May 24, 2015: San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski (8) looks to pass, during the game between the San Jose Earthquakes and Orlando City FC at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, USA. The final score was tied at 1-1 thanks in part to Wondolowski’s 100th career goal.
San Jose 1 : 1 Orlando City
by John Marshall
It wasn’t how many would have expected Chris Wondolowski would reach the century mark but it was vintage Wondo nonetheless. Down 1-0 after 64 minutes, defender Jordan Stewart won his team a penalty kick to give his captain a chance at history.
“I kinda lost the ball in the air,” said Stewart. “I was gonna cross it and as [Orlando’s Darwin Ceren] was coming I thought he was gonna block it so I tried to get my body in between and he steamrolled me.”
Wondolowski stepped up to the spot and calmly finished in the bottom left corner as keeper Tally Hall dove right. Wondo came up to the spot planning on going right but saw his friend and former teammate, Hall, get a jump to that side and went the other way.
After the goal he celebrated by grabbing the ball out of the net and running back to center field to start again, a testament to his competitive spirit and team first mentality. As happy as he was to score his 100th career goal, leaving 2 points on the field left him visibly disappointed.
“It’s tough leaving points out there like we did tonight,” he said when asked about his season thus far after the 1-1 draw. San Jose currently sits 4th in the West after a third of the season which Wondo credits to the team’s “mentality.”
“We have 11 guys playing as one and when we do that we’re a very tough team to beat.”
The team is currently on a 5 game unbeaten streak and while it hasn’t always been pretty, Wondo credits the team’s fight to their current standings.
Ever the team player, the Quakes captain was of course appreciative of his accomplishment but more concerned with the success of the team rather than his own. While it wasn’t the goal that many thought they would see Wondolowski score, it was certainly done in classic Wondo style.
