With a 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday, the San Jose Earthquakes are down to their last chance to avoid setting a franchise record for futility.
But left back and acting captain Jordan Stewart is unwilling to concede on that front without a fight.
“I know I’m not beaten,” Stewart said after the Quakes went winless for their 13th consecutive match, tying a team mark set in 2011. “I’m sure the rest of the boys would say the same. We need to win. Whether it’s scrapping or whether we need to change something – I don’t know, go back to the foundation and the basics of trying to win a soccer game. We can’t find that, and obviously as a player, it’s frustrating to lose so many games in a season. I think we’ve won six games all season, which is never ideal.
“… I feel disappointed and angry at the same time. The only positive we can take is we’ve got some more games left. It’s going to be vital to try to get a win in the next couple of weeks and end the season on a good note.”
After an exhibition Tuesday against Honduran side CDS Vida, the Quakes’ home finale is set for Saturday against playoff hopeful Vancouver.
How do the postseason-eliminated Quakes compete mentally with a Whitecaps team that’s fighting tooth-and-nail with Portland for the fifth and final Western Conference playoff spot?
“It’s not easy,” coach Mark Watson said. “It’s been tough. You just ask guys to dig deep, play for pride, play for the guy standing next to you and for yourself, because there’s contracts on the line and positions on the line going into next season. You just point those things out. But we have a good character group. And even though it’s difficult to keep guys motivated and playing [in a rough stretch], when you have a good group of guys, they want to work and fight every night regardless of what the record or situation is.”
Stewart, the 32-year-old veteran of more than 200 appearances in England’s top two tiers, took over the captain’s armband in the absence of club talisman Chris Wondolowski, who was away on international duty, as was usual backline deputy Victor Bernardez.
Stewart did his best to rally San Jose, even as they finished up a three-game week in the always-difficult locale of Rio Tinto Stadium.
Stewart had an unfortunate part to play in RSL’s first goal; Ned Grabavoy’s grounded shot from a recycled corner kick took a deflection off Stewart’s left foot on its way to sneaking past goalkeeper Jon Busch and tucking just inside the near post. But Stewart also had one of the Quakes’ best individual plays of the day. After Sebastian Jaime drew Busch off his line and chipped a 26th-minute cross to the far post, Stewart thrust his left leg high in the air to break up what would have been a nearly certain tap-in for Robbie Findley.
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It was a moment of leading by example for the Quakes, who once again slotted a trio of first- or second-year players into their starting XI – something of which Stewart was certainly aware.
“We’re at that point where there’s a lot of pressure on us to try to get a result and for the young lads, we need to be there to try to support them,” Stewart said. “I’ve been there myself. It’s kind of a learning curve to try to win games and be positive and keep the ball. Each year they play here, they’re going to learn that. Sooner than later, hopefully, we can have that.”
