While the Earthquakes had their first bye week of the young 2016 season, San Jose midfielder Tommy Thompson and forward Adam Jahn featured for USL affiliate Sacramento Republic FC Friday night in the club’s 1-0 season-opening win against Western Conference rival Seattle Sounders FC 2. Both players were loaned to Republic FC on March 24.
Jahn, 25, started and played 80 minutes in Sacramento’s attack on Friday. In the 60th minute, the El Macero native earned a penalty kick for Republic FC after being brought down at the edge of the six-yard box. Striker Thomas Stewart calmly converted the penalty kick for the game’s lone goal.
“I got the ball on the right wing and made a run from the center of the field towards the corner,” Jahn explained. “One of our guys was making a run cutting inside, so I faked like I was going to lay it off to him towards the endline and the defender kind of nudged me enough to throw me off, the ref called the PK and we won off of that.
“It was definitely a deserving result. We had the better of the game by far, so I was happy that it all worked out the way it did. The best team doesn’t always win, but in this case we did.”
Thompson, 20, started and played 90 minutes on the left side of the midfield for Sacramento. Playing in his ninth match on loan with Republic FC, the Loomis native proved to be a handful for the Seattle defense, generating multiple scoring opportunities underneath Jahn and Stewart.
“As a young player, you need to be versatile,” Thompson said. “If the coach calls you to play outside-mid, you need to be ready. If he calls you to play center-mid, you need to be ready. If he calls you to be a withdrawn striker, you need to be ready.
“I played a little more tucked in than a traditional outside-mid and it helped our team keep the ball and put ourselves in the best position to win.”
Back at training Monday morning for the Earthquakes, Thompson and Jahn look to continue their great on-field chemistry ahead of San Jose’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Saturday, April 2 against D.C. United at Avaya Stadium.
“Adam [Jahn] and I have created a great on-field relationship over the years with San Jose and Sacramento,” Thompson said. “He did a great job holding the ball up for us and he made it easy for me to play off of him. Him and I were happy to contribute to the team win and are excited for the week ahead in San Jose.”
