Weekly Update: February 8, 2016

The Earthquakes continue preparations for the 2016 regular season in Tucson, Arizona. The club played their first two of three matches in the desert last week, competing against the New England Revolution on Wednesday and the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at the Kino Sports Complex. The third and final match in Tucson takes place on Tuesday, February 9 against Seongnam FC of the South Korean K League.

• Purchase your tickets to the March 6 Home Opener at Avaya Stadium! 

The Quakes return to the Bay Area on Wednesday before departing for Las Vegas on Friday, February 12, where the club will take on the LA Galaxy at Cashman Field on Saturday night. Tickets for the match are available here. It marks only the second time the two California rivals have met outside of the Golden State, joining the 2001 MLS Cup Final in Columbus, OH.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Meredith Saves Penalty while Imperiale Makes First Start for Earthquakes in 1-0 Loss to Dynamo
The San Jose Earthquakes continued their pre-season build-up in Tucson, Ariz. with a narrow 1-0 defeat to the Houston Dynamo at the Kino Sports Complex on Saturday evening. Goalkeeper Bryan Meredith saved a penalty while new signing, Argentine defender Andres Imeperiale made his first start for the club. San Jose started strongly with Chris Wondolowski going close three times and fellow striker Quincy Amarikwa rattling the bar with a powerful header. In front of a watching David Bingham, who arrived in Quakes training camp after making his debut for the U.S. Men’s National Team on Friday night in Los Angeles, Meredith stooped to his left to deny Giles Barnes from the spot in the first half. Tommy Thompson was penalized for a foul on DaMarcus Beasley. Almost immediately after the break the Dynamo scored the only goal of the game when Erick Torres converted from the spot after Victor Bernardez was adjudged to have impeded Barnes in the area. San Jose new signing Simon Dawkins tested the Dynamo keeper twice from distance in the second half, but the Quakes could not manage to draw level.

Dawkins, Imperiale Make Appearance for Earthquakes Against the Revolution in Tucson, Arizona
The San Jose Earthquakes opened a three-game set during their stay in Tucson, Arizona with a 2-0 defeat to the New England Revolution at the Kino Sports Complex on Wednesday morning. Both midfielder Simon Dawkins and defender Andres Imperiale made their first appearance with the club since signing in the offseason. The Revolution grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute against the run of play. A quick free kick led to a shot from distance by Kelyn Rowe, which snuck past Quakes rookie goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell and into the bottom-left corner of the net. New England was able to double their lead two minutes into first half stoppage time. A corner kick drifted to the far post and was knocked down, causing a scrum in front of goal. Forward Charlie Davies held off his defender and played the ball into the open net. Starting the second half with 11 new players, San Jose nearly pulled a goal back in the 76th minute on the foot of Tommy Thompson. Forward Adam Jahn did well to keep the ball from going over the end line and laid a pass off for Thompson near the penalty spot. Thompson’s initial attempt was blocked and his second effort sailed over the crossbar. San Jose applied heavy pressure for much of the second half, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Goalkeeper Bryan Meredith and defenders Kip Colvey, Imperiale and JJ Koval helped keep New England off the board after the halftime break. 

Earthquakes Sign Midfielder Cordell Cato to New Contract
The San Jose Earthquakes announced that the club has signed midfielder Cordell Cato to a new multi-year contract. Cato, 23, is coming off a career year in 2015, where he set career highs in games played (28), starts (18) and minutes (1,814) and tied his career highs in goals (three) and assists (two). He notched his first multi-goal game in a 5-0 win over Sporting Kansas City on August 19 and tallied the third goal for the Quakes in their 3-1 win over rivals LA Galaxy during the California Clasico. Cato was also the only player on San Jose last season to make at least one start at four different positions – left back, right back, left midfield and right midfield.

Earthquakes Loan Midfielder Leandro Barrera to Argentina’s Club Atlético San Martín
The San Jose Earthquakes announced that the club has loaned midfielder Leandro Barrera to Club Atlético San Martín of the Argentinian first division through the end of the year. Barrera, 24, appeared in six matches, making one start, for San Jose in 2015. He joined the Quakes after one season with Chivas USA, where he tallied one goal and two assists in 32 appearances for the now-defunct club in 2014.

Complete Earthquakes 2016 Preseason Schedule
The full slate of scheduled preseason matches can be found below: