Coming off a first victory of the season – away from home – the San Jose Earthquakes return to Buck Shaw Stadium to take on Seattle Sounders FC. The Quakes rebounded from a First Kick loss with a 2-0 win last Saturday against MLS Cup finalist FC Dallas. Sounders FC are still looking for a first win of 2011, scoring their first goal in a 1-1 home draw with the Houston Dynamo last weekend.
REFEREE: Edvin Jurisevic. SAR (bench): Rob Fereday; JAR (opposite): Colin Arblaster; 4th: Niko Bratsis
MLS Career: 27 games; FC/gm: 21.4; Y/gm: 3.9; R: 2; pens: 3
INJURY REPORT: SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES – OUT: MF Andre Luiz (L knee injury); DOUBTFUL: MF Omar Jasseh (R hamstring strain); FW Scott Sealy (R groin strain); DF Tim Ward (R hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: FW Steven Lenhart (R knee arthroscopy) …
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC – QUESTIONABLE: DF James Riley (mild concussion); MF Pat Noonan (L adductor strain); DF Taylor Graham (L hand fracture); PROBABLE: FW Mike Fucito (R adductor strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (5 meetings): Sounders FC 3 wins, 5 goals … Earthquakes 2 wins, 6 goals … Ties 0
AT BUCK SHAW STADIUM (2 meetings): Earthquakes 1 win, 4 goals … Sounders FC 1 win, 1 goal … Ties 0
RETURN MATCH: 10/15: Seattle Sounders FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 7 p.m. PT (FOX Soccer)
LAST YEAR (MLS):
5/22: SEA 0, SJ 1 (Wondolowski 11)
7/31: SJ 0, SEA 1 (Montero 26)
- The visiting team won both matches in the series last season, each team taking a 1-0 win on the other’s ground.
- In Sounders FC’s inaugural season, the home team claimed each of the three meetings (Seattle hosting two).
- Four of the five meetings all-time have ended in shutouts.
- Coaches record: Frank Yallop v SEA: P5 W2 L3 D0 … Sigi Schmid vs. SJ: P25 W13 L8 D4
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
The San Jose Earthquakes went on the road for the first time and came away with a first win of 2011, defeating FC Dallas 2-0 on Saturday evening at Pizza Hut Park. The Quakes have 3 points from 2 games on the season.
LAST MATCH
- In the fifth minute, Chris Wondolowski opened his 2011 account after chesting down a Chris Leitch pass just inside the Dallas 18-yard box. He spun to his left and hit a side-winding volley past a diving Kevin Hartman.
- [inlinenode:332163]Wondolowski completed his double in the 23rd minute. A half-cleared ball into the box fell to Joey Gjertsen on the left edge of the area. Gjertsen then floated another cross to the 2010 MLS Golden Boot winner, who had no trouble flicking a header past Hartman.
- Earthquakes boss Frank Yallop made one change to the team that fell 1-0 to Real Salt Lake at Buck Shaw Stadium. With Khari Stephenson on national team duty, Simon Dawkins made his first MLS start.
- SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (4-4-1-1): Jon Busch - Chris Leitch, Jason Hernandez, Brandon McDonald, Ramiro Corrales (Brad Ring 89) - Joey Gjertsen (Ellis McLoughlin 73), Sam Cronin, Simon Dawkins (Ike Opara 83), Bobby Convey - Chris Wondolowski - Ryan Johnson.
TEAM NEWS
- The 2010 Budweiser MLS Golden Boot winner, Chris Wondolowski, scored his first goals of 2010 with both in the 2-0 win against FC Dallas.
- "I knew I could do a lot better than I showed last week (vs. Real Salt Lake)," Wondolowski said. "My teammates had great faith in me, and they knew if they keep feeding me, I would be making those runs."
- Wondolowski has scored San Jose’s last 12 regular season goals, extending his MLS record dating back to Sept. 15, 2010.
- "As long as someone scores, we are fine, but at some point, we have to make sure to back him up as well," head coach Frank Yallop said.
- With Khari Stephenson on international duty, Simon Dawkins made his first start for the Earthquakes, playing in the center of midfield.
- “I think he’s going to bring his energy, his busyness, his clean feet – all the things we liked with him,” Yallop said. “I have really high expectations of him.”
- [inlinenode:329470]Jon Busch was credited with his first shutout of the season, making six saves. He had seven shutouts in 18 league starts for the Quakes a year ago.
- "We knew that was going to come. It was not pretty, but it was effective soccer. We dodged some bullets, but everyone did their job. I did nothing special," said Busch, who earned his 54th career shutout. Said Yallop: "I was very proud of our team that we did not drop our head until the end, and we got the points.”
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Seattle Sounders FC came back to get their first result on the young season, playing to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Friday evening at Qwest Field. Sounders FC have 1 point from 3 games on the season.
LAST MATCH
- The Dynamo took the lead in the 42nd minute after Lovel Palmer crashed a thunderous 30-yard bomb off the crossbar. The loose ball from the rebound found its way to Geoff Cameron, who unleashed a low drive that ricocheted off the foot of a fallen defender and rung off the bar on its way into the net.
- Sounders FC pulled even with 10 minutes to play when a corner kick from Erik Friberg was deflected by Houston defender Bobby Boswell and, as the ball rolled across the goal, Steve Zakuani streaked towards the back post to tap it in and break Seattle's goal-scoring drought.
- Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid made four changes to the team that fell 1-0 to the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. Zach Scott and Patrick Ianni came into the back four for James Riley and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, and Brad Evans and Steve Zakuani came into the midfield for Servando Carrasco and Alvaro Fernandez.
- SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-4-2): Kasey Keller – Zach Scott, Patrick Ianni, Jeff Parke, Leo Gonzalez - Erik Friberg, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans (Mauro Rosales 71), Steve Zakuani - O'Brian White (Nate Jaqua 61), Fredy Montero.
TEAM NEWS
- In setting a club record with 26 total shots and tying their mark with 11 corner kicks, Sounders FC scored their first goal in 260 minutes to start the season for a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo.
- "Eventually if guys don't put it in the back of the net, then we've got to find guys who will put it in the back of the net," Schmid said. "Right now I think we're a little snake-bit."
- Schmid made a surprising move in central defense with Patrick Ianni coming into the team for Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, alongside Jeff Parke.
- [inline_node:328884]“All three of those guys are MLS capable defenders,” Schmid said. “We never had enough of an opportunity to look at the different combinations and what worked together best. So the combination of Patrick and Kennedy we never really got a chance to look at. I’m sure at some point that is going to happen as well.”
- As well, Designated Player Alvaro Fernandez was relegated to the substitutes’ bench in favor of Brad Evans.
- "It's not that he's played that poorly," said Schmid of Fernandez, "but it's a situation where we think Friberg has played better. It's about playing the guy you think is playing better."
- Mauro Rosales came off the bench for a second consecutive match since joining the club.
- “It’s good to have competition. It’s a matter of whoever plays best will go out and play,” Schmid said, referring to his midfield group. “Right now, the games are limited, so it’s a matter of whose performing on a day-to-day basis. Those guys definitely have to be on their toes.”
- There was another late change when James Riley was unable to go just before kickoff after suffering a concussion earlier in the week. Zach Scott was the emergency replacement.
- "I think I've got enough years under my belt that I know kind of how to prepare," said the 30-year-old Scott. "That's one of the things that the coaches hammer into us: You don't know what's going to happen between finding out who's starting the day before the game and then when the actually game comes. Everybody needs to be prepared."
