Five days have passed and Avaya Stadium still echoes with the cheers from Simon Dawkins’ heroic 70th-minute strike. It marked his second goal of the season, with both coming while the team was playing down a man. Is Dawkins becoming the late-game hero the Earthquakes have been looking for?
The Englishman made his return to San Jose this season after playing in Europe from 2013-2015. His 2016 campaign has been a rather quiet one as far as the stat sheet shows, but Dawkins’ importance to this team goes much deeper than the numbers indicate. The Quakes’ No. 49 makes his impact not necessarily always with goals and assists, but by simply doing his job. He’s rarely out of position, getting down into the box on an attack and getting back on defense when the possession switches. Yet Dawkins seems to possess one quality that most athletes in the world are still in search of, the ability to come through in the clutch. When the Quakes were down a goal and a man against Philadelphia back on April 30, it was Dawkins who put the team on his back scoring the equalizer in the 83rd minute with a fantastic individual effort. Last Saturday the stakes were even higher with two men out, and this time he netted a game-winner.
The Earthquakes need someone who can do the hard work in the shadows of the stat sheets and step up when the time is right. The 28-year-old from Edgware, England seems to have a knack for the job, showing flashes of brilliance when the lights are brightest.
