The San Jose Earthquakes earned three points against the Colorado Rapids at home to open the 2016 season. Chris Wondolowski scored the game’s only goal off an Alberto Quintero pass in 46’. Despite the win, San Jose has work to do if they are to earn a result versus the defending MLS Cup champion Portland Timbers FC on March 13th.
Colorado led in all major categories, but could not finish their chances to earn points on the road. The Rapids out-possessed San Jose 58%-42%, out-shot San Jose 18(5)-7(4), out-passed San Jose 457-324, out-crossed San Jose 19-15, had six corners to San Jose’s three and had four set-piece opportunities.
Rapids Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni felt his team dropped points on the road but was pleased with his team’s performance. “You play 93 minutes of great football and it’s the one minute where you’re caught in between players that costs you the game,” he said afterward.
Rapids defending midfielder Sam Cronin felt the result had a lot of good takeaways despite the loss. “[It’s] not a great way to start the year, but we feel good about the work we put in preseason, and we know we’re going in the right direction.”
“We fell asleep for 15 seconds, and that was the game,” Cronin continued. “We recovered well and got a hold the game again, and just missed a few chances there at the end.”
Colorado had several standout players despite the loss. Second year Colorado midfielder/forward Dominique Badji led the Rapids attack with four shots, two on goal. Forward Kevin Doyle had three shots, one on goal.
Colorado’s young backline of Axel Sjorberb, Eric Miller, Jared Watts, and Marlon Hairston limited San Jose’s scoring chances. Earthquakes forward Quincy Amarikwa only saw one shot all game. Chris Wondolowski was limited to two quality chances over the 90 minutes, one of which was the goal. Miller also had two shots, one shot on goal, and two key passes.
San Jose players and coaches acknowledged that there are areas of the game that need to be addressed to swing the statistical balance more in their favor going forward.
“We played okay today,” San Jose Earthquakes’ Dom Kinnear said post-game. “We could definitely play better . . . the most important thing is when you wake up in the morning and look at the standings, we won a game.”
Earthquakes captain Chris Wondolowski acknowledged the need to address the Quakes collapse after the go-ahead goal. “I think we dropped a little too deep at times and gave up too much possession.”
The Earthquakes had several standout players as well. Earthquakes goalkeeper David Bingham stood firm and helped preserve a shut-out with five saves and two punches. Victor Bernardez had 45 touches, five clearances, two blocked shots, and won seven aerial duels. Clarence Goodson had six clearances with two blocked shots.
Rookie fullback Kip Colvey saw his first professional action when fullback Shaun Francis suffered a quadriceps strain and could not return for the second half. “I thought he did great today,” Bingham said of Colvey. “Defensively he was spot on.”
San Jose’s next game is on March 13th versus the Portland Timbers at Avaya Stadium, 4:00 pm PDT.
Main Photo: Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images
