SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes defeated Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3-2 Saturday night to win their second consecutive game to open the regular season. After conceding two goals within the first 20 minutes, forward Chris Wondolowski, Homegrown defender Nick Lima and midfielder Anibal Godoy scored a goal apiece to earn the Quakes three points.
Wondolowski scored his 11th goal in 17 appearances against Whitecaps FC in the 32nd minute. He is the league’s all-time leading goal scorer against Vancouver by a six-goal margin.
Homegrown defender Lima scored his first professional goal in the 54th minute in just his second appearance with the team.
Godoy scored the game-winning goal for the second consecutive game in the 79th minute. It is the first time that the midfielder has scored in back-to-back matches for the Quakes.
The Quakes will now hit the road to take on Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, March 18 with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. PT. The match will be broadcast live on CSN Plus, KNBR 1050 and 1370 KZSF.
Notes:
- The last time the Earthquakes came back from a two-goal deficit was during the 2013 Cali Clasico at Stanford Stadium on June 29, 2013 where they defeated the LA Galaxy 3-2.
- The Earthquakes have only lost one of their last eight matches against Canadian clubs (4-1-3).
- Nick Lima scored his first professional goal in just his second match.
- Jahmir Hyka tallied his first two MLS assists after entering the match as a halftime substitute.
MLS Regular Season
San Jose Earthquakes 3 – 2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
March 11, 2017 – Avaya Stadium in San Jose, CA
Attendance: 18,000
Scoring Summary: VAN – Erik Hurtado (unassisted) 2; VAN – Nicolas Mezquida (Erik Hurtado) 17; SJ – Chris Wondolowski (Victor Bernardez) 32; SJ – Nick Lima (Chris Wondolowski, Jahmir Hyka) 54; SJ – Anibal Godoy (Jahmir Hyka) 79.
Misconduct Summary: SJ – Fatai Alashe (caution) 7; VAN – Russell Teibert (caution) 15; VAN – David Ousted (ejection) 23; VAN – Christian Dean (caution) 89.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: David Bingham; Shaun Francis, Victor Bernardez, Florian Jungwirth, Nick Lima; Tommy Thompson (Jahmir Hyka) 45, Anibal Godoy, Fatai Alashe (Shea Salinas) 75, Simon Dawkins; Marco Ureña (Danny Hoesen) 80, Chris Wondolowski.
SHOTS: 21, SHOTS ON GOAL: 7; SAVES: 0; FOULS: 11; CORNER KICKS: 11; OFFSIDES: 2.
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC: David Ousted; Kendall Watson, Jordan Harvey, Christian Dean, Jakob Nerwinski; Ben McKendry, Nicolas Mezquida (Paolo Tornaghi 25), Cristian Techera, Russell Teibert; Erik Hurtado (Fredy Montero) 61, Kekuta Manneh (Christian Bolaños) 61.
SHOTS: 4; SHOTS ON GOAL: 2; SAVES: 4; FOULS: 16; CORNER KICKS: 3; OFFSIDES: 2.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On Nick Lima’s performance:
“I think he’s playing pretty well. Secondly, we are encouraging him to get forward because we think that’s a good part of his game. I think as soon as we went a man up, we were trying to push Nick a little bit higher up the field because we do think he has got good pace and could get by some people and open things up. That’s all we are asking; I don’t think we are asking anything different from him than we are from everybody else. There’s just a little bit of spotlight on him because he’s a young guy and he’s playing well and he scored a nice goal for us.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI
On Anibal Godoy:
“He’s done a great job. He’s a general in that midfield and his composure on the ball helps us a lot too. I wish I could say it surprises me or shocks me, but I see it everyday. He’s a player of great talent and he has great composure in front of the goal. Some people like to rush stuff, but he stays composed and finishes well.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER NICK LIMA
On being the first San Jose Homegrown Player to score an MLS goal:
“The title really doesn’t mean much. It’s nice to get a goal, and obviously the first goal is awesome and I’m happy for it, but getting a win at the end of the day is most important. It’s a long season. Hopefully there will be more of them, but the ultimate goal is MLS Cup, and that title means a lot more.”
