by Eric Maestas,
Photos courtesy of Lyndsay Radnedge / Center Line Soccer
In front of yet another sellout home crowd, the San Jose Earthquakes drew with the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1, moving into the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Fielding the usual 4-4-2 formation, coach Dominic Kinnear again paired Chris Wondolowski up front with Quincy Amarikwa. JJ Koval earned a start in midfield, the consequence of suspensions for both Matias Perez Garcia and Marc Pelosi. From the 1st minute of the match, the Quakes moved the ball with fluidity, pushing up the field in an effort to find an early goal. Sadly, the ball movement seemed to disappear as soon as it began. The Whitecaps used physicality to slow down the pace of the match, turning the first half into a scrappy affair.
Whitecaps defender Jordan Harvey took a shot at the Quakes goal in the 3rd minute, only to see his effort punted away by Quakes goalkeeper David Bingham. The Quakes responded with an attack of their own in the 6th minute, with defender Marvell Wynne making a run down the right-hand side of the field. His cross found midfielder Shea Salinas, but he could not quite get a shot on goal. Referee Sorin Stoica elected not to call a penalty in the 7th minute, as Wondo appeared to be taken down in the Whitecaps box by aggressive defending.
A Whitecaps corner in the 12th minute was dutifully repelled by the Quakes defense; yet, the Whitecaps retained possession of the ball, and a Mauro Rosales cross found its way to the feet of Kendall Watson, but he was smothered by an on-rushing Bingham.
The next fifteen minutes of the match saw very little scoring chances for teams, as both teams struggled to create opportunities in the final third. David Bingham was not really called upon to act until the half-hour mark, when a Jordan Harvey volley led to an acrobatic save from the Quakes keeper.
The Whitecaps took the lead in the 39th minute, as midfielder Cristian Techera lobbed the ball over the out-stretched right arm of Bingham. This was also despite a wall of Quakes defenders present in the box. For the remainder of the 1st half, the Quakes desperately threw numbers forward in order to find an equalizer, to not avail.
The elusive Quakes equalizer would not come until the 63rd minute, as midfielder Cordell Cato bombed down the right-hand side of the pitch, getting off a shot that was blocked by Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted. The ball ended up ricocheting straight to Wondo, and he buried the ball into the top right-hand corner of the net.
Dominic Kinnear subbed Tommy Thompson in for Marvell Wynne in the 74th minute, in an attempt to strengthen the Quakes’ attacking prowess and to find that winning goal. Thompson found himself with golden opportunities to put the Quakes ahead in both the 78th and 79th minutes, as he found himself the recipient of some smooth passes, first from Shea Salinas and then from Shaun Francis. Unfortunately, he could not threaten the Whitecaps goalkeeper with any meaningful attempts.
The four minutes of stoppage time saw a frenetic end to the match, as the Quakes again threw numbers forward. Crazily, an Anibal Godoy free kick ended up leading to a Whitecaps breakaway, with forward Kekuta Manneh in a one-on-one situation with David Bingham. The Quakes keeper seemed to channel Manuel Neuer, as he rushed out to meet a hard-charging Manneh and dove on the ball.
With the Timbers loss to Sporting KC, the Quakes’ draw was enough to put them “above the red line”, thereby presenting San Jose with their best opportunity to establish a postseason history at Avaya Stadium.
PLAYER RATINGS
Bingham-8, Wynne-6, Bernardez-6, Goodson-7, Francis-6, Cato-7, Godoy-7, Koval-5, Salinas-8, Wondolowski-7, Amarikwa-6; Substitute: Thompson-6.
