San Jose Earthquakes at Seattle Sounders FC
Kickoff: 7 p.m. PT at CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Wash.
Television: Comcast SportsNet Bay Area
Radio: 1590 KLIV (English), 1370 KZSF (Spanish)
Places to Watch
Jack’s Bar & Lounge (San Jose), Hyde Park Lounge (San Jose), Double D’s Sports Grille (Los Gatos), Danny Coyle’s (San Francisco), SF Soccer Cafe (San Francisco)
Seattle Sounders FC Scouting Report
Seattle Sounders FC are 2-0-0 (6 pts.) following a 2-0 win at home against the Houston Dynamo on March 23. Seattle had previously posted a 3-1 home victory over another early-season common opponent with the Quakes, Toronto FC, in its opener on March 17. David Estrada, out of Salinas’ Alisal High School and UCLA, recorded just the third hat trick in club history in that game to earn the first MLS Player of the Week award of 2012. Estrada provided the game-winner against the Dynamo as well, with Brad Evans adding a first-half goal from the penalty spot.
Austrian Michael Gspurning has replaced retired U.S. Men’s National Team legend Kasey Keller in the Seattle goal, and kept his first MLS clean sheet against Houston.
The Sounders will be hosting the Earthquakes for their third straight home contest inside CenturyLink Field to begin the 2012 campaign, having played in front of 39,232 and 38,304 fans, respectively, over their first two matches.
Prior to its MLS opener, Seattle fell to Santos Laguna of Mexico, 7-3 on aggregate, in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.
Sigi Schmid, MLS’ all-time leader with 159 coaching victories, is in his fourth season in charge of Seattle Sounders FC, with previous successful terms at UCLA (1980-99), the LA Galaxy (1999-2004) and the Columbus Crew (2006-08).
Of Note
- San Jose and Seattle will both be facing their first Western Conference opposition of the new season when they go up against each other this Saturday, March 31. At six points apiece, the teams are in a four-way tie for second in the conference standings, behind Vancouver Whitecaps FC with seven.
- Saturday’s game will feature a clash between the top two goal-scorers currently in MLS, as Seattle striker David Estrada paces the league with four goals, ahead of Quakes star Chris Wondolowski and Kenny Cooper of the New York Red Bulls at three apiece. Wondolowski will also be up against the Sounders’ Colombian forward Fredy Montero, with whom he shared the MLS lead a year ago of nine road goals each. Montero has yet to find the back of the net in 2012. Of his three goals, Wondolowski has scored one with his right foot, one with his head, and one with his left foot.
- Through 270 minutes of play thus far in 2012, San Jose has yet to allow a goal during the run of play, as the only score the Quakes have conceded came from a 14th-minute penalty by Brad Davis in the 1-0 Houston Dynamo defeat on March 17. Head coach Frank Yallop’s defense has consisted of Jon Busch in goal, Victor Bernardez and Justin Morrow at the center back positions, Steven Beitashour at right back and captain Ramiro Corrales on the left for all 270 minutes of the first three contests. This is the best three-game defensive start for the Quakes in club history, having previously given up two goals over their first three games to begin the 2000, 2002 and 2003 seasons.
- Jason Hernandez’s next appearance and start would each be No. 100 for the Quakes.
Quakes-Sounders Connections
- Seattle Sounders FC was brought into MLS as an expansion franchise ahead of the 2009 season, a year after the San Jose Earthquakes rejoined the league.
- Sounders FC technical director Chris Henderson played with Quakes General Manager John Doyle in the early 1990s for the U.S. Men’s National Team.
- Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski played with Sounders FC defender Patrick Ianni from 2006-08 for the Houston Dynamo.
- Earthquakes midfielder Tressor Moreno and Seattle’s Fredy Montero and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado are all citizens of Colombia, with all three having previously played for Colombian side Deportivo Cali.
- Sounders FC goalkeeper Andrew Weber appeared in two MLS matches for the Earthquakes from 2009-11. Seattle forward Roger Levesque, a Stanford product, played with the Earthquakes from 2003-05, appearing in four matches for San Jose.
- Earthquakes defender Jason Hernandez played with Sounders FC defender Jeff Parke for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in 2005. Earthquakes forward Steven Lenhart and Seattle midfielder Brad Evans played together for the Columbus Crew in 2008. Earthquakes midfielder Khari Stephenson and Seattle’s Swedish defender Adam Johansson played against each other in the Swedish Allsvenskan (2006-08).
- Earthquakes goalkeeper David Bingham and Seattle midfielder Servando Carrasco were teammates at Cal from 2008-10. Earthquakes midfielder Sam Garza and Sounders FC midfielder Michael Tetteh played together at UC Santa Barbara during the 2010 season. Bingham (and Carrasco) played against Tetteh (and Garza) in the 2010 NCAA Championship Second Round on Nov. 21, 2010. Tetteh (82nd) and Carrasco (89th) each scored late for their respective teams, with the host Cal Bears grabbing the winner with one tick remaining in the first overtime period to advance, 2-1.
@SJEarthquakes – Official account of the San Jose Earthquakes (#SJEarthquakes)
@QuakesMatchday – NEW! this season, follow for live updates on game days
@SoundersFC – Official account of Seattle Sounders FC
@LiveSounders – Matchday play-by-play feed of Seattle Sounders FC
Mobile App
MLS MatchDay 2012 – The official Major League Soccer app, providing up-to-the-minute score updates, in-game highlights, news and more.
