, things wouldn’t be that easy for the men in blue.

“It was another frustrating night,” said head coach Mark Watson. “I thought we played well at times. We knew we were playing a good team who wanted to possess the ball. I thought we defended well and had a bunch of chances.”

Reminiscent of the last meeting between these two teams, the Timbers tied the game late, this time on a deflection by Rodney Wallace in the 71st minute. Just three minutes later, the bounces went against San Jose again, this time by way of the double-deflection goal for Wallace. Just like that, three points became one became none for San Jose.

“Portland is a good team, but to give up two deflection goals is the story of our season,” said Hernandez. “I’d love to have some deflection goals go in for us. I feel like we’ve been on the wrong end of things for most of the year.”

“The two goals they scored, the deflections, is the way our season is going,” added Watson. “I’m really disappointed for our guys. They came out motivated to win in front of their home fans, and once again, we leave disappointed.”

The Quakes hold a second chance to play spoiler to Portland’s playoff hopes Wednesday. They travel to the Pacific Northwest with a chance to Keep Portland, two points ahead of Vancouver for the final Western Conference playoff spot, from widening the gap.

For the Quakes, Wednesday could mark one of the final four games of Coach Mark Watson’s tenure as bench boss. Rumors have swirled that Watson, who took over as interim coach following the departure of Frank Yallop during the 2013 season, may be terminated at the end of the season. While it would be easy for Watson and co. to pack it up over the next few weeks, don’t expect to see the Quakes go soft.

“It’s about pride right now,” said Watson. “It’s about character, pride. Every time you step on the practice field or on the field for a game, you do your best, work as hard as you can. Fight for this club. I have no doubt our guys will do that right until the end of the season.”

Watson isn’t the only one facing uncertainty at season’s end. Many players are motivated to continue toiling away to earn a spot on a squad, be it with the Earthquakes or in the MLS and beyond.

“There’s plenty of motivation,” said Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Busch. “You play for points, you play for pride in the jersey, you play for pride in your own blood, and you’re playing for contracts. The list goes on and on. If you don’t have motivation to play then you just need to get out of here.”

Quakes never said die

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Photo: Major League Soccer @MLS Twitter

By Pearl Allison Lo

Although San Jose put forth tons of energy in the first half and fell behind in the 84th minute, they exemplified goonie spirit with seconds, as they escaped a loss to the Colorado Rapids with a 1-1 draw Saturday.

For the fourth time in last seven matches, the Quakes gave up a goal for points past the 70th minute, but unlike their last game against the Montreal Impact, San Jose avoided a loss.

With both teams vying for the final Western Conference playoff spot, it was a bitter result for the Rapids, who were the closer team. Colorado was also on their way to their first win over the Quakes since 2011 and first win at home since 2010. Colorado’s ten game winless streak now matches their 2007 club record.

Atiba Harris, who hit the game-tying goal, entered the game in the 70th minute. The four minutes of stoppage time were key. A long ball came in front of the net from midfield to Matias Perez Garcia. Perez Garcia passed the ball to Harris. After Harris got away from a shirt pull, Harris kicked a stunner into the net against his former team with just seconds left in the game. Harris was cut from the Rapids last year.

In the first half, shots on target were 3-1 for San Jose and Colorado goalie Joe Nasco had four saves to Jon Busch’s one, but fouls were 7-3 against the Quakes. Possession favored the Rapids 56.9% to 43.1%. No San Jose player had more than one shot.

Colorado’s Deshorn Brown led all with five shots. With a lot of space in front, in the 60th minute, he just missed a goal as he curled the ball just shy of the net.

In the 76th minute, Sanchez passed the ball to Brown. Against an approaching Busch, Brown scored, but as the confetti fell, Brown’s goal was taken away because he was offsides.

The Rapids’ Chris Klute couldn’t have chosen much of a better time for his first assist of the season. Dillon Serna got the ball from midfield and passed it to his right as Klute came up behind him. Shaun Francis tried to divert Klute’s shot, but the ball went to Colorado’s Gabriel Torres, who got past Victor Bernardez and put in the ball off Busch’s hands in the 84th minute. Torres led all with two shots on goal.

Both teams still look to end their drought (winless in last ten) and just maybe get into the postseason.

Game notes: Perez Garcia, who started, went down with cramps midfield after his assist. He also had four corner kicks and a shot on goal. The Rapids outshot San Jose 20-11 in the match. Last meeting, the Quakes pulled off 15 shots against Colorado. All three games between the teams this season have been draws. Rapids’  Dillon Powers returned to play after missing last game.  In the second half, shots on target were 3-2 for Colorado, Nasco had one save to Busch’s two, the number of fouls for each team were the exact opposite of the first half and San Jose cut down the Rapids’ possession time. The Quakes next host the Portland Timbers, for a later game than usual, 8pm on October 4.

Quakes’ winless streak reaches nine

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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.

Whitecaps Penalty Kick Tops Quakes

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By Matthew Harrington

The search for road win number two, and a much-needed three points in the standings, continues for the San Jose Earthquakes with only eight games remaining. The Quakes continued their tour of the Pacific Northwest Wednesday night with a 2-0 loss at the hands of Vancouver Whitecaps 2-0 at BC Place. San Jose, 10 points back of Vancouver for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, went winless on its current three-game road trip. They tied both Real Salt Lake and the Portland Timbers in the previous two contests.

Pedro Morales put Vancouver (8-6-13, 37 points)on the board, converting on a penalty kick in the 39th minute following a Victor Bernardez infraction, for the Whitecaps first goal in over 450 minutes of play. Bernardez was whistled for delivering an elbow to the back of Kendall Waston in the penalty area on a challenge of a free kick attempt. Waston would head in the Whitecaps second marker in the 56th minute for the 2-0 result.

The Quakes (6-6-15, 27 points) failed to generate any offensive momentum for large chunks of the night, attempting only four shots on goal to Vancouver’s 17. A lone San Jose attempt found its mark, with another two registering as off target. The other attempt was blocked. The Whitecaps managed six shots on target, thanks in part to a slight edge in possession, controlling play 55.8 percent of the night.

A victory for Mark Watson’s Quakes would have bumped San Jose above Colorado for the seventh spot in the Western Conference table. The loss, however, bumped Vancouver over Portland and into the postseason picture. The Whitecaps entered play Wednesday night a point back of the Timbers in sixth place.

Sunday afternoon, the Quakes desperation push will collide with a familiar face, as Landon Donovan’s Los Angeles Galaxy come to Buck Shaw Stadium for an afternoon match. There will be an air of nostalgia of the Quakes glory days with Sunday marking Donovan’s last appearance in front of the San Jose fans that once rooted him on.

The 32-year-old announced on August 7th that this would be his last MLS season. In Donovan’s four seasons as a member of the Quakes, the organization won its two MLS Cups (2001 and 2003). The MLS all-time leader in goals and playoff goals earned MLS Cup Most Valuable Player honors in the 2001 iteration.

Wondolowski Scores Two, But Earthquakes Can’t Hold On In 3-3 Draw With Portland

Published on by Matthew Harrington1 Comment

By Matthew Harrington

Desperate for a road victory to keep theirs playoff hopes alive and well, the San Jose Earthquakes instead settled for a 3-3tie with the Portland Timbers FC Sunday afternoon at Providence Park. Chris Wondolowski appeared to have the game winner on an 85th minute marker, his second goal of the day, but Portland’s Kalif Alhassan answered back with a goal of his own one minute later. It was the second blown lead Sunday for the Earthquakes after coughing up a 2-0 advantage earlier in the match.

For the second week in a row the Quakes (6-10-9) struck first, courtesy of tallies from Chris Wondolowski and Cordell Cato, but faltered with the advantage to draw Portland. San Jose also wound up with a 1-1 result against Real Salt Lake after taking a quick 1-0 lead August 30th at Buck Shaw Stadium.

San Jose opened the first meeting of the season with the Timbers eight points behind Portland (8-8-11) for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Both teams desperately needed a win and three points with less than two months of soccer remaining to legitimize postseason hopes. The Earthquakes were seeking only their second win of the season on the road.

The Timbers controlled the run of play handedly over the first 20 minutes, battering Quakes keeper Jon Busch with chance after chance, but failed to convert on any early attempts. San Jose wrested momentum away from its hosts after Chris Wondolowski found the back of the net in the 21st minute for a 1-0 lead.

Shea Salinas initially skipped a ball from the left side at Portland goalie Donovan Ricketts that was turned aside, but Wondolowski crashed the netmouth to try to chip in the rebound off the far post. A Timbers defender managed to move Wondolowski off the play before he could get his foot on the ball inside the box, but Salinas followed his initial chance and ripped a shot to that bounced off the left post. Again Ricketts made a diving stop but Wondolowski recovered in time to settle the ball and tap it into the open net for his team-leading 10th strike of the season.

In a reversal of first-half fortunes, San Jose opened the second 45 minutes on the attack. Cordell Cato took advantage of a lax Portland backline to tally his third goal of the season in 48th minute, putting the Earthquakes up 2-0. The San Jose midfielder booted the ball cross crease into the left corner after a pair of Portland defenders allowed him to walk into the box unfettered.

Portland needed 21 attempts at the goal before finally beating Busch in the 54th minute. Diego Valeri floated a pass to Alvas Powell. Powell scorched a liner to pull the Timbers within one.

Tempers flared just two minutes later after Portland’s Will Johnson believed officials missed a handball on Jason Hernandez. Johnson became very animated, arguing with officials before ultimately ending up in a shoving match with Wondolowski. Johnson received a yellow card once the hostilities subsided.

15 minutes from the end of regulation, Portland found the equalizer. Diego Valeri picked up his second assist of the day after feeding Liam Ridgewell for the goal. The Timbers once again controlled the strength of play, finishing the day with 32 attempts on goal to San Jose’s 12.

San Jose continues the search for road win number two in in the Northwest Wednesday night. The Quakes will meet the Whitecaps FC, currently one point back of Portland for the final playoff spot, in Vancouver.