Tag: Steven Lenhart

Third Time Not a Charm for Quakes to Capture Clasico Magic

Published on 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.

New England Revolution End Earthquake’s 21 Game Home Unbeaten Steak with Late Minute Goal

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Photo Credit: MLS Twitter
Photo Credit: MLS Twitter

By: Joe Lami

Fans at Buck Shaw Stadium are used to seeing late-minute heroics, but this time it comes from the visitors as the New England Revolution score a heart-breaking goal in the 93rd minute to defeat the Earthquakes 2-1. The loss drops the Quake’s record to 0-2-1 for a total of one point on the season, keeping them in the cellar of the Western Conference.

The Revolution dominated the game early, having seven shots through the first 30 minutes of the match.  On many occasions Earthquakes keeper, Jon Busch had to keep his team in the game with many amazing diving saves.  New England got their first goal of the season, however it came off an Earthquakes’ own goal as Victor Bernandez put the ball into his own net in the 35th minute.  The defender was battling for a ball and tried to slide the ball away, but accidentally put it into his own net to give the Revolution the 1-0 lead.

The Earthquakes were unable to answer in the first half, however they did have a great chance when Steven Lenhart headed a free kick off of the foot of Cordell Cato in the 40th minute. The header just missed the far post on the left side.

Earthquakes Head Coach, Mark Watson was not pleased with the first half performance.  “We didn’t play well.  We didn’t have any energy.  We were second best to everything.”

The Earthquakes came out of halftime playing a lot better, as they took it to the Revolution.  One of their best chances was when Chris Wondolowski had a breakaway in the 64th minute.  However, the star striker just hit the outside of the net on the left side.

It would take just minutes later for the Earthquakes to find the equalizer, as Wondolowski would redeem himself, tying the game in the 69th minute.  Wondolowski was able to find the far left post from a near impossible angle as he swung at the ball with his right foot on the right side of the six-yard box.

A scary moment occurred in the 77th minute, when Steven Lenhart went down with an apparent left knee injury. Lenhart is known to have a serious past with knee injuries, which makes the possible injury even scarier. Watson commented on the injury “I think the issue is an MCL, but I don’t know how bad it is.”  Wondolowski later added “We (Wondolowski and Lenhart) feel optimistic about the injury, but will find out more on Monday.”

The Earthquakes were really pushing for the win, however it was on a counter attack where the Revolution made the Quakes pay. Lee Nguyen would find his first goal of the year, and the first goal for New England when he put the right-footed shot into the bottom left corner past Busch for the win.  “We were going all or nothing…it’s kind of the way we play…We had a point locked up tonight, and we went for three and ended up with nothing” commented Earthquakes’ Defender, Clarence Goodson.

The Earthquakes will get sometime to recover from the tough loss, as they don’t play until April 13 due to an international break.  The Quakes will look to regain their home pitch advantage as they take on the Columbus Crew.

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

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

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.”

Wondo a late game hero for the Quakes

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

By Ivan Makarov

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quakes win big in Salt Lake City

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By Ivan Makarov

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quakes outplayed in LA

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By Elliot Alagueuzian

CARSON, CA–The San Jose Earthquake’s playoffs took a big hit in Southern California when the LA Galaxy ran away with a 3-0 scoreline at full time in the second edition of the California Clasico this season.

Landon Donovan opened the scoring in the 26th minute when Robbie Keane sent a long ball over the San Jose defense and Donovan went around Jon Busch to score. It was a lightning pace counter attack that San Jose was struggling to deal with.

Robbie Keane scored a penalty that came in the 43rd minute when Gyasi Zardes was tackled by Steven Beitashour however, replays showed there was minimal contact. In the 67th minute Keane made it 3-0 to the Galaxy when Sean Franklin headed the ball back and Keane volleyed a great shot into the back of the net.

With 10 minutes gone in the first half San Jose had the best chance when the ball fell to Wondolowski off a corner kick but he hit the ball straight to Jaime Penedo. About a minute later Steven Lenhart hit a half volley wide of the far post from 22 yards out.

Both teams enjoyed good spells of possession after 15 minutes. Although LA controlled the most of that possesion the Earthquakes created the better chances.

A golden chance to score fell for Robbie Keane when a long ball by Juninho missed all of the San Jose defenders and Keane was through on goal but his shot was well wide of the post and didn’t trouble Jon Busch.

The Quakes will return home to face the Philadelphia Union next week in Santa Clara.