The Earthquakes defeated Seattle Sounders FC 3-2 on Saturday, March 14, at CenturyLink Field, despite playing with 10 men for nearly the length of the second half. Chris Wondolowski scored two goals, his eighth and ninth against Seattle all-time, and Innocent Emeghara, making his first-career start, added one. San Jose will play host to the Chicago Fire on Sunday, March 22, at 4:00 p.m. PT in the inaugural game at Avaya Stadium.
OPPONENT INFO
Earthquakes vs. Chicago Fire All-Time
MLS Regular Season: 9-13-11
Home: 7-5-5 (23 GF, 18 GA)
Away: 2-8-6 (17 GF, 30 GA)
Shootout (1996-99): 0-0; Overtime (2000-03): 0-0-0; Playoffs: 0-0-0;
US Open Cup: 0-1-0
All-Time Scoring: San Jose – 40, Chicago – 48
Last Game
Earthquakes 5, Chicago Fire 1; July 23, 2014; Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, California
The San Jose Earthquakes exploded with their largest offensive output since 2012 to rout the Chicago Fire 5-1 at Buck Shaw Stadium. Five different players found the net, marking the first five-goal output at Buck Shaw Stadium since a 5-0 win against Real Salt Lake on July 14, 2012. Shea Salinas, Atiiba Harris, Chris Wondolowski, Yannick Djalo and Cordell Cato accounted for the goals in what was also the largest margin of victory for San Jose since 2012, a 4-0 romp against Chivas USA on Sept. 2 at Buck Shaw. Salinas opened the scoring just before halftime, beating Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson with a blast to the upper corner. Djalo sprung Salinas down the sideline with a long pass over the top. Salinas chased it down and beat his defender with a cut into the middle, creating space to pop the net for his first goal of the year. Atiba Harris doubled the lead early in the second half, tapping in a deflected shot from Chris Wondolowski. Harris dribbled toward the area and then slid a pass across the top of the box to Wondolowski, who took a touch and fired. Johnson blocked the shot, but the rebound caromed toward the goal where Harris knotted the loose end. Harris returned the favor 10 minutes later, leading Wondolowski into the box where the Danville native capitalized with a left-footed strike past Johnson for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.The Fire pulled one back three-quarters of the way through the match. Matt Watson found Grant Ward running freely toward goal on the right side of the box and placed a perfect pass in front of the midfielder. Ward one-timed his shot into the lower corner, barely beating Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Busch to spoil the shutout. San Jose would eliminate any doubts about the match soon after. Cato sent a looping pass over the Fire’s backline and Djalo took advantage with a cheeky finish. The Portguese attacker let the ball bounce and then sent a high-arching shot that Johnson watched sail over his head and bounce into the net. Cato capped the scoring in the 84th minute. Djalo won possession near midfield and sent a through ball to Wondolowski on the right. Wondolowski dribbled into the box and then cut a pass back for Cato. The Trinidadian took a smart touch with the side of his foot and then leapt to finish in midair with his right foot.
History of the Quakes-Chicago Fire
The Earthquakes and the Chicago Fire have had a memorable rivalry since the Fire came into MLS in 1998 … The most memorable game of the rivalry came in 2003, when Chicago and San Jose met for the MLS Cup at The Home Depot Center on Nov. 23 … The Quakes defeated the Fire 4-2 in Frank Yallop’s final game as the head coach before returning two seasons ago … Landon Donovan scored two goals, while Ronnie Ekelund and Richard Mulrooney each netted a goal to lead the Quakes to the victory … That game was the only playoff meeting between two of the league’s most successful clubs … The two teams have played each other twice in U.S. Open Cup Play, during Chicago’s inaugural season in 1998 and on May 24, 2011 … The first Open Cup match saw a quarterfinal tie that went into penalty kicks after goals from Lubos Kubik for Chicago and Jeff Baicher for San Jose saw the score knotted at one-all after regulation and overtime … The Fire prevailed in the PK shootout, 4-3, on their way to winning the title … In May of 2011, a 2-2 tie with goals from Ellis McLoughlin and Justin Morrow for San Jose and Orr Barouch and Yamith Cuesta for Chicago led to another round of PKs. Chicago prevailed 5-4 in the PK shootout … Chicago failed to win an MLS game against San Jose in 2011 for the first time in franchise history … Fire defender Cory Gibbs robbed San Jose of a road win on May 28, 2011, after Ramiro Corrales and Chris Wondolowski scored for the Quakes … Corrales and Wondolowski each scored again in the return fixture at Buck Shaw Stadium on September 10 to give San Jose a 2-0 win, their first home against the Fire since a 2-0 win on Sep. 21, 2005 at Spartan Stadium … On July 28, 2012, San Jose and Chicago played to a 1-1 draw. Quakes forward Steven Lenhart scored the equalizer eight minutes into stoppage time … On July 3, 2013, Chicago capped off a thrilling 3-2 win over San Jose. An Alan Gordon goal and an own-goal equalizer couldn’t sustain a late Chicago furry after 84th minute goal from Fire forward Chris Rolfe. On July 23, 2014, the San Jose Earthquakes routed the Chicago Fire 5-1 at Buck Shaw Stadium with their largest offensive output since 2012.
Earthquakes-Chicago Fire Connections
Chicago head coach Frank Yallop compiled a 99-86-72 regular season record, a 10-7-0 MLS Cup Playoffs record and two MLS Cup titles as manager of the San Jose Earthquakes from 2001-03 and 2008-13 … Fire forward Quincy Amarikwa played for the Earthquakes from 2009-10 … Amarikwa also played with Earthquakes defender Ty Harden on Toronto FC in 2012 … Fire midfielder Lovel Palmer and Quakes forward Mike Fucito were teammates with the Portland Timbers in 2012 … Palmer and Quakes midfielder Khari Stephenson were teammates with Real Salt Lake in 2013… Fire midfielder Harry Shipp and Quakes midfielder Tommy Thompson were both selected to the 2014 Chipotle MLS Homegrown roster … Fire midfielder Matt Watson, a native of Redditch, England, and Quakes defender Jordan Stewart, a native of Birmingham, England, grew up ~30 minutes away from each other … Earthquakes forward Innocent Emeghara and Chicago forward Kennedy Igboananike both hail from Nigeria … Earthquakes midfielder Cordell Cato and Fire defender Joevin Jones were both born in Trindad and Tobago … Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch played with the Earthquakes from 2007-09, where he won MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2008 … Earthquakes midfielder Tommy Thompson and Chicago defender Patrick Doody both played at Indiana University in 2013 … Earthquakes forward Sanna Nyassi played 10 games for the Chicago Fire in 2014 … Earthquakes midfielder Shea Salinas and Chicago goalkeeper Alec Kann both played at Furman University … Earthquakes defender Jordan Stewart and Chicago midfielder Matt Watson both were born in England … Earthquakes defender Shaun Francis played for Chicago in 2013.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Three Designated Players
Last weekend against Seattle Sounders FC, the Earthquakes had three Designated Players start for the first time in club history. The three DPs combined for all three goals (Wondolowski – 2; Emeghara - 1) in a 3-2 victory over their rival to the north.
Wondolowski makes 200th career start
Forward Chris Wondolowski made his 200th career start on Saturday, tallying two goals.
Alashe makes first career start
Midfielder Fatai Alashe, the Earthquakes No. 1 pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, made his first career start and played 90 minutes on Saturday.
Earthquakes announce traffic and parking plans for Avaya Stadium
The San Jose Earthquakes announced the traffic and parking plans for Avaya Stadium. The Earthquakes began working with the City of San Jose, City traffic engineers and the San Jose Police Department (SJPD) in 2014, analyzing the traffic flow to and from the stadium. The resulting data found was then incorporated into a traffic management plan, designed to maximize the efficiency of arrival and departure from all events held at the facility. The Earthquakes also worked with VTA to put in place the Earthquakes Shuttle. Beginning two hours before game time and then continuing one hour after game completion, the shuttle will make round-trips from San Pedro Square with stops at Santa Clara and First, Market and St. John, Market Center on Coleman and Avaya Stadium. In addition, fans have the option of taking VTA Bus 10, the free shuttle connecting Caltrain at the Santa Clara Transit Center to the Metro Airport Light Rail Transit station, with drop-off points at Avaya Stadium. The complete plan is available at sjearthquakes.com and includes driving directions, parking maps and parking lot entrance and exit plans. Avaya Stadium maps and driving directions: //www.sjearthquakes.com/newstadium/parking-directions.
Quakes renew partnership with 1590 KLIV and KZSF La Kaliente
The San Jose Earthquakes announced that they have renewed both their English language and Spanish language radio partnerships. Quakes games will air on 1590 KLIV in English and KZSF “La Kaliente” in Spanish for the fifth straight year. KLIV is a locally-owned station that serves the community and focuses on the news, events and people of Silicon Valley. An affiliate of CNN Radio, KLIV is Silicon Valley’s only all-news radio station. Besides local news coverage, 1590 KLIV is known for its frequent traffic reports covering Silicon Valley roads and freeways. The broadcast team on the radio will include Ted Ramey, Anthony Passarelli and Joe Cannon. KZSF is a locally-owned Spanish language station that hosts daily sports talk shows and also plays a wide variety of popular music. Carlos Cesar Rivera returns for his eighth consecutive season as the Spanish-language voice of the Quakes and his 11th overall.
Avaya Stadium to host World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup
USA Rugby and the San Jose Earthquakes announced that Avaya Stadium will play host to a World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup double-header on Saturday, July 18. The Pacific Nations Cup – a World Rugby tournament designed to expose Pacific Rim teams and players to a greater number of international test matches – features Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, and USA. Avaya Stadium will host two PNC matches July 18, Canada vs. Japan and the USA Men’s Eagles vs. Samoa. Tickets for the matches held at Avaya Stadium will be released mid-March. Notifications on ticket release dates and pre-sale access to tickets for the U.S.-based 2015 PNC matches will be provided to those on the USA Rugby Ticket Pre-Sale List, for which fans can sign up here: www.usarugby.org/tickets.
Quakes Announce 2015 Local TV Schedule
The San Jose Earthquakes and Comcast SportsNet announced their local broadcast schedule for the upcoming season, a slate that includes 20 games in high-definition. The entire broadcast team returns with Anthony Passarelli and Chris Dangerfield in the booth and Kate Scott back for her third season as the sideline reporter. In total, the Earthquakes appear on Comcast SportsNet California 11 times, with four games on CSN Bay Area and five on CSN Plus. San Jose also has 14 national broadcasts, with four games on Fox Sports 1, three on ESPN2, five on UniMas and two on Univision Deportes Network.
Avaya Stadium Opener Sold Out
The club’s home opener against the Chicago Fire at Avaya Stadium sold out on Jan. 16, over two months before the date of the match. San Jose will host Chicago on Sunday, March 22 (4 p.m. PT / FOX Sports 1) in the first-ever game at the new venue.
U.S. Women’s National Team to Play at Avaya Stadium on Sunday, May 10
The U.S. Women’s National Team will open up its three-game Send-Off Series against the Republic of Ireland at Avaya Stadium on Sunday, May 10. The Mother’s Day match will kick off at 11:30 a.m. PT and be broadcast on FOX Sports 1. Ticket information will be announced at a later date, but Earthquakes season ticket holders will have an exclusive window to purchase seats. This game will mark the beginning of the WNT’s final preparations at home prior to the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. It will also be the WNT’s first trip to Avaya Stadium. The home of the Earthquakes is set to open on March 22, setting the stage for the WNT to be one of the first teams to play in the new facility.
ACADEMY NOTES
U-14 Update
The Earthquakes’ U-14 Academy routed the Santa Clara Breakers Academy 9-1 at Cabrillo College on Saturday, improving their record to 14-3-1 on the season. Felix Ramon, Mario Alejandro Rocha and Jason Yanez each scored two goals in the Earthquakes’ victory. The Earthquakes have outscored their opponents 17-3 over their last three games.
U-16 Update
The Quakes’ U-16 Academy squad beat the Santa Clara Breakers Academy 4-1 on Saturday at Cabrillo College. Oscar Govea scored two goals in his second game since being called up from the U-14 team. Defensively, Christopher Grey had a standout game and contributed on the offensive end as well with an assist.
U-18 Update
The San Jose Earthquakes’ U-18 Academy team earned their fourth consecutive win, shutting out the Santa Clara Breakers Academy 1-0 at Cabrillo College on Saturday. Yusef Diyab scored the winning goal for the Quakes, which helped improve their record to 16-6-2 on the season.
