Tag: San Jose Earthquakes

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.”

Reserves pull through for Quakes

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Photo credit: (Godofredo Vasquez/SFBay)

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Earthquakes finally broke through in the end, persisting for a 2-0 win over the Republic FC in Tucson Wednesday, ending their preseason with their best match score.

It was Sacramento’s first loss in four practice matches, who were almost able to hold on until the end. Fans supported all the way from pre-game warmups to after the 2-0 score.

The Republic were playing with two members from a Portland Timbers loan, which included goalie Jake Gleeson.

The Quakes had a number of chances, about five excluding the ones that the referee counted. Adam Jahn was involved in two of them.

San Jose made all their substitutions except goalie in the 71st minute.

Jon Busch did leave though, after Sacramento had a chance that hit the crossbar in the 79th minute. Busch departed due to a cut above his eye, while defending the net.

The Earthquakes broke through in the 86th minute. Alan Gordon played for the first time in the preseason and after receiving a cross from Walter Martinez, headed the ball to rookie JJ Koval, who headed the ball into an empty net.

Both Billy Schuler and Sam Garza experienced redemption with San Jose’s doubling goal. Schuler scored a minute into stoppage on an assist from Garza. Earlier, Schuler had a goal taken away due to a foul and Garza just moments before his post-regulation assist, had almost scored.

Game notes: Koval and Schuler were both credited with their first goal of the preseason. The former signed with the team February 19, after being selected in the year’s SuperDraft. Schuler joined the team Jan 14 via lottery.  Earlier in the day, the Quakes added German Andreas Gorlitz to their roster, pending administrative receipts. There were over 1,100 attendees of the Republic’s first match in front of a home crowd. March 11 at 7p, San Jose will face an even stiffer challenge as 8th seed in the quarterfinal of the CONCACAF Champions League, as they host first-seed Deportivo Toluca FC.

Quakes leave Portland positive

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Photo credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Earthquakes finished the Rose City Invitational 2-1, as they won over the Jamaican club Portmore United 1-0 Saturday.

It was the same score by which San Jose won their first game as they were back in their red and white kit as well.

Portmore made an early move in the 16th minute. Adoah Nickels came in to replace Alonzo Adlam, who was injured.

In the 39th minute, Adam Jahn won a battle up front and passed to Cordell Cato. Cato received the ball on his body and got it to the back of the net as goalie Kenmar Foster slid and the ball went off his teammate.

Cato also had a lot of touches in the first half and passes into the box, especially in the 13th-14th minutes.

The Quakes dominated the stat board in the first half winning corner kicks 7-1 and shots 15-5.

Game notes: Regarding lineups, Foster was Portmore’s third starting goalie of the tournament. San Jose’s Steven Lenhart was absent but looks like he would have played if it was a regular season game. Instead of being done with the preseason at this point, the Quakes will play one additional game, added Wednesday. This following Wednesday, March 5 at 7p, San Jose will travel to Tucson to face the Sacramento Republic FC. Tucson will also be home to the Quakes’ Player Development League. San Jose will be without Victor Bernardez, who will be participating in a game for the Honduran National Team. Also Thursday, the San Antonio Scorpions received Sam Garza and David Bingham via loan.

 

Paparatto helps Quakes

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By Pearl Allison Lo

Two Portland Timbers went down in front of the net, and for Norberto Paparatto, it was from disbelief, as he headed the ball to give the San Jose Earthquakes a 1-0 win Sunday in both teams’ first Rose City Invitational game,

San Jose, while luckily and skillfully defending the multitude of chances in front of their net, were sporting their new red and white kit. It was their first win of the preseason.

Off a corner kick from Shea Salinas, Clarence Goodson took the pass from Sam Cronin, and headed the ball to Steven Lenhart in front of the net. Paparatto was trying to get the ball out in the 26th minute, as he collied with his goalie Donovan Ricketts. It would be the closest Ricketts would come to defending the ball during the game.

In the 7th minute, Portland’s Gaston Fernandez had a dangerous free kick. His teammates followed it by two more chances, the latter leading to a corner kick.

Though the Timbers controlled ball possession, once the ball got close enough to the box, it was stopped by Quakes players. Portland outshot San Jose 17-6 and Jon Busch made seven saves.

Both teams went from end to end at one point. Salinas nearly netted the ball, earning himself a corner kick. Victor Bernardez received a deflected ball, but Diego Chara blocked him. Maxilimiano Urruti got the ball up front and beat Busch who slid forward to defend, but a teammate got back and kicked the ball away before Urruti could get another chance.

Timbers’ Paul Kah nearly made it 2-0.

Busch, the other half of defensive equation, made crucial saves as well, in the final 15 minutes, including stoppage time. The quickness of Portland’s attack at one point, even stupefied Fernandez, who received the ball unknowingly, three times, spaced just a second apart.

After the 90th minute, the Timbers got the ball to a player right in front of the net twice, but they were unable to convert.

Game notes: The Quakes were without Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi and Portland without Will Johnson. It was the first time this preseason Busch played all game. It was a physical match, 27 fouls in all, with San Jose awarded four yellows. Last Thursday, the Quakes and San Jose Sharks played their own friendly of Olympic curling. The hockey team won 4-2. Wednesday at 5p, San Jose will next face Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Game 2 of the invitational.

Dynamo win by two in Tucson

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By Pearl Allison Lo

Houston came back with three in the second half in a 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday, to close San Jose’s friendly play in Arizona, 3-1.

The Earthquakes’ Chris Wondolowski, Clarence Goodson and the Dynamo’s Brad Davis returned from National Team duty.

In the 13th minute, San Jose’s Jordan Stewart and Shea Salinas led a counterattack across the field.

After teammate Steven Lenhart headed off Houston’s second corner kick and Wondo got the ball, in a similar matter to the 13th, Stewart and Salinas combined to lead to a kick. Tyler Deric saved the ball, but then Wondolowski saw an opportunity after Deric fell and lost the ball, as he quickly raced to finish the play with a goal in the 21st minute.

In the second half, the Earthquakes replacedall of their first half starters.

San Jose’s Mike Fucito nearly had another goal for the second game, in the 57th minute. A long ball by A.J. Corrado led to AJ Cochran being Fucito’s sole field defender and Fucito had to switch from his oft used foot to avoid the quickly approaching Deric.

Bryan Meredith came in as the Earthquakes’ goalkeeper for David Bingham in the 60th minute.

In the 65th minute, Corrado passed to Shaun Francis who passed to Fucito in front of the net again. Before Fucito could pull off a shot, however, Servando Carrasco came up from behind with a challenge.

On the same play going the other way, Omar Cummings leveled the score at one apiece. He was able to score from his left foot with the help of a deflected shot off San Jose.

Cummings nearly had another chance two minutes later, but the ball was offsides and wide.

An offsides call gave the Dynamo the ball back. Draft pick Mark Sherrod passed to trialist Sito Seoane who scored as his defender and Meredith collided in the 74th minute to give Houston the 2-1 lead.

Tony Cascio, on loan from the Colorado Rapids, scored the Dynamo’s third goal and put the game further out of reach in the 84th minute. As Meredith approached him, Cascio punched the ball the opposite way.

Game notes: The Earthquakes will travel to Fresno for their next preseason friendly, Saturday February 15 at 7p versus the LA Galaxy.

Martins braces Quakes

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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.

 

Quakes draw Galaxy in thrilling Classico

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[San Jose Earthquakes]

In soccer 0-0 draws are usually uninspiring and boring.  This game was anything but that.  The San Jose Earthquakes playoff hopes hang on by a thread after drawing nil nil against arch rivals LA Galaxy at the Stub Hub Center.  There was not too much drama however, the quality of play between the two teams was valiant.  

Quakes created numerous good chances in the second and deserved to win the game.  Winger Shea Salinas made the majority of the runs in the second half, Steven Lenhart almost tapped the ball into the back of the net but Galaxy defender Kofi Opare made a great tackle and goalkeeper Jaime Penedo collected the ball.  

The Quakes continually applied pressure to the Galaxy backline and almost found the goal they desperately needed when Wondo nearly got his boot onto a cross but the ball escaped him.  In a packed house of 25, 418 the Galaxy dominated possession and created some fantastic sequences of play but lacked the final key to unlocking San Jose’s defense.  They relied solely on counter attacks to catch the Quakes off guard.  

It was the same story in the first half; the Galaxy enjoyed the majority of possession however it was the Earthquakes who had the better chances to score goals.  Both Steven Lenhart and Chris Wondolowski forced fantastic saves out of Jaime Penedo who had about 5 saves to make in the first half alone.  Wheres Jon Busch had very little to worry about.  

Although the playoff picture looks practically impossible now the Earthquakes aren’t mathematically out of the playoffs.  They require the Colorado rapids to lose and must win their final match of the season against already eliminated FC Dallas.  However, Colorado’s vast superior goal difference makes the takes almost improbable.

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

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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.