SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes held the New England Revolution to a scoreless draw Wednesday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Avaya Stadium. With the result, the Quakes are undefeated in six of their last seven matches.
The Quakes’ first look on goal came in the 20th minute when Simon Dawkins crossed the ball to forward Chris Wondolowksi who used his head to fire the ball just wide of Brad Knighton’s goal. In the 35th minute, Wondolowski created another chance with his head, sending the ball across the goalmouth only for Knighton to clear it with his fingers.
With the game scoreless at halftime, the both teams looked to capitalize in the second half.
In the 60th minute, the post came to the Quakes’ rescue to deny Kei Kamara’s shot. After Lee Nguyen sent a through ball to Kamara, the forward found himself in a one-on-one situation with Bingham. Kamara had a shot, but the ball ricocheted off the right post and the score remained level.
In the 77th minute, moments after entering the match, Henok Goitom received a pass from fellow Earthquakes newcomer Darwin Ceren that put him past New England’s defense and through on goal. Goitom shot, but Knighton made the save.
With the final whistle, the game ended scoreless and the Quakes earned their sixth shutout of the season.
The Quakes hit the road to take on Columbus Crew SC on Saturday, August 27. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on CSN Plus, 1590 KLIV and 1370 KZSF.
Notes:
- San Jose is now 7-7-11 on the season and 6-2-5 at Avaya Stadium.
- San Jose now has a 20-14-6 all-time record against New England, including a 10-6-4 record at home and a 0-0-1 record at Avaya Stadium.
- The match marked the first-ever visit to Avaya Stadium for the New England Revolution.
- The Quakes are 8-3-7 when playing opponents in their first trip to Avaya Stadium.
- The Earthquakes are now 13-5-9 all-time at Avaya Stadium.
- The Quakes have never lost back-to-back home games at Avaya Stadium, currently holding a 2-0-3 record in their first home game following a loss.
- Chris Wondolowski made his 250th MLS appearance, becoming the 63rd player in MLS history to reach the milestone.
- David Bingham earned his sixth shutout of the season and is now tied for third in the league for shutouts.
- Jordan Stewart made his sixth consecutive start, his longest starting streak of the season.
- The Earthquakes have held opponents to no more than one goal in 19 of their 25 matches this
- season, including 13 of their last 15.
- San Jose has now suffered 359 fouls this season, the most in the Western Conference.
- The Earthquakes are undefeated this season when playing Eastern Conference teams at home, holding a 3-0-2 record. Overall, the Quakes are 3-1-4 when playing teams from the East in 2016.
MLS Regular Season
San Jose Earthquakes 0 – New England Revolution 0
Aug. 24, 2016 – Avaya Stadium in San Jose, CA
Attendance: 18,000
Scoring Summary: None
Misconduct Summary: SJ –Anibal Godoy (caution) 25; SJ – Darwin Ceren (caution) 54; SJ – Simon Dawknis (caution) 75; NE – Gershon Koffie (caution) 82; NE – Tel Bunbury (caution) 87.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: David Bingham; Jordan Stewart, Victor Bernardez, Marvell Wynne, Cordell Cato; Simon Dawkins, Anibal Godoy, Darwin Ceren, Alberto Quintero (Shea Salinas 76); Chris Wondolowski, Quincy Amarikwa [Chad Barrett 34 (Henok Goitom 76)].
SHOTS: 7, SHOTS ON GOAL: 1; SAVES: 3; FOULS: 13; CORNER KICKS: 4; OFFSIDES: 1.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION: Brad Knighton; Je-Vaughn Watson, Gershon Koffie, Chris Tierney, Andrew Farrell; Scott Caldwell, Kei Kamara; Juan Agudelo (Teal Bunbury 55), Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen; Diego Fagundez (Daigo Kobayashi 90+2).
SHOTS: 12; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; SAVES: 1; FOULS: 15; CORNER KICKS: 5; OFFSIDES: 0.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On the speed of the team’s performance:
“It was okay. I thought we started off the game pretty well. I think Quincy’s [Amarikwa] injury kind of knocked us back a little bit. And second half, from that point I think people could see we were kind of in-between, it was getting a little bit frustrating.”
On Chris Wondolowski’s play:
“I don’t know the numbers. I think the break going away for Copa America didn’t help, being away from us for so long. He’s still scoring goals for us in practice. It’s just teams are keying on him, sometimes he gets free, sometimes he doesn’t, but he got free that one time and I think if he were to have it all over again I think he would score. So it’s bound to happen.”
On dropping points in two straight games:
“It’s a good position for us to be in to play Houston and New England at home when you think about it and look at the records. They’re still good teams, even though their records may not say as much, but to come out of it with one point is disappointing.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER VICTOR BERNARDEZ
On defensive adjustments from Houston match:
“We did what we expected to do tonight in not allowing a goal. We are a strong group that has to push forward. We need to note what worked tonight and apply that to Saturday’s match – a must win match.”
On how club can improve for final nine matches:
“Our mentality is to turn this around. It is what we work for. You have to take it step by step and play well the last nine games. We have nine games to finish strong. After tonight we cannot look back, only forward. We need to unite as a group and as a team and believe everything will work out for us.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER SIMON DAWKINS
On the draw:
“Obviously it was a disappointing result. We have to be able to win these home games, especially when the other teams around us in the standings are losing points. Tonight was a disappointing night for us.”
On how team can get back to winning form:
“I don’t think we are far off. We’ve had a difficult time finishing chances off and finishing games out. We had a good win against Vancouver [Whitecaps FC], but let the game slip against Houston [Dynamo] and slip again tonight; basically six points lost from us. We need to stick together. We still have one game in hand so it’s not impossible to do what we want to achieve. We just need to stick together and have a good couple of days of training heading into Saturday.”
