SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes concluded preseason with a 2-2 draw against Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday afternoon at Avaya Stadium. After falling behind 2-0, forward Chris Wondolowski converted two second-half penalty kicks in a span of five minutes to draw the Quakes level.
Several Earthquakes players made their debut at Avaya Stadium, including goalkeeper Daniel Vega, defender Marcos Lopez and midfielders Cristian Espinoza and Judson.
The Earthquakes host the Montreal Impact next Saturday, March 2 in the 2019 season opener. The matchup kicks off at 6:45 p.m. and will be broadcast live on NBC Sports California, with radio information to be announced next week. Tickets are still available hereand all fans in attendance will receive a Quakes hat.
2019 Preseason
San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 Seattle Sounders FC
Feb. 23, 2019 – Avaya Stadium in San Jose, Calif.
Scoring Summary: SEA – Victor Rodriguez (Jordan Morris) 32; SEA – Victor Rodriguez (unassisted) 52; SJ – Chris Wondolowski (penalty kick) 57; SJ – Chris Wondolowski (penalty kick) 61.
Misconduct Summary: SEA – Kelvin Leerdam (caution) 20; SEA – Kelvin Leerdam (ejection) 60; SJ – Judson (caution) 83.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Daniel Vega; Marcos Lopez, Harold Cummings, Guram Kashia, Nick Lima (Tommy Thompson 71); Vako, Judson, Anibal Godoy, Cristian Espinoza, Magnus Eriksson (Shea Salinas 82); Chris Wondolowski.
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC: Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam, Kim Kee-Hee, Chad Marshall (Roman Torres 78), Brad Smith (Nouhou Tolo 45); Cristian Roldan, Gustav Svensson, Jordan Morris (Will Bruin 78), Victor Rodriguez (Saad Abdul Salaam 88); Nicolas Lodeiro, Raul Ruidiaz (Harry Shipp 62).
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH MATIAS ALMEYDA
On any lessons learned from the match:
“There are always things we can improve on. After every game, we’re going to analyze what we can improve on. If there are margins in which we can improve, there are margins for us to grow. After this game, I have many good impressions. There are also things we can improve, but overall I am pleased. We are looking for a style. We’re looking to be aggressive, be on the offensive, take risks when we have the ball. Despite being down by two goals, I valued the attitude in the players – it was a big change.”
On the team’s effectiveness in the second half.
“The first half was good until their goal. There were collective errors, but the opponent was strong who played a quick counter-attack. We needed to move the ball around quicker from one side to the other, and more accurately. We managed to do that in the second half, even though they scored a second goal. We kept trying and we were rewarded for our efforts. Once they were down to 10 men, we used all that space well. We took advantage of our extra man, and we played well on both ends. It was a good game in the end.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER NICK LIMA
On the result and the upcoming season:
“It’s exciting to be back at home in front of some of the fans. As far as the game went, it showed some things we need to work on, it showed our willingness to come back in a situation where we went down 2-0; maybe a controversial call. But we were able to come together as a team I think the way Matias wanted and fight and get a couple of bounces to go our way, and even out the score line.”
On the team’s reaction to conceding a second goal:
“It was just not being a victim. I think last time, last year there were times when we thought we were the victims, and we weren’t able to dig deep or just keep doing what we were doing, because I thought there were times in that first half where we kind of controlled it, and we just had to go back to that. We got a bounce going our way, and then we got a good call, we evened the score line, and we need more of that going forward.”
