The San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo renew their burgeoning rivalry when the teams meet Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Earthquakes are currently riding a four-game unbeaten streak, after coming away from Chicago with a 2-2 draw with the Fire last weekend. The Dynamo are in the midst of a six-game winless run, though twice coming back before settling for a 2-2 home draw with FC Dallas.
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REFEREE: Alex Prus. SAR (bench): Corey Rockwell; JAR (opposite): George Gansner; 4th: Allen Chapman MLS Career: 182 games; FC/gm: 27.5; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 42; pens: 50
INJURY REPORT: SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES – OUT: MF Andre
Luiz (L knee injury); QUESTIONABLE: MF Simon Dawkins (R/L bilateral
fasciotomy); DF Tim Ward (R hamstring strain); PROBABLE: FW Scott Sealy
(L hamstring strain) …
HOUSTON DYNAMO – OUT: FW Calen Carr (concussion);
DOUBTFUL: FW Brian Ching (L plantar fascitis); QUESTIONABLE: DF Corey
Ashe (L quad strain); PROBABLE: MF Danny Cruz (R knee hyperextension);
FW Cam Weaver (R ankle sprain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: SJ: Ryan Johnson (Jamaica); Chris Wondolowski (USA) … HOU: Andre Hainault (Canada); Jermaine Taylor, Je-Vaughn Watson (Jamaica)
SUSPENDED: HOU: Kofi Sarkodie (through June 4)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: SJ: Sam Cronin … HOU: Brad Davis, Lovel Palmer
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (7 meetings): Earthquakes 3 wins, 10 goals … Dynamo 3 wins, 11 goals … Ties 1
AT SAN JOSE (4 meetings): Earthquakes 2 wins, 6 goals … Dynamo 1 wins, 5 goals … Ties 1
RETURN MATCH: 9/17: Houston Dynamo vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 7:30 p.m. CT
LAST YEAR
9/5: HOU 1, SJ 2 (Davis 45 – Stephenson 6; Geovanni 64)
10/16: SJ 0, HOU 1 (Hainault 23)
• The Dynamo won for the first time in four visits to Buck Shaw
Stadium last year, after the Quakes won their first match at Robertson
Stadium in the first meeting, in what’s become a rivalry of clubs
sharing a common ancestry.
• Coaches record: Frank Yallop vs. HOU: P13 W5 L5 D3 … Dominic Kinnear v SJ: P7 W3 L3 D1
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
The San Jose Earthquakes ran their undefeated streak to four games,
holding on for a 2-2 draw with the Chicago Fire on Saturday evening at
Toyota Park. The Quakes have 13 points from 11 games on the season,
sitting in a tie for seventh place in the Western Conference to start
the week.
LAST MATCH
• All four of the game’s goals came in a wild second half. San Jose
midfielder Ramiro Corrales opened the scoring in the 50th minute when he
headed home Anthony Ampaipitakwong’s corner kick at the top of the
six-yard box.
• Fire winger Dominic Oduro tied the game up just six minutes later.
Cristian Nazarit hit a low shot from the top of the box which hit off
both the left and right posts before rolling out, where Oduro had the
easiest of tap-ins.
• The Quakes again gained the advantage in the 74th minute. Corrales
and Ampaipitakwong combined well on the right side, freeing
Ampaipitakwong for a cross that expertly picked out Chris Wondolowski,
who flicked his header inside the far post from the top of the six.
• Chicago equalized again in the 80th. Cory Gibbs got on the end of
substitute midfielder Baggio Husidic’s cross, putting his diving header
inside the near post from the right corner of the goal area.
• Earthquakes boss Frank Yallop made two changes to the team that
defeated the New England Revolution 2-1 at Buck Shaw Stadium. Steven
Beitashour came in for Chris Leitch and Ramiro Corrales replaced Ryan
Johnson.
• SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (4-4-2): Jon Busch - Steven Beitashour, Jason
Hernandez, Ike Opara, Bobby Convey - Joey Gjertsen (Anthony
Ampaipitakwong 46), Brad Ring, Khari Stephenson (Sam Cronin 68), Ramiro
Corrales (Brandon McDonald 87) - Chris Wondolowski, Steven Lenhart.
TEAM NEWS
• After a three-game losing skid from April 16-30, the Earthquakes have now reeled off a four-game unbeaten streak.
• "I was disappointed to be up 2-1 and not win the game, but the
effort from our players was excellent, and our goals were good,"
Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop said. "Yes, we'd like to keep clean
sheets and make sure we don't concede goals ... but the endeavor and the
fight from the guys, I've been really happy with."
• Earthquakes rookie Anthony Ampaipatakwong made the second start of
his MLS career and responded with two assists, setting up both goals in
the 2-2 tie with Chicago, the first two assists of his professional
career.
• “We have two powerful people in the box,” Ampaipitakwong said.
“Steve (Lenhart), he’s going to get on top of any header, and Wondo,
anytime you put the ball in a dangerous area, Wondo’s going to find it
and he’s going to put the ball in the back of the net. With two
dangerous guys like that, you’ve just got to find the right spot in the
box and put it in there.”
• The MLS Golden Boot winner a year ago, San Jose’s Chris
Wondolowski scored his sixth goal of the campaign vs. Chicago – two off
the league lead held by LA’s Landon Donovan. Four of Wondolowski’s goals
have come in the last six games.
• Wondolowski will now be gone with the U.S. national team for the
CONCACAF Gold Cup; Ryan Johnson missed the Chicago game will already
with Jamaica. A welcome addition could be the return of Scott Sealy, who
has missed the last three league games with a hamstring injury, but was
able to last 75 minutes in the Open Cup match last Tuesday.
• “The recurring injuries with Scotty, he just can’t seem to get
healthy,” Yallop said. “It’s tough stuff. … When he’s 100 percent fit
and healthy, he’s a good player. When he’s in between, he struggles. But
anyone struggles [in that situation].”
• Another option up top could be Ellis McLoughlin, who scored his
first professional goal in the 2-1 win vs. New England on May 21.
• “I think he’s proven that [he could help replace Wondolowski],”
Yallop said. “[Against New England], he did a great job coming off the
bench, then he has his first start. … It’s impressive, and I think he’s
got a lot of potential. He’s only 20. He’s powerful, he’s young. He’s
got a bright future if he just keeps learning and moving in the right
direction, which I think he will.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo saw their winless streak extended to six games
despite coming back for a 2-2 draw with FC Dallas on Saturday evening at
Robertson Stadium. The Dynamo have 15 points from 13 games on the
season, sitting in a tie for third place in the Eastern Conference.
LAST MATCH
• FC Dallas took the lead in the 27th minute. Fabian Castillo
screamed a 25-yard shot off the crossbar, and it rebounded straight out
to Andrew Jacobson, who headed the ball back into the goal with 'keeper
Tally Hall having dived to save the initial attempt.
• But the Dynamo pulled level in the 42nd minute, as Brad Davis
picked out Cam Weaver in the right of the box and he struck to end FCD's
shutout run at 531 minutes.
• FCD regained the lead in the 70th minute, when Ugo Ihemelu snapped
a header from a Marvin Chávez corner kick past a diving Hall. Then two
minutes later, the Dynamo went down a man when Kofi Sarkodie committed a
second bookable offense.
• But three minutes from full time, a Davis through ball to to
second-half substitute Colin Clark opened the FCD defense, and Clark
fired a low shot past Kevin Hartman to secure a share of the spoils.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made five changes to the team
that lost1-0 to the LA Galaxy at The Home Depot Center. Kofi Sarkodie,
Jermaine Taylor and Mike Chabala came into the back four for Hunter
Freeman, Bobby Boswell and Corey Ashe, Je-Vaughn Watson entered the
midfield for Colin Clark, and Cam Weaver started up top for Koke.
• HOUSTON DYNAMO--Tally Hall - Kofi Sarkodie (sent off 72), Jermaine
Taylor (Alex Dixon 84), Andre Hainault, Mike Chabala - Je-Vaughn Watson
(Colin Clark 66), Lovel Palmer, Geoff Cameron, Brad Davis - Will Bruin
(Koke 75), Cam Weaver.
TEAM NEWS
• In advance of losing three players to Gold Cup duty beginning this
week, Kinnear rang in a host of changes to his team for the Dallas
match.
• “Against Los Angeles, we looked a bit tired in some areas, and
there are some guys that are good players that deserved to play, so we
decided to make those changes,” Kinnear said. “Overall, we could have
played better, and the guys we gave opportunities to could have played
better.”
• Brad Davis reclaimed the MLS assist lead with a pair of helpers,
setting up both goals vs. FC Dallas. It was the third multiple-assist
game of the season for Davis; he had a career-high three April 10 vs.
Vancouver, and two on April 29 vs. D.C. United.
• “The desire to stay in the game and not want to lose and not just
give up I think is fantastic,” said Davis. “Even going down to 10 men,
the guys kept going and kept plugging away. It says a lot about the
character of this team.”
• Coming off the bench for a 10th consecutive appearance after knee
surgery at the end of last season, Colin Clark scored his second goal
with the Dynamo.
• “We knew when we made the trade that he’s one of the more talented
guys in the league that can play on the right or left,” Kinnear said.
“He’s been scoring some goals for us, which is a positive for his
confidence. The better his confidence is, the better his play is and the
more he’s going to help us.”
• Six of the last 10 goals the Dynamo have allowed have come from deadball situations, including a pair of penalty kicks.
• “We gave up a soft goal off a set piece again, which we addressed
before and we’ll address again,” Dynamo Kinnear said. “Then in the end
going down 10 men was a bit of a blow, but it was a great play by Brad
and Colin to get us a point.”
• During the week, Spanish striker Koke informed the club he wishes
to leave the Dynamo. The club management said it will work to reach an
arrangement that will allow him to return to Europe. Koke has made seven
appearances (two starts), with one goal, vs. New York on May 21.
• “It’s early to say why I’m not playing, because I’ve been here for
just a short time,” Koke said. “But more than anything, I’m doing this
for my family life, which is not the easiest right now being here in the
United States and my family being in Europe. I can’t see them every
day.”
