The San Jose Earthquakes (10-7-4; fifth place) host the Colorado Rapids (5-11-5; 11th place) on Saturday, June 27 at 6:45 p.m., presented by Good Humor.
Every game for the rest of the season is going to have playoff implications. The Western Conference is so tight that the Quakes are three points out of second and simultaneously four points above eighth.
San Jose needs to take advantage of the schedule that is seemingly shifting in their favor. Between June 1 and July 12, six of the Earthquakes’ seven matches came against current playoff teams, and they earned a spectacular 4-1-2 record in those contests. Starting with the Vancouver match last week, the Quakes now have seven of eight against non-playoff teams.
Colorado’s record is deceiving, however. After an abhorrent start that saw them win none of their first 11 games (0-9-2), the Rapids are not only respectable, but competitive, going 5-2-3 in their last 10. It doesn’t appear Colorado is peaking heading into Saturday, though, as they’ve failed to win each of their last three (0-2-1), including a pair of home losses to New England and New York City.
Longtime MLS staple Kei Kamara has done a lot of Colorado’s heavy lifting offensively, scoring a team-high eight goals, twice as many as any other player. Former top-3 SuperDraft pick Jonathan Lewis has also been a success story since the 22-year-old’s trade from NYCFC in May. Defensively, you can’t discuss the Rapids without at least mentioning American goalkeeping legend Tim Howard, who is in his final professional season.
The Quakes are 7-0-1 in their last eight home matches and 3-0-0 in their last three home games with three shutouts. They haven’t allowed a goal at home in 295 minutes.
Kickoff is set for 6:45 p.m. and the match will be broadcast live on Telemundo 48, KNBR 1050 and 1370 KZSF. English-language television audio will also be available via SAP.
