San Jose Earthquakes – Page 38 – Sports Radio Service

Third Time Not a Charm for Quakes to Capture Clasico Magic

Published on June 28, 2014 by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington

STANFORD, Calif. – There would be no customary rally for the San Jose eleven Saturday night at Stanford Stadium, snapping a streak of thrilling come-from-behind wins in the clash of California sides. Earthquakes supporters expecting the customary late California Clasico offensive burst instead had to settle for the explosions the of post-game fireworks with the Quakes long since retired to their locker room to dwell on the 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

For the first time in three years, the Earthquakes (4-6-4) had no answer for the Los Angeles Galaxy. San Jose didn’t need three second-half goals like in 2012, nor did they need stoppage time goals from Shea Salinas and Alan Gordon as they did last season. No, the Quakes needed a lone strike to salvage a point. Unfortunately for the men in blue, time ran out on this year’s comeback bid despite a valiant second half.

“We knew that our performance where it needed to be in the first half,” said Watson. “We had a few moments, we had a few chances. I thought LA dictated the play. We knew we’d have to come out with more energy and use the ball better.”

The two teams battled to a standstill after 45 minutes of play, matching each other move for move. Los Angeles attempted eight shots on goal to the Quakes’ seven, but neither side converted. The two sides appeared even in possession, though LA controlled the play for 55% of the opening half. It was San Jose striker Steven Lenhart however, that had the best chances of the half. Lenhart narrowly missed putting the ball into the back of the net on a pair of headers that beat LA keeper Jaime Penedo but trickled wide of the goalpost.

Gyasi Zardes erased the clean sheet in the 62nd minute, firing a point-blank rocket from dead center past a defenseless Jon Busch to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead. The Galaxy forward was set up on his third goal of the season by Marcelo Sarvas who, with his back to the keeper, found Zardes squared up on goal for the strike. In total, Los Angeles had 17 attempts on net to 13 for the home squad. Five went on goal for Los Angeles, one for the Quakes.

“Our guys competed all night,” said Earthquakes coach Mark Watson. “I thought they just had a little bit more quality on the night. I think it was a game where there wasn’t that many chances. I think we had an equal number of scoring chances, we just couldn’t finish them.”

LA nearly double its advantage in the 72nd minute after midfielder Stefan Ishizaki lofted a shot on net from just outside the penalty box corner to the right of Busch. The ball beat Busch’s cross-body dive and rang off the back post. A Quakes defender swooped in to clear the ball from a hungry Zardes and allow the San Jose netminder to regain position.

Naturally, the man who coined the “Goonies” nickname for San Jose nearly gave the home side new life with a late equalizer. In the 88th minute, Lenhart once again used his head to advance on the Galaxy net. Penedo narrowly managed to get his left fingertips on the bid to preserve his shutout, while Los Angeles (5-3-5) weathered the final surge to nab the three points and hold San Jose off from the seventh spot in the Western Conference. The Galaxy entered play one point (17 total) ahead of the Quakes entering play Saturday. LA continued a five-game unbeaten streak.
San Jose received some bad news before even taking the pitch, as centerback Clarence Goodson was a late scratch after aggravating an injury in warm-ups.

“(Clarence) pulled his groin in the warm-up,” said Watson. “We had to make a late substitution, which was disappointing. We worked with Clarence, he’s a big part of our team. I thought Jason Hernandez came in and did a fantastic job. He had 10 or 15 minutes to get himself mentally prepared and he did what he always does. He battled hard and gave everything he had.”

The Quakes were also short Shea Salinas with an injury while Chris Wondolowski and Victor Bernardez performed World Cup duties. While Bernardez and Honduras were ousted from the preeminent tournament of soccer after group play, he wasn’t quite on a time table to return to MLS play just yet.

“It was going to be close,” said Watson on the status of Bernardez Saturday. “We knew that. He played Wednesday in Brazil. It’s a long flight. He just didn’t feel he could give one hundred percent. He’ll be ready for Wednesday.”

The Quakes may also have Salinas back in the line-up Wednesday at Buck Shaw Stadium when they welcome Chivas USA to the Bay Area. The Quakes previously snapped a season-opening five-game winless streak by topping Chivas 1-0 at Buck Shaw on April 26th.

Earthquakes Start U.S. Open Cup With a Win

Published on June 11, 2014June 11, 2014 by joelamiLeave a comment

By: Joe Lami

SAN FRANCISCO–Calif.

The San Jose Earthquakes started their U.S. Open Cup run with a 2-1 victory over Sacramento Republic FC on Wednesday Night in front of 3,788 fans at Kezar Stadium. The Quakes automatically earned a trip into the fourth round by playing in MLS, and hosted their USL affiliate in their first game of the U.S. Open Cup.

Republic FC got on the board first in the 42nd minute when a Justin Braun header from the 6-yard box found the back of the net to get past Quakes Keeper, David Bingham.

Just minutes later, San Jose was able to answer right back on a penalty kick from Kari Stephenson in the 45^th minute. San Jose earned the penalty kick on a weird situation, as Clarence Goodson found the net from a corner kick, however the goal was waived off and San Jose was granted the penalty kick. “It was weird, usually the referee give advantage, but once he waived it off and gave us the corner, we had to take advantage, and we did,” Earthquakes’ Head Coach Mark Watson commented after the game.

Republic FC dominated much of the second half, but San Jose was able to find the game winner off of a counter attack in the 73^rd minute. Cordell Cato found a ball just inside the 18-yard box and hit it low to find its way into the net for the game winner.

Sacramento forced Bingham to come up big at the end of the game, as he made a couple of amazing saves to keep the win and preventing the game go into extra time.

Sacramento was a lot hungrier and proved it by outshooting San Jose 14-9. “They were motivated and they came out and pressed us right from the start. After a slow start, we were able to get back into the game,” Watson added.

San Jose continues their U.S. Open Cup Run on June 24, and will take on the winner of Seattle Sounder and Elite PSA. If Seattle wins, San Jose will travel to Seattle and if Elite PSA wins, San Jose will host the Round of 16 match.

Earthquakes Explode for Three Goals in Dominant Win Over Houston

Published on May 25, 2014May 25, 2014 by joelamiLeave a comment

By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–The San Jose Earthquakes earned their second consecutive home win on Sunday Night with an impressive three goal win over the Houston Dynamo. The win for San Jose also marks the fifth straight time the home team takes away at least one point from Buck Shaw Stadium.

The Earthquakes were able to do it without star, Chris Wondolowski, who is on leave for the United States National Team, in which he was named to the World Cup team earlier this week. “The guys are trying to fill the void of not having Wondo, and it clearly worked tonight,” said Earthquakes Head Coach, Mark Watson.

Khari Stephenson lead the charge for the Quakes with two goals, his first two of the season. The first came in the 37^th minute after a miscue from the Dynamo lead to an indirect kick for San Jose. After a tap of the ball from teammate, Shea Salinas, Stephenson drilled it into the bottom left corner of the net to take the 1-0 lead. It wouldn’t be until the Second Half until Stephenson scored his second goal. Steven Lenhart created the opportunity by being a pest in the 18-yard box and drawing a foul. Stephenson found the bottom left corner again on the penalty kick in the 58^th minute.

Atiba Harris capped off the scoring with his first of the season that came off of a hustle play. On a bouning ball to Houston Goalkeeper Tally Hall, Harris steeped up and applied pressure, beating the keeper to the ball with his head. The ball took a home bounce of the post and found Harris for the tap in.

Houston forced Quakes Goalkeeper, Jon Busch, to come up huge to earn his clean sheet. The Dynamo outshoot the Quakes 13-12 and 6-4 with shots on target. Houston had their best chances come in the 30^th and 33^rd minutes, as Busch stopped three of the six on target in that span. In the 30^th minute, Warren Creavalle headed a cross inside the six-yard box forcing Busch to make the diving save to his right. Only three minutes later, Houston found a header once again in the six-yard box off the head of Will Bruin. Busch made the initial save, but the rebound found the foot of Bruin, where Busch somehow found a way to get in front of that shot as well. “Those two stops kept us in the game,” added Watson. Busch earns his fourth clean sheet of the season in the win.

San Jose earns three points in the win, however remains in sixth place in the Western Conference, only trailing the Colorado Rapids by two points. The Quakes return to the pitch on Saturday, May 31 as they travel to take on FC Dallas.

Earthquakes lose 1-0 to Seattle

Published on May 18, 2014 by philliptorres2013Leave a comment

By: Phillip Torres

SEATTLE- The San Jose Earthquakes fell 1-0 to the Seattle Sounders on Saturday at Centurylink Field. Obafemi Martins scored the lone goal of the game for Seattle and sent the Sounders to victory. The loss was the Earthquakes fourth on the season.

San Jose dressed only 16 players, two short of the maximum that they could have dressed. The Earthquakes were short two men because of injuries. Although San Jose was short two men, they still played a competitive game losing just 1-0 against the (8-3-1) Sounders.

The Earthquakes played without their normal starters; Chris Wondolowski, Clarence Goodson, Victor Bernardez, Alan Gordon, Steven Lenhart, Yannick Djalo and Andy Gorlitz.

The Earthquakes will be back on the field on Sunday, May 25 as they will host the Houston Dynamo at Buck Shaw Stadium. Kickoff will be at 7:30 pm.

Quakes “Survive the Storm” for Second Win of 2014

Published on May 10, 2014 by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

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 25^th 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 45^th 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 25^th 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 73^rd 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 57^th 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 76^th 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 56^th 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 27^th 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

Published on May 7, 2014May 7, 2014 by joelamiLeave a comment

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 20^th 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 23^rd 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 45^th 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

Published on April 27, 2014April 27, 2014 by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

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 66^th 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 79^th minute or later in two of three appearances. He entered the game at the half in March 13^th’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.”

Earthquakes Still Searching for first Win of 2014

Published on April 14, 2014 by philliptorres2013Leave a comment

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

Published on March 29, 2014March 29, 2014 by joelamiLeave a comment

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 93^rd 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 35^th 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 40^th 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 64^th 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 69^th 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 77^th 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

Published on March 15, 2014March 17, 2014 by joelamiLeave a comment

By: Joe Lami

It took until the 95^th 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 32^nd 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 41^st 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 95^th 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 17^th 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.