Tag: mls

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.

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.”

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.

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.

Gordon’s Last-Second Score Draws Earthquakes Even With Toluca in First Leg of Champions League Quarterfinals

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By Matthew Harrington

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-The San Jose Earthquakes “never say die” attitude almost created an international incident, with the Quakes introducing their “Goonies” attitude to the opening leg to the CONCACAFA Champions League quarterfinal matchup against Deportivo Toluca FC. Despite having the better of the chances at Buck Shaw Stadium Tuesday night, it took the Earthquakes a last-second goal from Alan Gordon to head to Toluca with the aggregate score even, 1-1.

“That’s how soccer goes sometimes,” said Gordon after the match. “To be able to battle back and to show ourselves we still have that, we’re always going to have that. It’s in our DNA to come back and get results. It’s really good for our confidence moving forward. We played a good team and we played them well.”

Toluca dominated the possession game, hogging the ball for over 64.8 percent of play, true to the technical styling of most dominant Mexican sides. Despite the ownership of action, Los Diablos Rojos failed to force Earthquakes keeper Jon Busch into action for much of the game. The Quakes defense blocked 4 of 10 Toluca shots while the other five bids were off target excluding the lone Diablos goal. In total, the Quakes finished with seven shots on goal to one for Toluca. San Jose also took five corners to none for the away side.

“I think our team was superior to them,” said Toluca coach Jose Cardozo through a translator, reflecting on the controlling, technical approach of his squad. “On the field we had a team that was playing soccer and another team that was just shooting at the goal area.”

Earthquakes coach Mark Watson, however, didn’t think the shot choice kept the Quakes off the board, but rather the finish. Tuesday marked the first time San Jose took the pitch for a truly meaningful contest, with the MLS regular season set to kick off later this week.

“I thought we created lot of chances,” said Watson, reinforcing throughout his press conference that many of his players were not quite in game-shape just yet. “I think in a normal game, if you take that number of chance, on a different night, on a better night we would have finished those. I think there were goals we left on the table.”

Diablos midfielder Gabriel Velasco Gutierrez opened play in the 14th minute, ripping the first dangerous salvo to officially christen the start of the series. His kick from just inside the penalty box sailed over the outstretched hand of Busch and up over the crossbar by just under a foot, garnering a collective sigh for the Quakes supporters in the crowd.

The Quakes nearly took the early edge when team captain Chris Wondolowski raced up the pitch, feeding a streaking Cordell Cato on the wing. The lightning-fast Cato wheeled the ball over to Sam Cronin who booted a chance that Toluca netminder Alfredo Talavera just tipped over the crossbar.

The first goal of the quarterfinals came off the foot of Toluca forward Raul Nava Lopez after a Jason Hernandez miscue. Nava, entering play with four Champions League goals to lead Los Diablos Rojo, fired a flawless shot that beat a diving Busch to his right side to muddy his clean sheet in the 67th minute.

“We held a very good team to very few good chances,” said Watson. “I felt bad for Jason. It just came off the side of his foot. It was a fantastic finish, world-class. You have to tip your hat to (Nava). Collectively it was a very good defensive effort.”

Quakes forward Steven Lenhart nearly put his side on the sheet in the 79th minute, heading a cross feed off the cross bar and out. Chris Wondolowski followed up with a shot of his own that was blocked aside by a Diablo defender. The visitors then cleared it out of play after a number of Quakes took a stab at the loose ball before it was cleared out of play and out of danger.

Again San Jose appeared to have the answering tally but denial reared its head just four minutes from the end of regular time. Lenhart strung a pass across the goal box to Alan Gordon. The pass ended up just a step behind Gordon who couldn’t pull the trigger for a clean look. The book remained open on Gordon’s narrative as hero of the day, however, as he found a way to avoid rejection during the four-plus minute allotment of injury time.

“I think it was right after they scored, right in that moment,” pondered Gordon on the moment when his team mustered up the morale to believe. “It was in that moment, when that stuff happens. It feels like the ball isn’t going to go back into the net. But we didn’t put our heads down. We kept going. We got together in the middle of the field like we usually do and looked each other in the eye. We made a conscious effort to see it through, all the way to the end.”

In the final minute of play (or 30 seconds after play should have ended according to a frustrated Cardozo’s viewpoint post-match) Shea Salinas lofted the ball up for a challenge in the Toluca goal box. It was Gordon connecting on the header nearly unguarded, redirecting it just past Talavera to dramatically knot the teams at a goal apiece.

“You don’t usually expect to get goals like that in the MLS,” said Gordon. “You usually expect to get grabbed and pulled. I was a little surprised to be untouched. It was great, a good feeling.”

When the Earthquakes travel to Estadio Nemesio Diaz for the second leg March 19th, they will head to hostile territory on even footing, knowing that the winner on the pitch will be the one advancing to the Champions League semifinals. The challenge will be greater, considering Toluca fielded a mix of starters and reserves Tuesday but will more likely trot out a majority of the starters in game two with the home crowd hungry for victory. Toluca is already midway through its season in the Mexican league and wary of injuries in non-league play.

“It’s tough to go in to Mexico and get results,” said Gordon. “For us to go in there down 1-0 (in the aggregate) would have been a huge mountain. Now we’re in a one-game series. We’re looking for the result in Mexico. There’s no reason we should think that we can’t.”

Gordon, who sat out most of the preseason, saw the goal Tuesday as a positive sign that he’s ready to perform when it counts, including Saturday’s MLS season opener at Buck Shaw Stadium against Real Salt Lake.

“It was really our first run,” said Gordon. “The preseason is the preseason. It took me awhile to figure out preseason goals don’t count for anything. I joke with the guys that I’m in the preseason hall of fame. It never got me any goals in the regular season. Now I switch it up and don’t play any games in the preseason.”

Quakes top Rapids to stay alive in MLS playoffs race

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment
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San Jose Earthquakes Jordan Stewart celebrates on top of his teammates as Chris Wondolowski (in the center) scored against Colorado Rapids at Buck Shaw Stadium. Photo by Michael Bonocore Photography

By Ivan Makarov

SANTA CLARA, CA — A couple of months ago the odds of San Jose Earthquakes making MLS playoffs didn’t look good, as the team kept losing points while unable to produce offense. They even parted ways with their head coach Frank Yallop who led the team to 2012 Supporters Shield award only a year ago. But after tightening its defense with the signing of Clarence Goodson, and focusing on offense in training, the things finally started to come together for the Quakes and its interim head coach Mike Watson.

That improvement calumniated in a key victory against the divisional opponent Colorado Rapids on Wednesday night at Buck Shaw Stadium. The race for the five playoffs spots in the West is staying very close this year between seven teams, and to stay alive Quakes needed a victory against Colorado, one of the two teams right in front of them. With the big goal by its captain Chris Wondowski, the Quakes earned 1-0 win and kept themselves alive in this close race to the finish.

“That was probably a must-win game for us tonight,” said Mike Watson after the game. “We needed the three points. I don’t think one would have been enough. I don’t think you go into a game with that as your main thought, but you know the result you need to come away with. I thought our guys were excellent tonight. We were on top of the game from the start. We were sharp, moved the ball well and had a bunch of great chances.”

The key moment of the game happened on the 69th minute from two set pieces inside the Rapids territory. It all  started with a cross from a free kick taken by Rafael Baka from 40 or so yards out which found Wondolowski’s head inside the penalty box. Wondo put a shot on target, but Colorado’s goalkeeper Clinton Irwin made a great save, putting the ball above the goal, resulting in the Quakes’ corner kick.

Shea Salinas took that corner and sent the ball back to the Quakes top goalscorer Wondolowski. He once again beat his coverage, and put another header on goal, which went in this time. This was Wondo’s 10th goal of the season, and his league-leading seventh game winning goal. It’s also worth noting that it was a well deserved assist for Salinas, who was brilliant all night, orchestrating most of the attacks with his speed and creativity.

“Shea [Salinas’] service has been excellent,” said Mike Watson. “He’s somebody who thrives off running past defenders. He wants those one-on-one match-ups. He’s quick and has good control and his service is usually very good when he gets in dangerous spots. Tonight, I thought his service was great.”

Quakes had the chance to score other goals in the game, creating multiple chances from crosses inside the zone, where Rapids defense seemed to struggle. Alan Gordon had at least two great scoring chances from headers, as did Wondolowski who had a chance to score from a breakaway at the start of the second half. Quakes outshot the Rapids 8-0 with shots on target. At the same time, Quakes were excellent on their own back end, with Colorado earning only a couple of chances to score – mostly early  in the game. Jon Busch earned his eighth shutout of the season.

“As the season draws to an end, it feels like each game gets more emotional,” said Chris Wondolowski. “The guys were loose before the game and it helped ease the nerves because this match was a must-win situation here at home. We were so excited to play tonight; I was fired up all game and it’s always great to play in front of our home fans here at Buck Shaw [Stadium]. Now we are a point back of where we want to be and know that if we take care of business we will be rewarded.”

The game turned out to be a close to a complete performance by the home team in front of the sold out crowd of 10,525. The win improved the Quakes to 4-0-1 in their last five games. With two games remaining in the season, San Jose needs to continue winning, as they finish the season against LA and Dallas. But they’re keeping their hopes up and such performance should add to their confidence going into those final games.

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Wondo a late game hero for the Quakes

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

By Ivan Makarov

At this point in the MLS season, and given their position in the standings, San Jose Earthquakes could not afford to lose any points in the remaining four games to still have a chance to make playoffs.

Sunday night game in Los Angeles against Chivas USA proved to be a thriller, as  it took the Quakes 87 minutes to break through and keep their playoffs chance  alive going into the final stretch of the season. They won the match 1-0, thanks to the late game heroics from their top goalscorer Chris Wondolowski.

After largely uneventful first half, with the only memorable moment being a yellow card to Stephen Lenhart, as he injured Steve Purdy in an airial challenge, things started to pick up in the second. Lenhart was in the middle of the action again after a corner kick taken by Shea Salinas. Lenhart ran into the box toward the cross, and put the header into the net. However, a quick whistle from the referee negated an apparent goal, as he indicated that Lenhart fouled on the play. A video replay did not show any point of contact or where the foul was committed, but the score remained 0-0.

Quakes continued to push the ball forward, and looking like a better team, but could not find that final touch they needed to put the ball into the net.

The earlier booking on Lenhart proved to be pricy later on the 81st minute as the Quakes forward went to challenge the high ball against Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy, and instead of reaching the ball, he ran into the keeper. Referee showed no hesitation in booking Lenhart again with the second yellow, followed by the red card. That left the Quakes with one man down for the rest of the game. But it didn’t stop them from pushing forward, with their season on the line.

With only six minutes remaining in the regulation, the fortune finally turned to the Quakes. Alan Gordon had the ball just outside the Chivas box, and took a long shot. It wasn’t the strongest of kicks, but it dipped down, bounced off the grass and went up when it reached Dan Kennedy. Up to this point, Kennedy was nothing short of spectacular for his team, but he made a mistake this time, as the ball rebounded off his chest and back into the field. Quakes’ most dangerous man Chris Wondolowski was the first to the rebound, and he flicked the ball above Kennedy and into the net, breathing life into Quakes playoffs chances this season.

Quakes went on to defend their lead in the remaining minutes in the game, and improved their standing to 44 points with three games remaining and just one point outside the playoffs spot in the West. Their chances for post season keep improving, but the task is still hard, as they likely need at least two more victories in the remaining three games to qualify for playoffs.

The Quakes next host Colorado Rapids at home at Buck Shaw Stadium on Wednesday, October 9.

Quakes win big in Salt Lake City

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By Ivan Makarov

San Jose Earthquakes are not going down without a fight this season.

With only five games remaining in the regular season before the Quakes played on the road against Real Salt Lake, they knew they needed to win at least once on the road, if they were to have a chance to content for the MLS Cup in playoffs. The win was needed even more so after the Quakes failed to secure a victory against Vancouver last Saturday.

That win was earned on a good defensive effort and a pair of headers from Steven Lenhart, as Quakes won that game in Salt Lake and greatly improved their standings.

Rio Tinto Stadium, the home of Real Salt Lake, has always been a hard place to play for any visiting team, with its stands close to the field, and passionate fans filling up the stands all contributing to Real’s dominance in SLC. They only lost two games at home this season, while the Quakes won just once on the road, where they struggled all season.

While the Quakes looked good in many road games but not seeing that translate on the scoreboard and in the standings, the scenario reversed itself on Saturday. This much was also obvious on the stats sheet, where Real dominated in just about every category – shots on goal (17 vs 8), passing accuracy (83% vs 71%), and ball possession (70% vs 30% for Real). Well, except in one category that matters most – the goals.

Quakes got the great start to the game they always want with an early goal from one of their forwards Steven Lenhart. Cordell Cado got the ball on the right wing, and crossed it high and long towards the penalty mark. Lenhart won the position and put a great header straight into the net, only 18 minutes into the game.

Real responded a minute later, as Javier Morales was left wide open on the far side of the net after Kyle Beckerman’s cross off the corner, making it 1-1 on the 19th minute.

But Lenhart put the Quakes ahead only two minutes later, once again from a powerful header. Shea Salinas took the free kick 40 or so yards away on the left side of the field, and his cross was to the similar spot where Lenhart scored earlier. Quakes tall forward won another challenge in the air, scoring his fourth goal of the season.

Quakes could have put themselves one more goal ahead in the second half on the 66th minute when Rafael Baka took off on a 2-on-1 breakaway with Chris Wondolowski on his left side, but he fired it off early, and straight into Real’s goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

Other than that, it was all Real with chances the rest of the game. Solid play by Quakes defense and their goalkeeper Jon Busch kept the home team off the scoreboard, and gave San Jose much needed three points. The win may have come with a price, as their defender Clarance Goodson left the game early with what looked like an injury.

A strong defensive effort, and offensive production means the Quakes earned their second victory on the road against a very good opponent.

The Quakes are still outside the playoffs picture, but should they win both remaining home games and grab a point on the road either against Chivas USA or LA Galaxy, they could end up in the fifth spot in the West, giving them a playoffs berth.

Their quest for that continues in LA on Sunday, September 29th, when they take on Chivas USA.