SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes earned a 3-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Wednesday evening at Earthquakes Stadium, marking their third consecutive victory. Paul Marie scored the first goal of his MLS career, goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski earned the first shutout victory of his career, and San Jose set a club record with five Homegrown Players appearing in the match.
San Jose took the lead five minutes into the second half when Cristian Espinoza evaded a challenge in the box and blasted his shot into the lower-left corner of the net. Vancouver would go down to 10 men moments later when defender Andy Rose received his second yellow card.
The Quakes doubled their advantage in the 66th minute. Carlos Fierro played a ball across the box that found Andy Rios in stride and his first-timed strike beat goalkeeper Evan Bush.
Vancouver lost another player to ejection in the 75th minute and San Jose took advantage, with Paul Marie scoring his first career goal three minutes into stoppage time.
The Earthquakes will now travel to face the Portland Timbers on Sunday, Oct. 11, presented by Lux Bus America. Kickoff from Providence Park is slated for 7:00 p.m. PT and the match will be broadcast on NBC Sports California, KNBR 1050 and 1370 KZSF.
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GAME NOTES
San Jose now holds a 5-6-5 record in the 2020 regular season and sit in seventh place in the Western Conference. Eight teams make the postseason from the West.
The Earthquakes have won three consecutive matches for just the second time since August 2015 (July 2019).
The Earthquakes are one of five teams in MLS to win each of their last three matches.
The Quakes now hold a 4-0-0 record in their last four meetings with Whitecaps FC, scoring at least three goals in each of them.
San Jose set a club record with five Homegrown Players appearing in a match for the first time (Cowell, Fuentes, Lima, Marcinkowski, Thompson). The Quakes also had each of their last three first-round SuperDraft picks appear in the match (Beason, Haji, Marie).
Homegrown goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski earned his first shutout of the season and second of his MLS career. It also marked the first shutout victory of his career.
Midfielder Cristian Espinoza scored his second goal of the season and fourth of his MLS career. He has now tallied a goal or assist in three consecutive matches, totaling one goal and three assists in that span. It also marked his second game-winning goal of the season and second of his MLS career.
Forward Andy Rios scored his fourth goal of the season and fifth of his MLS career. He has now scored in each of the last two matches.
Defender Paul Marie scored the first goal of his MLS career.
Midfielder Carlos Fierro was credited with an assist on Rios’ goal. It marked his second assist of the season and second of his MLS career.
Defender Tommy Thompson was credited with an assist on both Rios’ and Marie’s goals. It marked his third and fourth assists of the season, and eighth and ninth of his MLS career. His four assists this season tie his single-season career high (2017).
Eighteen-year-old Homegrown Gilbert Fuentes made his first appearance of the season and third of his MLS career, entering as a substitute in the 85th minute.
Midfielder Siad Haji made his first appearance of the season, entering as a substitute in the 88th minute.
MLS Regular Season
San Jose Earthquakes 3 – 0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Oct. 7, 2020 – Earthquakes Stadium in San Jose, Calif.
Scoring Summary: SJ – Cristian Espinoza (Nick Lima) 50; SJ – Andy Rios (Carlos Fierro, Tommy Thompson) 66; SJ – Paul Marie (Tommy Thompson) 90+3.
Misconduct Summary: VAN – Andy Rose (caution) 17; SJ – Florian Jungwirth (caution) 45+4; VAN – Andy Rose (ejection) 53; VAN – Michael Baldisimo (caution) 60; VAN – Erik Godoy (ejection) 75.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: JT Marcinkowski; Nick Lima (Paul Marie 85), Tanner Beason, Florian Jungwirth, Tommy Thompson; Carlos Fierro (Gilbert Fuentes 85), Judson, Jackson Yueill, Cristian Espinoza (Siad Haji 88); Andy Rios (Shea Salinas 77), Chris Wondolowski (Cade Cowell 76).
Substitutes not used: Oswaldo Alanis, Luis Felipe, Jack Skahan, Daniel Vega.
SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 8; SAVES: 5; FOULS: 5; CORNER KICKS: 11, OFFSIDES: 1.
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC: Evan Bush; Andy Rose, Erik Godoy, Jake Nerwinski (Ryan Roposo 72), Ali Adnan, Cristian Dajome; Leonard Owusu, Russell Teibert (David Milinkovic HT), Michael Baldisimo (Patrick Metcalfe 73); Fredy Montero (Theo Bair 81), Tosaint Ricketts (Ranko Veselinovic 55).
Substitutes not used: Isaac Boehmer, Derek Cornelius, Bryan Meredith, Damiano Pecile.
SHOTS: 7; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; SAVES: 5; FOULS: 13; CORNER KICKS: 7, OFFSIDES: 0.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH MATIAS ALMEYDA
On the team’s performance tonight:
“I think that we are forgetting about the tournament we played in Orlando. We really saw a competitive team. The restart of this season for each team was difficult. This season is unstable, just how we are living all around the world. It is difficult to train so little and play so often. Today, we had 20 players even. Many youngsters participated. But many teams are going through good moments and bad moments. There will be difficult moments and regular moments like we’ve talked about after each game, because of the way this season is. I think standing up after the previous negative performances, there is conviction and special work that we’ve done. There is good communication and adequate interpretation. We were able to overcome that negative streak at the beginning of the season. However, we cannot deny that the season is difficult for everyone.”
On forward Andy Rios’ performance:
“When the team functions as a team, we are able to achieve our style of play. Andy Rios might not have been finishing, but he is one of the players that runs the most, he’s one of the players that plays with his soul, he does work that might not be noticed, but when they score it’s a joy for the team. I don’t just focus on one player, I am convinced that when the 11 players play for one another, we play as a team. And in football you play as a team.”
On playing the Portland Timbers on Sunday:
“Today we celebrate a victory. We must make space to stay calm and the players deserve to celebrate after working hard. Tomorrow, we will begin to think about a difficult rival we will be facing, and we will figure out a game plan. We must see how the players recover and seek out any potential injuries. So today we will enjoy the victory with our families, as a family, after winning the way we did tonight.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES GOALKEEPER JT MARCINKOWSKI
On what has fueled the team’s turnaround and how the team continues its momentum:
“I think it’s not getting too high or too low. As we’ve seen in this league, results dictate how things go in the locker room, and so when you win it’s a good time. We just have to keep that same mentality going forward. We can’t get too high on these wins, and we can’t get too low when we lose. It’s just trying to maintain that same equal line and consistently getting better game in and game out. It’s looking at our mistakes, looking at what we did well, and trying to improve on those things.”
On how the team feels about going against the Portland Timbers:
“I think the good thing is that we didn’t play them too long ago. There’s a lot of video we can watch and figure some things out. I think they did well. They took advantage of our mistakes, but I think that’s something we want to improve on. I think we’re in a much different spot than we were a few weeks ago when we played them. Now, we’ve kind of got back to who we are and play the Earthquakes style of soccer, and so we just have to keep that mentality going. So much of it is that group effort. It’s a team effort. It doesn’t matter if you’re starting or coming off the bench as you’ve seen in the past few games. Subs are scoring like tonight, Paul [Marie] with his first goal, I couldn’t be happier for him, and Gilbert [Fuentes], Siad [Haji], and Cade [Cowell] coming off the bench. I think taking that group mentality and collective effort into a tough place to play in Portland, but we just have to fight together.”
On what the absence of Florian Jungwirth means for Sunday’s game vs. Portland:
“I really don’t know who’s going to play. I think we have to get guys recovered and watch some video on them. Then we can assess where we are a few days from now. Whoever does play, I think you’ve seen that whoever comes in makes a really big impact, and it’s going to be the same mentality and same feel with whatever 11 is out there.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER JACKSON YUEILL
On if he thought about leaving the Quakes for Europe instead of signing a new contract:
“No, not really. This is where I want to be. This is a project that I want to be a part of. From Matias to the locker room, it’s a family that I’ve grown to love and really appreciate. This is where I want to be for the future, and I’m excited to keep playing for this club and seeing how far we can go in all the years to come.”
On the team’s improvement over the last three matches:
“These three games definitely brought back some of the confidence we had in Orlando. It’s been a difficult year with all of the interruptions of playing and not playing and then the games so close together. We had a little bit of a tough month there, but I think these three games definitely helped us get a little bit of our confidence back; the way we played, the way we passed, the way we pressed. I definitely hope that we can keep building from this and get better and better each game.”
On the importance of getting into a playoff spot:
“I think we have a really strong group. We have a really deep group. You saw a lot of younger guys come in today and get minutes, which was great. The cohesion between everyone I think has been fantastic. We’re taking it one step at a time, one game at a time, and you can tell that in these games. I think each game we’re getting better and better, and you can see improvement with the ball and without the ball. That’s our focus. It’s trying to improve game in and game out and fine tune little details. Hopefully at the end, we’re where we want to be.”
