Category: San Jose Earthquakes

Quakes “Survive the Storm” for Second Win of 2014

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By Matthew Harrington

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — On a night when the San Jose Earthquakes turned back the clock, donning kits similar to their original NASL iterations in their first season in 1974, the best ally for the club to prove the victors turned out to be a forward ticking timer. The Earthquakes scored the first two goals then weathered an FC Dallas barrage to cling to a 2-1 lead and collect three points at Buck Shaw Stadium Saturday night.

“We survived the storm,” remarked defender Jordan Stewart.

Midfielder Cordell Cato connected on his first goal of the season for the Quakes (2-3-4) beating Dallas goalkeeper Raul Fernandez in the 25th minute. The Quakes were also beneficiaries of an opponent own goal. San Jose played down a man for more than half the game after officials sent Shea Salinas off with a red card in the 45th minute.

“That was quite a night,” said San Jose coach Mark Watson. “To use the old cliché, it was a tale of two halves. I thought in the first half we played well, got the goal and had a chance to make it two-nil. The second half was just about sticking together defending and seeing the game out.”

After receiving a perfect header from Clarence Goodson, Cato found himself on breakaway staring down only Dallas keeper Fernandez. Cato struck a low shot to the left passed Fernandez for a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute. San Jose netminder Jon Busch was awarded the second assist on the marker, his first career helper, after firing a pass up-field to Goodson.

“I saw a big body up there, I thought it was Alan (Gordon),” said Busch. “I saw a big body and I just said I’m just going to hit it down the middle to one of the big bodies and something good will happen. And something good did happen.”

San Jose honored former player, coach and general manager Johnny Moore by inducting him into the team’s Hall of Fame Saturday. It was a big night for the former wearer of number 8, but his present day counterpart nearly stole some of his thunder. On a Quakes free kick in the 73rd minute, Chris Wondolowski appeared to net the second goal of the game. The replay showed that, despite the perfect placement, Wondolowski’s left foot narrowly missed the ball. Instead, it was ruled a Dallas own goal off the boot of David Texeira for a Quakes 2-0 edge.

“To be honest, it was nice to get a bounce our way,” said Wondolowski of the own goal. “On Wednesday night (a 0-0 tie against Colorado at Buck Shaw) we didn’t get those bounces. We’ve been unlucky this season so it was nice to get a bounce.”

FC Dallas pressured San Jose throughout the night with forwards Fabian Castillo and Blas Perez combining on a number of Grade-A chances that Busch and company turned aside, including a chance in the 57th minute that crossed over the goal line but somehow managed to stay out.

“We do drills like that in training during the week,” said Busch. “You make the first save and get across the goal. I was fortunate enough that I got it quick enough and was able to make a play on the second shot that came off the post and came all the way across.”

Dallas finally broke through in the 76th minute after Michel beat Busch on a perfectly placed from just outside the penalty box. The Dallas midfielder tucked a perfect ball right into the top left corner for the sole visiting tally, his fifth of the season. Busch bounced back to hold the score and seal the win.

“I wish I could say I’m shocked,” said Wondolowski. “I see it every day. He does a great job. He’s a great goalie.”

Busch credited his teammates for playing strong in front of him.

“We needed this one badly,” said the keeper. “I can’t be prouder of the boys, they just battled through a lot of adversity. You take a red card just before halftime against a very good possession team, so you know you’re going to take wave after wave.”

With the Quakes already fighting an uphill battle, down a man with five other players booked for yellow cards, the deck appeared further stacked in Dallas’ favor when a generous six minutes of stoppage time were added at the end of play. The only major delay in the second half came when Alan Gordon went down in the 56th minute, but he quickly moved to the sideline along with the Earthquakes trainer before being subbed out in favor of J.J. Koval. Gordon told the media after the game that he doesn’t expect to miss any time and just suffered from dead legs Saturday night.

“I thought it was a long time,” said Watson. “The referee said the Alan Gordon injury was three minutes. There’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t change your mind, but I thought it was a little bit too much.”

Dallas took full advantage of the extra time, putting a salvo of shots on Busch to try to steal a point on the road. Despite a few close calls, the Quakes managed to pull out the victory for their second win this season, both coming at Buck Shaw Stadium.

“I think it shows the character this team has,” said Watson. “We’ve always had that. I thought tonight was a perfect example of that. Under extreme circumstances, all the things going on, we kept fighting and battling.”

The Quakes look to build off Saturday’s adversity laden win when they travel to Seattle to face the Sounders at the inhospitable CenturyLink Field next Saturday.

“Hopefully this gets us going,” said Busch. “We had a similar performance the other night, just couldn’t get the goal we needed. Tonight we got the two goals we needed. Hopefully we can take from this and move forward.”

The Quakes may soon be moving forward without the club’s all-time leading scorer. Chris Wondolowski may soon be joining the United States Men’s National Team for World Cup duty, including a May 27th tune-up at Candle Stick Park against Azerbaijan.

“We got a win, that was good.” Said Wondolowski. “If I am leaving, I wish I was leaving with us in first place. It is what it is. I know these guys are going to do a great job.”

Rapid’s Goal Keeper Irwin Heroic in 0-0 Draw

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Photo Credit: sjearthquakes.com
Photo Credit: sjearthquakes.com

By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA, Calif–For the second straight match between the Colorado Rapids and the San Jose Earthquakes it ends scoreless, as the April 20th match also ended in a 0-0 draw.

Chances were seen from both squads with 31 total shots taken.  The Rapids outshot the home side 16-15.  However, the Quakes had the upper hand in shots on target 7-4, forcing Colorado Goal Keeper Clint Irwin to play an outstanding game.

The Quakes had a couple of outstanding chances, the first one coming in the tenth minute when a cross sent into the box by Midfielder, Atiba Harris found Striker, Chris Wondolowski.  However, Wondolowski misplayed the ball, which prevented him from scoring his team leading sixth goal of the campaign.

Another chance came for San Jose in the 23rd minute off of a corner kick set up by Shea Salinas.  Salinas decided to play the corner short.  He ended up with the ball of the left side of the box then striking it right at Rapid’s Keeper, Irwin.  Irwin was able to come up with the easy save.

Quakes’ Defender, Andreas Gorlitz, was substituted at the 45th minute with a right knee injury after a risky challenge by Colorado Midfielder, Charles Eloundou.  The challenege handed Eloundou the first yellow card of the game. “It doesn’t look good, it could be the end of the season type of thing,” explained Earthquakes Head Coach, Mark Watson.  Wondolowski added “it makes stomachs turn seeing injuries like that happen.  It doesn’t matter which team the player was on.”

The Quakes came out firing in the second half as well, with good chances coming from Alan Gordon and Wondolowski in the first 15 minutes of the half.  San Jose’s best chance of the game came off of the boot of Harris as he struck one towards net.  The ball was sure to find the back of the net until Irwin made a sprawling save to his right to keep the game even keel.

It wouldn’t be Earthquakes soccer if they hadn’t tried to get one late to win the game, and it almost came to fruition when a ball of the foot of Wondolowski found the right post and kicked right and away from the goal.

An impressive performance from the Quakes ends in disappointment once again, as they are unable to get on the board to earn a much needed 3-point game.  “We faced a great goal keeper tonight and of course it’s frustrating when you can’t get one by him, but we have to keep plugging away and can’t get ourselves down,” commented Wondolowski.  “I believe we did well, we created a lot more chances, and it was a good stepping stone,” added Harris.

The Earthquakes don’t have much time to rest as they are back to action at Buck Shaw Stadium this Saturday hosting FC Dallas.

Whitecaps top Earthquakes

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Photograph by: Steve Bosch, PNG

By Pearl Allison Lo

Vancouver’s three goals in the first 20 minutes were able to top San Jose’s late comeback in a 3-2 decision Saturday, as the Whitecaps celebrated their 40th anniversary.

The game winner came off Pedro Morales’s first goal of the game and the Whitecaps’ penalty kick. It came in the 19th minute and was preceded by a Jordan Stewart giveaway, before the slight touch by Victor Bernardez against Darren Mattocks who had a breakaway.

Vancouver outshot the Quakes 17-7.

In the first half, the ‘Caps controlled the majority of the ball possession. The possession San Jose did have was usually intercepted, deflected, given away or more.

The game’s first goal was braced by San Jose’s Yannick Djalo going down twice on the turf. Already suffering from groin tightness, when he went down the first time, play continued.

Vancouver’s Kekuta Manneh ‘s initial shot went off the left post then came back to him. The rebound shot then went to the right post and into the net in the 10th minute.

Djalo’s second time down again forced coach Mark Watson to go early to his bench for Alan Gordon in the 13th minute. It was Djalo’s first start for the team.

Morales’s second goal came almost straightaway outside the box and just a minute after his first to make it 3-0, as he took off his shirt in celebration.

All of the Whitecaps’ goals came before the Quakes’ first shot.

In the 28th minute, Mattocks went down on his own as well with a hamstring injury. Erik Hurtado came in to replace him.

San Jose’s Sam Cronin was in net to prevent a fourth goal when Morales passed the ball to Manneh who passed the ball to Hurtado before his shot in the 34th minute.

In the 45th minute, the Quakes spoiled David Ousted’s clean sheet and got a goal back when Chris Wondolowski took the penalty kick. Alan Gordon had got knocked down by Jay DeMerit after Gordon headed the ball.

The Quakes prevented another fourth goal when the rookie Hurtado came attacking. Goalie Jon Busch went equally hard forward to challenge Hurtado and with the block, joined the 1,000 save club in the 59th minute.

The 3-2 score occurred in the 91st minute. Wondolowski scored his second goal of the game, fifth of the teams’ eight goals during the season and ninth in his career against Vancouver as the ball slid right past Ousted. Stoppage time ended in the 94th.

Game notes: It was the first meeting between Steven Beitashour and San Jose since they parted. Morales had to go off the field temporarily in the second half. Gordon got yellow carded in the 70th minute. The Quake’s Billy Schuler experienced his first action of the season when he subbed in for Brandon Barklage.

Small Package Delivers Huge First Win of 2014 for Earthquakes

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By Matthew Harrington

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The man who stands shortest on the Earthquakes squad elevated his game head and shoulders above his competition in San Jose’s first win of the 2014 season. Minute midfielder Yannick Djalo tallied his first MLS goal in a 1-0 triumph over visiting Chivas USA at Buck Shaw Stadium, providing a scoring spark in the 66th minute for the scuffling San Jose side after subbing in to open the second half. San Jose was booked for three yellow cards in a physical tilt, while the visitors were assessed two yellows and a red card, a booking on their goalkeeper for playing a ball outside of the penalty box.

The Quakes (1-2-3) opened play Saturday knotted with Montreal for the fewest points in the MLS standings, but Chivas proved just the opponent to help San Jose turn around its five-game winless streak in 2014. San Jose has not lost to Chivas in any of the encounters over the last two seasons.

The Rojiblancos (1-4-3) took their 2014 season opener 3-2 over visiting Chicago but failed to find the W in six consecutive games to sit just three points ahead of San Jose in the league table. With the win, the Earthquakes tied Chivas with six points earned on the campaign.

“You never want to wait too long for the first one,” said Earthquakes coach Mark Watson. “We’ve waited a little bit. It’s a relief. We still have work to do. It’s three points. We take it, we run with it and we get back to work on Monday.”

Djalo, an import on loan from Sport Lisbon e Benefica of Portugal’s Primeira Liga, received a Shea Salinas cross and tucked a bouncer just inside of the left post for a precision strike out of reach of diving Chivas keeper Dan Kennedy.

“It was a great team play,” said Djalo through an interpreter. “Salinas made a great pass over to me. I was happy to score the goal, but it was the high level of the team that got the goal. The ball made the goal. I just wanted to focus and put it into the corner.”

The winning volley marks the first career MLS goal for the five-foot-six veteran of 166 professional games, all abroad, in only his fourth game in the States.

“The teams are all competitive here,” said Djalo of the MLS. “That makes every game competitive. There’s a lot of hard work to be done. That makes me excited every game.”

For Djalo, the issue hasn’t been adjusting to the league as much as it has been overcoming injury, chiefly tightness in his right hamstring that has limited his availability in the early going. Watson utilized Djalo sparingly in his three previous MLS engagements, coming on in the 79th minute or later in two of three appearances. He entered the game at the half in March 13th’s loss to the Columbus Crew for his longest stint before tonight.

“Last week I wasn’t in the condition to play,” said Djalo. “I was a little sore still and couldn’t get through a game. Thanks to the work of the medical staff here, they did a great job with me all week. I was able to get on the field for 45 minutes. I hope that’s going to be a little bit more.”

“There was an argument to start him,” said Watson. “We felt with the way his hamstring has been the last couple of weeks, it wasn’t the prudent thing to do. He’s getting close. He’s a real dynamic player. He helps us when he’s on the pitch.”

For the second straight game, Quakes keeper Jon Busch collected the clean sheet, blanking the Rojiblancos one week after shutting out the Colorado Rapids in a scoreless draw on the road. Busch handled all three shots labelled for the San Jose net, while his defenders managed a pair of blocked shots and forced 10 Rojiblanco shots off target.

“We’ve got some tremendous defenders on this team,” said Busch. “It’s coming together very nicely defensively. I thought Victor (Bernardez) and Clarence (Goodson) did a beautiful job dealing with some very dangerous crosses. I was very happy with them in front of me. They were tremendous tonight.”

The Quake defense proved especially stout against Chivas striker Erick Torres. Torres took the pitch tied with Clint Dempsey for the MLS in goals atop the chase for the Golden Boot. Though Torres’ loaded foot had already found the back of the net six times previously this season, San Jose kept him off the sheet. Torres managed multiple chances on net by way of kick and header, but none found their mark thanks to his opposition’s containment.

“The defense played strong,” said Watson. “That’s one of the things we’ve been working on, being tougher to break down. Getting two shutouts in a row helps us confidence-wise. There are still little things we need to do.”

Proving defensively stout has been critical for the denizens of Buck Shaw Stadium as they slog through a scoring drought. San Jose owns only one game with more than one goal scored in their favor this season in six attempts. A handful of injuries to start the season have hampered San Jose’s offensive rhythm, especially at the midfield position, but the team appears close to being on the mend.

“We work every day on both sides of the ball,” said Watson. “I don’t think the team is where it needs to be. The group’s getting healthy, which helps. We get more time to work together as a group and we’ll continue to do that.”

Among the wounded rounding into form, Watson put heavy emphasis on what a hampered Djalo has brought, and what the expectations for him will be when he’s at full strength.

“Right from the start of the second half, he gave us that little spark,” said Watson. “The thing with him is, he’s got a good technical base. He can get out of pressure. He’s most dangerous when he can get space, when he runs. He made a great run to the far post and a great finish.

Despite a feeling around the team that the Portuguese player may be called upon to be San Jose’s next potent weapon, the smallish soccer star-in-waiting handles the weight with aplomb.

“Everyone feels the same pressure,” said Djalo. “You have to come into the game, do the best you can, contribute to the team and try to get wins. The pressure is the same for everybody. I play the game to help contribute to my teammates. They go through a lot of hard work every week, every game. I just want to help them succeed.”

Saturday’s score certainly made Djalo a popular man, both with the fans and his new teammates who now know what it feels like to have a mark under the win column in the league standings. The Earthquakes now carry a little less pressure heading into next week’s showdown in Vancouver against the Whitecaps no longer mired in last place in the Western Conference.

“We got the monkey off our back,” said Busch. “Hopefully we can relax and play our game.”

Quakes able to stay even

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Photo credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

By Pearl Allison Lo

Against the Colorado Rapids going for their third straight win, the San Jose Earthquakes were able to keep a clean sheet in a 0-0 tie Saturday.

This was despite Colorado outcornering the Quakes 10 to 3, keeping by far the majority of possession time the whole game and having the only shot on target.

In eight games against the Rapids, San Jose is now 5-0-3.

The Quakes’ Alan Gordon started for the second straight game, and off a corner kick in just the first minute, had a header hit the bar. Not too far off, in the last game the two teams played, Gordon hit the post in the ninth minute.

In the 74th minute, the Rapids’ Vicente Sanchez started off with the ball, getting it to teammate Dillon Powers. Powers tried to return the favor in front of the net but Sanchez and the Quakes’ Victor Bernardez collided going for the ball. It was not clear whether or not it was from a foot from Sanchez or an awkward landing, but Bernardez had to have his right shoulder collarbone area freeze sprayed.

San Jose’s Adam Jahn entered in favor of Gordon in the 84th minute. It was Jahn’s first appearance of the regular season

As quickly as Jahn came in he though, he went out. He was issued a red card in the 87th minute, for a shoulder to the face of Jared Watts when trying to nab the ball, in the 85th minute. It is now the fifth red card that has occurred in nine matches between the teams.

Stoppage time for the second half lasted five minutes and San Jose’s Yannick Djalo ended up limping off in the 91st minute.

Game notes: The two teams meet again May 7, but the next game up for the Quakes is April 26 @ 7:30pm, as San Jose plays host to Chivas USA.

Earthquakes Still Searching for first Win of 2014

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By: Phillip Torres

SANTA CLARA-The San Jose Earthquakes hosted the Columbus Crew at Buck Shaw Stadium on Sunday afternoon in Santa Clara. The Earthquakes rallied to earn tie with the Crew as Chris Wondolowski put the ball in the net for his third goal of the season. The tie makes San Jose winless in four games thus far in the 2014 season.

Federico Higuain gave the visiting Columbus Crew a 1-0 lead right before halftime as he was able to find the net with the assist from Waylon Francis.

Wondolowski scored his goal at the 51st minute right out of the break. Shea Salinas served a nice corner kick into the middle of the box, where the ball found Wondoloski. Wondoloski found the back of the net and tied the game at one goal a piece.

The San Jose Earthquakes will be back on the field on Saturday as they will be hosted by the Colorado Rapids. The game will be played at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Kickoff for the game will be at 3:00 p.m.

New England Revolution End Earthquake’s 21 Game Home Unbeaten Steak with Late Minute Goal

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Photo Credit: MLS Twitter
Photo Credit: MLS Twitter

By: Joe Lami

Fans at Buck Shaw Stadium are used to seeing late-minute heroics, but this time it comes from the visitors as the New England Revolution score a heart-breaking goal in the 93rd minute to defeat the Earthquakes 2-1. The loss drops the Quake’s record to 0-2-1 for a total of one point on the season, keeping them in the cellar of the Western Conference.

The Revolution dominated the game early, having seven shots through the first 30 minutes of the match.  On many occasions Earthquakes keeper, Jon Busch had to keep his team in the game with many amazing diving saves.  New England got their first goal of the season, however it came off an Earthquakes’ own goal as Victor Bernandez put the ball into his own net in the 35th minute.  The defender was battling for a ball and tried to slide the ball away, but accidentally put it into his own net to give the Revolution the 1-0 lead.

The Earthquakes were unable to answer in the first half, however they did have a great chance when Steven Lenhart headed a free kick off of the foot of Cordell Cato in the 40th minute. The header just missed the far post on the left side.

Earthquakes Head Coach, Mark Watson was not pleased with the first half performance.  “We didn’t play well.  We didn’t have any energy.  We were second best to everything.”

The Earthquakes came out of halftime playing a lot better, as they took it to the Revolution.  One of their best chances was when Chris Wondolowski had a breakaway in the 64th minute.  However, the star striker just hit the outside of the net on the left side.

It would take just minutes later for the Earthquakes to find the equalizer, as Wondolowski would redeem himself, tying the game in the 69th minute.  Wondolowski was able to find the far left post from a near impossible angle as he swung at the ball with his right foot on the right side of the six-yard box.

A scary moment occurred in the 77th minute, when Steven Lenhart went down with an apparent left knee injury. Lenhart is known to have a serious past with knee injuries, which makes the possible injury even scarier. Watson commented on the injury “I think the issue is an MCL, but I don’t know how bad it is.”  Wondolowski later added “We (Wondolowski and Lenhart) feel optimistic about the injury, but will find out more on Monday.”

The Earthquakes were really pushing for the win, however it was on a counter attack where the Revolution made the Quakes pay. Lee Nguyen would find his first goal of the year, and the first goal for New England when he put the right-footed shot into the bottom left corner past Busch for the win.  “We were going all or nothing…it’s kind of the way we play…We had a point locked up tonight, and we went for three and ended up with nothing” commented Earthquakes’ Defender, Clarence Goodson.

The Earthquakes will get sometime to recover from the tough loss, as they don’t play until April 13 due to an international break.  The Quakes will look to regain their home pitch advantage as they take on the Columbus Crew.

Quakes victim of another penalty kick

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Photo credit: sjearthquakes.com/mlssoccer.com

By Pearl Allison Lo

Jon Busch found himself in a familiar situation after Dom Dwyer scored the game’s lone goal, as Sporting Kansas City found victory at home again over the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday.

In the 56th minute, off a corner kick, former quake Ike Opara had another close shot but Busch knocked it high. Upon second chance, with a multitude of people battling for the ball in front of Busch, Steven Lenhart was called for a handball. Dwyer, who took the penalty kick, picked the correct side as he scored to make it 1-0.

San Jose lost their 12-game unbeaten streak in regulation and has now not won at Kansas City in eight games since 2004.

KC had the majority of chances at net, reflected in the 11-3 shot total in the first half.

After a clearance, Sal Zizzo kicked it to the corner post away from Busch right in front of Opara. However, it bounced off the post again and then Opara kicked the ball left.

Dwyer had a breakaway but  kicked the ball wide in the 28th minute.

Ike Opara lost one of his contacts.

In the second half, the Quakes had opportune chances.

Chris Wondolowski just missed wide in the 71st minute.

He had another attempt in the 83rd minute on a free kick straightaway just beyond the box, but was high.

Benny Feilhaber was named Man of the Match by Sporting Kansas City announcers.

Game notes: San Jose next plays the New England Revolution for the teams’ final March match, the 29th at 7:30pm.

Toluca ekes by Quakes to CONCACAF semifinals

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Photo credit: pbs.twimg.com

By Pearl Allison Lo

Despite San Jose’s valiant effort and an erroneous call that would have given them a 2-1 lead, Toluca won on their sixth penalty kick in the second leg semi at home Wednesday.

Billy Schuler and JJ Koval made their first starts and held their own alongside teammates, in a game where the Quakes began without seven starters. Chris Wondolowski started on the bench with a sore groin.

Wondolowski’s shot bounced off goalie Alfredo Talavera and Alan Gordon scored off the rebound in the second half. However, the ref ruled that he was offsides.

The San Jose defense worked in tandem with goalie Jon Busch, who at times, was able to knock a shot just wide and pushed Juan Manuel Salgueiro’s shot above his head and behind the net. Busch also continued past first half stoppage time in preventing another attempt. At one point, the Quakes defensively stopped two shots by the same player with their bodies

A kick by San Jose’s Shea Salinas connected to Ty Harden’s head, gave Harden his first goal ever in the 56th minute. This first score of the game sparked aggressiveness by Toluca. Busch had to move forward out of the goal to make a save, after which he went down and was grabbing the back of his head. Pablo Velazquez also got a free kick.

Atiba Harris being helped off the field after a challenge, brought in Wondolowski and paused the new fast pace of the game.

In the second half, the Quakes cleared the ball off the goal line twice and both teams had a lot of free kicks at one point.

First, Cordell Cato cleared if off the line, but then the ball went off the chest off Isaac Brizuela, who afterwards kicked it past an approaching Wondo and a diving Busch to tie the game.

Sam Cronin also cleared the ball off the line after Edy Brambila entered the game.

The 9,000 foot elevation game then went into 30 minutes of extra time for the first time ever in CONCACAF knockout stages.

After the offsides call in overtime, Schuler had a shot off the net and Busch stopped another Toluca attempt with one hand.

Busch received a yellow card for time wasting.

The chants of USA could be heard as the teams proceeded to penalty kicks.

They went as follows: TOL – Raul Nava (save), Antonio Rios (goal), Velazquez (goal), Miguel Ponce (goal), Talavera (goal), Wilson Tiago (goal)

SJ – Wondolowski (save), Gordon (goal), Cronin (goal), Schuler (goal), Koval (goal), Shea Salinas (miss).

It was the rookie with Toluca Rios’s first Champions game. Busch got a hand on two balls that went in twice.  Against Ponce who was born in Sacramento, Busch was blowing into his hands after and Tiago’s ball bounced in after a touch by Busch. Salinas went down to one knee after his shot banged off the crossbar.

Game notes: San Jose continues with a game against the defending MLS Cup Champions, Sporting Kansas City Saturday at 5:30pm.

More Late Minute Heroics Help the Earthquakes Draw Real Salt Lake in First MLS Match of the Season

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By: Joe Lami

It took until the 95th minute for the Earthquakes to get the equalizer, but once again the team from San Jose finds a way to get the goals when they matter, as they draw Real Salt Lake 3-3 in the first MLS match of the year.

San Jose got on the board first in just the sixth minute, when Chris Wondoloski found his first of the season off a free kick from the foot of Shea Salinas.  The free kick from the left side was swung in and found the thigh of the captain for the 1-0 lead.

However, just minutes later Real Salt Lake would find their first of three goals in the first half.  It was Salt Lake Captain, Kyle Beckerman finding the net on just the second Salt Lake shot of the game at the 11-minute mark.  The left footed kick from outside of the box found just enough of the bottom left post to bounce its’ way in for the 1-1 draw.

Real Salt Lake had much of the possession in the first half, with a 68%-32% advantage and it showed.  Salt Lake would take the lead in the 32nd minute as another ball found the bottom left corner of the net, this time it was from the foot of Joao Plata for his first of the season.

The domination for Real Salt Lake would continue, at the 41st minute Alvaro Saborio would force Jon Busch to make a diving save.  As the Earthquakes goalkeeper would just get enough of a touch to keep the ball out of the net.  However, Busch wouldn’t be able to keep the next opportunity out of his net, as Luke Mulholland would drill a rebound home for Salt Lake’s third goal of the half just before the halftime whistle would blow.

“We challenged ourselves at the half…this group doesn’t need much talking, we’re all experienced, and we know what we needed to do coming out of halftime” said Quakes keeper, Busch.

The first 30 minutes of the second half were very slow, and very defensive.  It was starting to look like the Earthquakes were going to run out of time.  That was until Victor Bernandez would find the back of the net for his first of the season and the game to make it 3-2 in favor of Salt Lake.  The goal came off of a corner kick from Shea Salinas, for his second assist of the game.

“I don’t try to pick out a player, I just try to put it in a dangerous spot, and we hopefully we have someone that’s going to send it home” said Salinas.

Lighting struck twice for the Earthquakes, in the 95th minute Bernandez would find his second of the game.  It was a mixed play out in front, and Bernadez was able to get a boot on it to find the target.  With the goal in extra time, it is the second time this week that the Earthquakes have found an equalizer in extra time.  It is also the 17th time in the past two seasons, where San Jose has put the ball in the net in extra time in the second half.

An eventful week that saw the Earthquakes sign a deal with the city of San Jose to agree on focusing sustainability and green initiatives and two extra time goals to earn draws comes to an end.  Now San Jose has to worry about their second leg with Toulca in Mexico on Wednesday, and then travel to Sporting Kansas City for their first road match of MLS play on Saturday.