By Pearl Allison Lo
The first preseason game for the San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders was a Desert Diamond friendly in Tucson, Arizona Wednesday morning, resulting in a win for the team whose city won the Super Bowl.
Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei’s activity and the timing of the three goals summarized the flow of the game from Seattle to San Jose.
The battle for most yellow cards went to the Quakes, who had three in the game, including one in the 2nd minute.
Frei only needed to make one save in the first half, and it came against newbie Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi in the 24th minute, in his debut.
Obafemi Martins set up a tough hurdle to overcome, scoring in the 27th and 29th minutes.
San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham’s knocking the ball away and then out of bounds after a free kick attempt, set up the scene for the first goal. After the ensuing corner throw Jalil Anibaba bounced in, Lamar Neagle headed it to Martins who kicked the ball into the net. Anibaba was acquired from the Chicago Fire January 15.
The artful play that led to the second goal came after Neagle kicked the ball. Dylan Remick followed running in from the sideline and sent the ball in an arc over to Andy Rose. Rose then headed the ball to Martins who duplicated right up front to make it 2-0. Bingham was caught going back from defending Rose.
Sounders’ draft pick Jimmy Ockford had two friendly fire collisions in the second half. One was with fellow draft pick Damion Lowe, the other later with Frei after Mike Fucito’s goal.
Fucito was able to get one in the net for the Quakes in the 86th minute. Teammate trialist Andreas Gorlitz kicked the ball into the center and it bounced around blue and green jerseys, Atiba Harris and Fucito for San Jose. When it got loose, Fucito crossed it into Frei’s open side.
Game notes: February 3, the Quakes reported they signed Shea Salinas and Jordan Stewart to new contracts. The second and last Desert Diamond friendly as San Jose tries to even out, is Friday, February 8, at 2pm PST against the Houston Dynamo.
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