SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes defeated Sacramento Republic FC 2-1 on Saturday night at Bonney Field behind a pair of goals by forward Quincy Amarikwa. The match marked the team’s final preseason tune-up away from San Jose.
Sacramento broke the deadlock in the eighth minute. Midfielder Max Alvarez played a low ball across the front of net and forward Mackenzie Pridham one-touched it past Quakes keeper David Bingham.
San Jose nearly equalized eight minutes later. Defender Shaun Francis hit a long cross from the left flank to the far post, where midfielder Cordell Cato volleyed it towards net, narrowly missing wide left.
The Quakes were forced to make an early substitution when Cato went down with an injury, making way for midfielder and Sacramento-native Tommy Thompson in the 20th minute.
Three minutes into first-half stoppage time, San Jose drew a foul at the edge of the penalty area. Midfielder Shea Salinas whipped in a free kick and forward Chris Wondolowski’s header smacked the crossbar and drifted out for a goal kick, putting an end to the opening period.
The Earthquakes came out with a flurry of chances early in the second half, eventually breaking through in the 51st minute. Simon Dawkins played a through ball to Thompson, who calmly found a sprinting Amarikwa at the back post. Amarikwa slid into the pass, taking ball with him into the back of the net, leveling the score at 1-1.
San Jose grabbed the lead in the 86th minute. Amarikwa headed a cross by Kip Colvey past goalkeeper Evan Newton, earning a brace and the game-winning goal simultaneously.
San Jose plays their second-to-last preseason contest on Wednesday, February 24 against San Francisco City FC at the Earthquakes Training Facility. The match will be closed to the general public.
Preseason
San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 Sacramento Republic FC
February 20, 2016 – Bonney Field in Sacramento, CA
Scoring Summary: SAC – Mackenzie Pridham (Max Alvarez) 8; SJ – Quincy Amarikwa (Tommy Thompson) 51; SJ – Quincy Amarikwa (Kip Colvey) 86.
Misconduct Summary: SJ – Anibal Godoy (caution) 81; SJ – Tommy Thompson (caution) 88.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: David Bingham; Shaun Francis (Kip Colvey 84), Clarence Goodson (Andres Imperiale 71), Victor Bernardez (JJ Koval 84), Marvell Wynne (Ty Thompson 87); Shea Salinas, Anibal Godoy (Matheus Silva 84), Simon Dawkins (Matias Perez Garcia 71), Cordell Cato (Tommy Thompson 20); Chris Wondolowski (Adam Jahn 87), Quincy Amarikwa (Mark Sherrod 87).
SACRAMENTO REPUBLIC FC: Evan Newton, James Kiffe, Mike da Fonte, Chris Christian, Emrah Klimenta, Max Alvarez (Diego Lopez 74), Danny Barrera, Octavio Guzman (Joaquin Rivas 56), Agustin Cazarez, Mackenzie Pridham, Thomas Stewart (Cameron Iwasa 66).
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On the match:
“I thought we played really well. Them scoring early, which was obviously good for them, got the crowd in the game. They sat in and were really hard to break down. Real good play for the first goal and then things opened up a bit. Quincy [Amarikwa] scored two nice ones tonight.”
On how the new players are fitting in:
“I think they are doing fine. The spirit of the group is really good right now. Even though the results mid-preseason haven’t really gone our way, they’ve stuck to it. Obviously winning helps with camaraderie, but they’ve all come in and worked hard in training.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD QUINCY AMARIKWA
On his goals and preparation for the regular season:
“I’m still building on my fitness, this is the first time we’ve got 75 minutes in. It was good to put the ball into the back of the net and get ready for the season.”
On the progression of the young players:
“Yeah, I think the young guys played well. The guys that came in that have been with us all preseason are footballers. They like to move the ball around and put it in the box and pick people out. You saw it at the end there when Kip [Colvey] found me at the near post.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER TOMMY THOMPSON
On coming back to his hometown of Sacramento:
“It’s always a great atmosphere at Bonney Field and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
On playing with a lot of confidence:
“It’s been a long offseason so I put in a lot of work for this moment right here. I enjoyed myself out here and I’m happy to help my team get the result.“
On coming off the bench in the 20th minute:
“That was a little bit of a surprise. I can say that was the first time that’s ever happened where someone went down early and I got the call, but I’m happy to make an impact whenever I can so I was ready to go and I think things went well.”
