On July 1, 2017, the San Jose Earthquakes defeated the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium in front more than 50,000 fans. In the 92nd minute the score was tied 1-1, but then Shea Salinas created one of the most memorable moments in Quakes history. Here is his account of game and the moments leading up to it.
For me, the day just kinda started. I don’t know if I had a gut feeling, I just put it in my head that I was going to score a goal.
It started when I was preparing for the game. I was shaving, and my wife was next to me. I jokingly asked her if it would be ok if I took my shirt off if I scored a goal. She said, “yeah, that’s fine.” The reason I asked at that moment is I had five chest hairs, and I decided I should probably get rid of them.
Before the game I was practicing taking my jersey off fast, and during the first part of the match I was on the bench, waiting to get into the game and make a difference.
It was the 60th minute and the Chris Leitch walked over to me and said, “Be ready in five minutes. Do your final preparations.” I remember the last thing he said was, “Make a difference. Go out there and take guys on.” It gave me a lot of confidence to get out there and try some things.
I remember the game was in stoppage time and the ball was on the opposite side for the throw in. I was alone on the opposite side of the field. The ball went to Danny [Hoesen]’s feet and he was drifting in my direction. I was just hoping that he would see me.
Right when he passed it to me all I was thinking was, “Don’t screw up the first touch. Don’t screw up the first touch.” I was focused on getting the ball past my feet. After that I blacked out.
After it went in we were all hugging and embracing. We fought for each other, we battled and came out with a victory. I don’t know if it was intuition or just silly luck that I scored, but it was a pretty cool moment.
