SAN JOSE, Calif - The 2012 Supporters’ Shield winners continued their first week of preseason at the Earthquakes Training Facility on Thursday, Jan. 24.
Supplemental Draft picks Adam Jahn (Stanford), Colin Mitchell (Oregon State), and Peter McGlynn (UCSB) participated in their first full week of professional training alongside SuperDraft picks Tommy Muller (No. 15 overall/Georgetown) and Dan Delgado (No. 33 overall/University of San Diego).
New faces also included former Chicago Fire right back Dan Gargan, former Toronto FC center back Ty Harden, and former Portland Timbers forward Michael Fucito.
Four trialists participated in the morning session. Matt Fondy, an All-America honoree from NCAA Division III UC Santa Cruz and a Foster City, Calif native, has been with the team for the entire week. Fondy previously played with the LA Blues of the USL Pro in 2012 while also making appearances for the Quakes’ reserves. Josh Suggs, a member of the 2012 Quakes who also played in multiple Reserve League matches, participated with the squad. Stanford’s Hunter Gorskie and Cal’s Tony Salciccia rounded out the four trialists.
Despite inclement weather from a steady rain, the Quakes opened training with some light jogging and 5v2 possession. The coaching staff led the team through a series of extensive stretching drills before focusing on possession.
Possession, Possession, Possession:
With a number of trialists participating in the preseason sessions, the coaching staff led players through a series of possession drills to assess skill and awareness. Initially, the players split into two small-sided 6v6 possession drills before moving on to a two-team possession game.
Injury Update:
While the majority of players were eager to start on preseason, some focused on rehabbing their lingering injuries from the past season. Mehdi Ballouchy and Cesar Diaz Pizarro are both recovering from knee surgeries. While Diaz Pizarro had surgery in the off-season, Ballouchy went under the knife at the end of 2012 and expects a full recovery by April. Both worked with the coaching staff through various jogging and plyometric exercises.
Meanwhile, Marcus Tracy, Alan Gordon, and Steven Lenhart underwent a full fitness and rehabilitation regimen in the gym.
Sam Garza, who had off-season surgery on his wrist, was a full participant in the morning’s session.
Preparation for Tucson:
The Quakes will head to Tucson starting on Monday, Jan. 28 for a full week of preseason training and to match up against two MLS sides. The current preseason squad will face the New England Revolution on Tuesday, Jan. 29 and the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, Feb. 2 at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz.
Tucson will be the first of three preseason tours as the Quakes will head to Oxnard from Feb. 6-10, and Portland from Feb. 16-23.
