Tag: San Jose Earthquakes

Quakes Blanked by Galaxy in U.S. Open Cup Round of 16

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By: Eric He

An early goal was all the Los Angeles Galaxy needed to defeat the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 in Round of 16 in the U.S. Open Cup at Avaya Stadium Wednesday night.

The win came just five days after the Quakes dominated the Galaxy 3-1 in a MLS game at Stanford Stadium.

In the sixth minute, midfielder Kenny Walker lofted a perfect pass to Jose Villareal, who touched it down with his right foot and fired a rocket with his left foot past Quakes’ goalkeeper Bryan Meredith.

“I think we were a bit unaware of the danger that was happening at that present time and it is very surprising that at six minutes we gave up such an easy chance,” said Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear.

Despite doubling the Galaxy in shots (14-7), the Quakes only had three shots on goal and could not squeeze one by Galaxy goalkeeper Bryan Rowe. Rowe turned aside the Quakes, who pressured all game for the tying goal. He made a tremendous save on a header by JJ Koval off a corner kick in the 51st minute.

Kinnear praised his team for a better effort in the second half: “I thought in the first half all second balls fell to them and they obviously got some chances out of it and got some possession. Where I thought in the second half we were around the ball a heck of a lot more and that’s the reason why we were knocking on the door for as long as we were.”

The Quakes had nine corner kicks to the Galaxy’s zero, in a game played in front of 13,329 at the Quakes’ home stadium.

San Jose will now return to MLS action, as their next game will be on Sunday in Portland against the Timbers.

Quakes surge past Galaxy in California Classico

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By: Eric He

PALO ALTO — For the past several years, the annual California Classico between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles Galaxy has lived up to its billing as one of the premier MLS games of the year, and this season’s match at Stanford Stadium was no exception.

In a tight contest filled with intense action in front of a sellout crowed of over 50,000 fans, the Earthquakes defeated the Galaxy 3-1 with three unanswered goals, two coming in the second half.

The Quakes came out strong to start the second half and it paid off with a goal in the 53rd minute by Goodson. Off a corner kick by Matias Perez Garcia, Goodson beat his defender to the ball and headed it past Galaxy goaltender Jaime Penedo to give the Quakes a 2-1 lead. It was Perez Garcia’s sixth assist in his last seven games.

They continued pressing, and Cordell Cato, who subbed in for Sanna Nyassi in the 60th minute, delivered a huge insurance goal just 12 minutes later. After some hard work by Shea Salinas to win the ball, Cato eluded Dan Gargan and had plenty of time to fire a hard shot past Penedo from close range.

The win gives the Earthquakes 25 points, tying them with the Portland Timbers for the final playoff spot in the West.

The first half featured highlight-reel goals for both teams – Juninho for the Galaxy and Chris Wondolowski for the Quakes.

It was Juninho who struck first in the 17th minute with a bolt from well beyond the penalty area, a shot that Quakes’ goaltender David Bingham had no chance to stop.

Wondolowski answered in the 28th minute, finishing it off after a terrific feed by Perez Garcia. Perez Garcia deked out Leonardo, creating room for the cross. It was Wondolowski who started the play to begin with, stripping Gargan of the ball and finding Perez Garcia on the right flank.

Otherwise, both goaltenders stood tall in a fast-paced half.

The Quakes nearly scored right off the bat. On the net-mouth scramble in the opening minute, Wondolowski was denied from point-blank by Penedo.

Penedo also made a strong play in the 20th minute, knocking the ball away from Salinas after the Quakes’ midfielder had a clear path from the left side.

Bingham, meanwhile, made crucial stops in consecutive minutes – in the 23rd minute he denied a free kick off the foot of Stefan Ishizaki followed by a point-blank save on Robbie Keane in the 24th minute.

Shots and possession in the first half were relatively even, as the teams went in the locker room with a goal apiece.

Notes

The Earthquakes have lost just once in their last nine MLS games. … They have also lost just once in 11 regular season games against the Galaxy at home. … The Galaxy’s road winless streak is now at 16 games. … On Friday, the Quakes traded defender Ty Harden to the Fire for forward Quincy Amarikwa. … The Quakes are 35-23-17 all-time in the month of June. … The Quakes have allowed one or fewer goals in seven of their last eight matches. … Since 2008, they have played 13 home games away from their home venue and are now 7-4-2 in those matches.

Quakes Advance To Round Of 16, Defeat Sacramento Republic FC in Shootout.

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By Shawn Whelchel

The San Jose Earthquakes needed 120 minutes of play, and six penalty kicks in a shootout to defeat the Sacramento Republic FC on Tuesday night, but the team earned a second consecutive trip to the Round of 16 on Tuesday night in a spectacular come from behind win in San Jose.

The Quakes drifted lazily throughout much of Tuesday night’s U.S Open Cup matchup, but rode the momentum of a scoring outburst from captain Chris Wondolowski to eventually eliminate Sacramento for the second straight year.

Sacramento wasted no time in putting the pressure on San Jose during their first trip to Avaya Stadium, earning a goal within the opening minutes of Tuesday night’s contest. After sitting out the last three games following a red card suspension, Republic FC midfielder Rodrigo Lopez earned a penalty kick after being tripped up by Shaun Francis inside the box.

Bryan Meredith, who was playing his first minutes of the season in place of normal starter David Bingham, received a tough welcome to the pitch as Lopez was able to shoot the ball past the reserve goal keeper, and into the top left of the net for a goal at the six minute mark.

Sacramento would not let off the gas throughout the rest of the half, continuing to put pressure on Bingham and the San Jose defense. Although they would bend, the defense would not break a second time, disallowing a second goal by Sacramento at the 43′ minute mark following a pair of impressive saves by both defenders and goalie alike.

The Earthquakes failed to return the same amount of offensive pressure that Republic was delivering, only threatening once on a Mark Sherrod header near the halfway mark of the first that bounced wide of the net.

Sacramento started the second half of the game much like the first, earning an early goal while providing all the offensive pressure of the opening minutes. Republic’s second goal of the game came off the foot of Emrah Klimenta, who was able to beat San Jose up the right side of the pitch to sneak a ball under the outstretched leg of Meredith for a 2-0 advantage at the 53′ minute mark.

But San Jose’s fire was ignited at the 73′ minute mark, as a scoring outburst salvaged what looked to be a lackluster game from the Earthquakes up to that point. Mike Fucito started things off by putting goalkeeper Patrick McLain to the test on back to back scoring chances. After sending two tough strikes toward McLain, teammate Chris Wondolowski was able to slip undefended into the front of the net to play the rebound and sink his first goal of the night to cut Sacramento’s lead in half.

Wondolowski would show off his knack for scoring just five minutes later after heading in a perfect cross from Marvell Wynne to tie the match at 2-2. Wondolowski would barely miss a hat trick in the 86th minute but missed just high on the cross bar. The two teams would attack to no avail during the remainder of regulation before being forced to overtime.

Although both teams found a way to threaten, neither could scratch during the first overtime session, leaving a 2-2 tie heading into the second, and final, fifteen minutes. Drained from the extended play, the two sides couldn’t muster up any real scoring threats in the second overtime either, sending the game to a shootout.

San Jose looked to be in trouble after consecutive blocks to Khari Stephenson and Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi put them in a deficit. But Meredith was able to hold off Sacramento’s Emrah Klimenta to keep his team alive. After an equalizer for San Jose notched things back up, Sacramento faltered on their sixth try of the night as James Kiffe launched a ball over the top of the net to secure a victory for San Jose.

Game Notes:

Tonight’s game was the first time San Jose Goalkeeper David Bingham did not play any minutes throughout the entire season.

Tuesday’s win advances their U.S Cup record to 14-11 all-time since the team began participating 12 years ago.

Tuesday night’s game was the first time a non-MLS team has played at Avaya Stadium.

Wondolowski’s two goal night gives him 99 goals as a member of the Quakes, and his franchise leading 176 multiple-goal game.

Wondolowski Joins Century Club, Quakes Draw Orlando City 1-1

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Chris Wondolowski joined MLS royalty in Sunday’s 1-1 draw between the San Jose Earthquakes and Orlando City SC at Levi’s Stadium, scoring the tying goal on a penalty kick to become just the ninth player in league history to score 100 career goals.

“I’m very grateful,” said Wondolowski. “I know the historic value of it. I do appreciate it, but I think it’s one of those things that will slowly sink in. It hasn’t sunken in yet.”

Wondolowski’s marker extended the undefeated run by San Jose (5-4-3) to five games after Kaka put Orlando City (3-5-4) up 1-0 with a penalty strike of his own.

The two teams battled to a standstill in the first half, but a pair of penalty kicks broke open the flood gates in the second half.

“40 yards and in we were a bit missing today,” said Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear. “We had a couple of good opportunities in the first half, a couple chances off set pieces. They were well organized, we were well organized. Sometimes defense rules the day and that’s what happened.”

Despite being down a man after Brek Shea was shown the red card for a spikes-up slide tackle in the 51st minute, the Lions struck first. Goalkeeper Tally Hall lofted a long ball into the attacking penalty box. Forward Cyle Larin and Quakes keeper David Bingham collided going after the 50-50 ball. Referee Allen Chapman awarded Orlando City a penalty kick for apparent contact to the face of the Lion attacker.

“For us to allow that ball to bounce once close to our area is a definite no-no,” said Kinnear. “That five-second segment was the worst we defended all year and we got punished for it.”

After weeks of hype in the media leading up to the game, soccer superstar Kaka delivered on the pitch. The Brazilian went left as goalkeeper David Bingham went right on the penalty kick for a 1-0 lead in the 64th minute.

The name opposite Kaka on the marquee leading up to Sunday played the perfect foil, with Chris Wondolowski one-upping the former FIFA World Player of the Year by scoring a significant MLS milestone.

After Orlando committed a penalty in the box, Wondolowski lined up the penalty kick looking to draw San Jose even and pull himself into a tie with Edson Buddle as the eighth-highest scoring player in league history.

He did just that in the 68th minute, getting Hall to guess wrong on a low dribbler to the left for his 7th strike of the season.

The two-time MLS Golden Boot winner raced into the goal to retrieve the ball before being mobbed by his teammates feting him for his accomplishment. The goal scorer wasn’t doing it to soak in the moment though, he wanted to get play started as soon as possible.

“I was ready to go,” said Wondolowski. “I really wanted to get a victory, especially being up a man.”

“I talked to Chris after the game, he wasn’t happy with the result” said Kinnear. “I told him ‘Take a step back. Recognize what you’ve done’. It’s an incredible achievement, couldn’t have happened to a better guy. It’s not the end of his story, but it’s a great accomplishment for a person who has overcome a lot.”

Not too shabby for a player who, coming out of Chico State in 2005, played sparsely for San Jose after being drafted by Kinnear.

“I’m very grateful,” said Wondolowski. “I know the historic value of it. I do appreciate it, but I think it’s one of those things that will slowly sink in. It hasn’t sunken in yet.”

When the team moved to Houston, Wondolowski ultimately was traded by Kinnear back to San Jose where he’s scored all but 4 of his goals. Just this season Kinnear resumed duties as bench boss in Santa Clara.

“I haven’t really sat down with him and said ‘Hey, remember when I traded you’,” said Kinnear jokingly. “’What a great accomplishment.’ Looking at his career at the time, he wasn’t going to have a chance to play in Houston. I thought for him to ply his trade at home, I only made one call on Chris, and that was to San Jose.”

“He has great vision,” Wondolowski said of Kinnear with a smile and tongue firmly planted in cheek. “He knew he was coming back here. He knew he couldn’t bring me there. It was all a master plan.”

If the Danville native keeps up his pace this season, he could end the season as high as 5th on the all-time MLS scoring list. He’d pass Taylor Twellman (101), Dwayne De Rosario (104) and Jason Kreis (108) in the process.

“He’s done it not playing for the glamour team,” said Kinnear. “He’s done it with some calls not going his way. To get 100 goals as the ninth guy in the MLS, he should be really proud of himself.”

That he’d be able to do it all close to home means all that much more to the Quakes mainstay.

“It’s an amazing thing,” said Wondolowski. “I love it. I grew up with this club. To be able to do it for the hometown team in front of friends and family is pretty cool. I got to give my dad a hug after. He had tears in his eyes. It’s one of those things that he definitely appreciated, and I appreciate everything that he’s done.”

For now the season marches on, with nearly a third of the season over for a Quakes team just three points back of FC Dallas for the top spot in the Western Conference.

“We’ve had five home games out of 12,” said Kinnear on the schedule so far. “I’m happy with the guys. The competitive spirit is great. At times we look like a great team. That shows the potential that we have. To see where we’re at and the company that we’re keeping in the Western Conference, we’re doing something right.”

Jahn’s header gets Quakes three points

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By Pearl Allison Lo

~ San Jose’s Adam Jahn scored his first goal in almost 2 years to the date, as the Quakes held on for a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo Tuesday.

One minute after Jahn had a deflected shot, he got another chance with an immediate backwards header off Matias Perez-Garcia’s free kick in the 54th minute. Jahn said, “It’s a numbers game; just keep knocking on the door.”

The Quakes have gone without multiple goals since March 22, but all they needed was Jahn. It San Jose moved up to fourth place in the Western Conference

Houston shored up their defense, though not enough. It was a vast improvement from the previous two games.

San Jose’s Fatai Alashe was knocked out of the game in the 26th minute with a yellow card against his opponent, Ricardo Clark. Alashe was kneed in the back by Clark.

The Quakes looked like they had the possibility of making it three straight games with no shots on goal from Western conference opponents after the first half.

However, Clark spoiled that with a shot on goal in the 46th minute.  It was the first given up by San Jose in 135 minutes.

The Dynamo looked like they would tie the game after Quakes’ goalie David Bingham was called for a penalty in the 57th minute, as Boniek Garcia was trying to get to the net.

Giles Barnes took the penalty kick and Bingham rectified the penalty with a save in his first penalty kick. It would have been Barnes’ fifth goal in as many games.

Game notes: San Jose is now 3-0-1 when scoring first in 2015. The Quakes’ Jordan Stewart played for the first time since October 26, 2014. San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski had five shots, none on net and still has not scored against his former team. It was Quakes’ head coach Dominic Kinnear’s first game versus his former team and he is now 24-1-7 with San Jose. The Quakes finish their four-game road trip at Colorado when they face the Rapids at 7pm.

Quakes Shutout League Best Whitecaps

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By: Joe Lami

The San Jose Earthquakes earned their second home victory of the year on Saturday as they defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps by the score of 1-0 for their first shut out of the year.  Credit goes to the back line of Marvell Wynne, Victor Bernandez, Clarence Goodson and Cordell Cato.  Quakes captain, Chris Wondolowski gave them credit where it was due, mentioning “we have to credit the back wall for the shutout, they played amazing tonight.”

Vancouver entered the game with 13 points in six games, leading all MLS teams, but sixth place in the Western Conference San Jose was able to put together their famous last minute goonies magic to get the victory.’

The Quakes owned Vancouver much of the game outshooting the Caps 12-5, but weren’t able to put the finishing touch on an attack until the 75th minute when Sanna Nyassi fired a rocket off the left boot into the left corner for the lead.  Quakes’ manager, Dominic Kinnear, mentioned “the last pass was still a bit off”.  The goal came off a double rebound, as Vancouver was able to get into the shooting lanes of both Cordell Cado and Matias Perez Garica shots.

Though the Caps were able to put up five shots, none of them were on target. San Jose Goalkeeper, David Bingham, jokingly said “yeah, I have not problem with not having to make any saves”. Wondolowski added “to keep them to zero shots is incredible”.

San Jose out earned corner kicks 7-1 over the Caps.  Three of which came in a span of two minutes early in the second half. The Earthquakes best chance off a corner came in the 69th minute, when it was taken short from the right corner.  The cross was beautiful into the box finding the foot of Clarence Goodson off a bounce.  Unfortunately Goodson wasn’t able to handle it and just missed the wide open net to the right.  Goodson commented on the miscue “it was a good run, the one I wanted to make. I was just a split second too late”.

Wondolowski was subbed in the 64th minute due to not feeling well.  The Quakes’ striker mentioned post-game “I wasn’t 100%, so Dominic and I made the best decision to help the team”.

The game was also extremely physical with a total of six yellow cards being issued, as well as two red cards, one to each team, that were issued in the 88th minute.  The cards were handed to the Quakes’ Adam Jahn and Vancouver’s Paolo Tornaghi.

The win for San Jose ends a two-game losing skid and ups their record to 3-3, while Vancouver drops to 4-2-1, as they’ve played the most games in MLS.

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.

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.”

FC Dallas Embarrasses San Jose at Home With 5-0 Shutout; Ends Earthquakes’ Point Streak at Four Games

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Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com
Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com

By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–

Saturday night was something out of a nightmare for the San Jose Earthquakes as they were absolutely dominated by FC Dallas in a 5-0 shutout. Star rookie, Tesho Akindele, stole the show for Dallas recording his first career hat trick. Fabian Castillo was also a major factor for Dallas as he contributed two goals and an assist.

The nightmare began in the 11th minute for San Jose, when defender, Shaun Francis pulled up short due to an apparent hamstring injury. He would walk off the field for a few moments to get a breather before deciding to go back into play. He would play for just over a minute, but was too injured to continue, as Earthquakes’ coach, Mark Watson, had to burn his first substitution in the 13th minute. Brandon Barklage came in for the injured Francis.

The Earthquakes had some chances early in the first half, forcing Dallas goalkeeper, Raul Fernandez, to earn his shutout. In the 29th minute, Sam Cronin, hit a skipping shot from the right side just outside of the box, forcing Fernandez to make the diving save to his right.  Fernandez had five saves in the win. Just a minute later, Castillo found his first of the evening with a great individual effort, making Jason Hernandez look silly along the way to give Dallas the 1-0 lead.

In the 43rd minute Dallas would take a 2-0 advantage when Akindele got his first of three when a shot from outside the box took a tricky bounce off of an Earthquakes’ defender before it made its way past Jon Busch.

The Earthquakes best chance came in the 45th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick. Matias Perez Garcia was taken down in the penalty box to give Chris Wondolowski a chance. Wondolowski fired a bullet that just missed the top left corner to end the half.

FC Dallas tacked on three more goals in the second half to propel them to victory. Castillo’s two goals on Saturday night gives him the team lead with eight on the season. “We couldn’t handle him, he has a ton of pace and incredible individual effort,” commented Watson. “He caused a lot of problems with his pace,” added Busch.

Akindele’s three goals now gives him seven on the season, making him the honor of being the highest scoring rookie in FC Dallas history. Aleksey Korol previously held the honor for his five tallies he scored in 2000.

FC Dallas extends their unbeaten streak to nine with the victory. It also marks the first time that Dallas coach, Oscar Pareja, has beaten San Jose in his ninth attempt.

San Jose had their unbeaten streak snapped at four games with the loss. “There was a good feeling about the team. We finally got something going, and then this loss. It’s really deflating,” commented Watson.

The Earthquakes will try to recover on Wednesday when they host division leading, Seattle.

Earthquakes Blanked at Home

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By: Phillip Torres

SANTA CLARA- The San Jose Earthquakes (4-7-4) hosted Chivas USA (4-7-5) in at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara on Wednesday night. The Earthquakes played a hard fought game all evening but ultimately came up short as they were shut out at home against Chivas USA 1-0.

The first half of play went scoreless as both teams had limited opportunities to score against the opposing goalkeepers.

The first and only goal of the game was scored by Erick Torres of Chivas USA. Torres put the ball in the corner of the net after a couple of deflections opened an opportunity for the lone goal of the game. The score came at the 53rd minute mark.

The presence of Chris Wondolowski was definitely missed by the earthquakes as he has yet to return from his FIFA World Cup Tour with Team USA.

The attendance of 9,114 witnessed a good game but a tough luck loss for the hometown Earthquakes.