COLUMBUS, Ohio – The San Jose Earthquakes fell to Columbus Crew SC 2-1 on Saturday night at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus.
A first-half goal for each side saw the two teams enter the locker rooms at halftime deadlocked at 1-1. An 84th-minute strike by Crew SC midfielder Mike Grella was the difference at the final whistle.
Quakes forward Danny Hoesen scored the lone goal for San Jose, his third goal of the season. The Earthquakes have now scored at least once in each of the team’s first seven matches of 2018. It marks only the third time in club history that San Jose has opened a season without being shutout through seven games (2016, 1998).
Credited with an assist on the goal, Florian Jungwirth has now tallied two goals and assist in the last two matches.
The Quakes return home to take on the Portland Timbers on Saturday, May 5, presented by Audi. The match kicks off at 7:15 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Bay Area, KNBR 1050 and 1370 KZSF.
MLS Regular Season
Columbus Crew SC 2-1 San Jose Earthquakes
April 28, 2018 – MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 11,479
Scoring Summary: CLB – Harrison Afful (Federico Higuain, Milton Valenzuela) 28; SJ – Danny Hoesen (Florian Jungwirth) 45; CLB – Mike Grella (Pedro Santos) 84.
Misconduct Summary: SJ – Anibal Godoy (caution) 3; CLB – Niko Hansen (caution) 36; SJ – Florian Jungwirth (caution) 66; CLB – Milton Valenzuela (caution) 67; SJ – Danny Hoesen (caution) 72.
COLUMBUS CREW SC: Zack Steffen; Lalas Abubaka, Milton Valenzuela, Jonathan Mensah, Harrison Afful; Pedro Santos, Wil Trapp; Niko Hansen (Mike Grella 65), Artur (Ricardo Clark 79), Federico Higuain; Gyasi Zardes (Adam Jahn 81).
SHOTS: 14; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; SAVES: 1; FOULS: 18; CORNER KICKS: 8, OFFSIDES: 3.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Andrew Tarbell; Florian Jungwirth, Harold Cummings, Yeferson Quintana (Francois Affolter 8), Nick Lima; Anibal Godoy, Jackson Yueill; Vako, Chris Wondolowski (Quincy Amarikwa 71), Magnus Eriksson; Danny Hoesen.
SHOTS: 9; SHOTS ON GOAL: 1; SAVES: 0; FOULS: 10; CORNER KICKS: 1, OFFSIDES: 0.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH MIKAEL STAHRE
On his positive takeaways from the match against Crew SC:
“I think we stayed in the shape and attacked them in a little bit of a different way and it worked out quite well, especially in the first half and the beginning of the second half. We played against a really good team tonight, so I think the fighting spirit, the identity, and the plan in general went well, but there is a fine line between winning and losing. You have to deserve that luck and have to move forward and work harder, so hopefully we can perform better and win some games really soon.”
On what the Earthquakes’ mentality needs to be moving forward:
“We have to continue with the same concepts in general, but we are playing a new opponent with different strengths next week. Now we will be playing at home after two tough away games against Orlando and Columbus in which we got two defeats. That is hard for the moment, but we have a great group of guys and a great mentality so hopefully we can work harder together and hopefully win really soon.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD DANNY HOESEN
On the positive takeaways from tonight’s match:
“I think we had a better amount of possession than the last away games. We were in the game and had the feeling it could fall our way we maybe could score and win the game. To get it in the 84th minute, everybody was devastated, and we had a feeling we could do better.”
On the Earthquakes’ high press:
“I think it’s always open to press high, and play on the front foot. I think we have scored every game now. It’s unfortunate that we concede goals, and most of the time it’s by our own mistakes. I don't think there are a lot of teams that break us down, like combine around us and score. I think most of the time it’s one of us making a mistake.”
