SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Khari Stephenson came on at the half and powered home a blistering 35-yard shot in the 52nd minute to give San Jose a 2-2 tie against visiting Seattle on Saturday.
Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller got his left hand to Stephenson’s rocket but couldn’t stop it from zipping into the upper 90.
The still-winless Sounders (0-2-2) were missing star forward Fredy Montero, who did not make trip due to his injured right wrist, which required surgery earlier this week after being initially hurt on March 18.
Nevertheless, Seattle earned a rugged road point behind first-half goals from Brad Evans and O'Brian White.
New Quakes midfielder Dawkins, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, opened his MLS account with a goal in the 32nd minute for San Jose (1-1-1).
Seattle nearly broke through in the third minute, when the Quakes couldn’t adequately clear an attack from the left-wing endline by Steve Zakuani. Osvaldo Alonso, who cycled the ball back in from the same left wing, found Zakuani at the near post, but San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch dropped down to shunt the attempt just wide.
The Sounders continued to crash the near post and it paid off in the 17th minute, when Mauro Rosales, who took Montero's spot in the lineup, shook free of Sam Cronin on the dribble, then slotted a low feed to Evans. Evans then beat Chris Leitch to the ball and rang it home from point-blank range.
Wondolowski, coming off a brace in Dallas last week, nearly had his 13th consecutive regular-season goal for San Jose in the ninth minute when he redirected a looping Ramiro Corrales lead pass and broke free for a 16-yard shot dead center to the goal. Keller did very well to craft a left-handed reaction save and knock the drive wide.
But Keller could do nothing in the 32nd minute, when Bobby Convey threaded a great pass through three defenders. Dawkins raced to it and, from 12 yards out, placed a tightly-cut left-footed shot just beyond Keller’s reach, tucking it neatly inside the far post. It was San Jose’s first non-Wondolowski goal in regular-season play since Sept. 5.
Seattle responded 10 minutes later to forge back ahead. Zakuani spooned a gently floating cross into the six-yard box for White, who fended off Jason Hernandez and struck a diving header that left Busch helpless.
Keller made another critical one-on-one stop from 10 yards to preserve the lead when he stoned Joey Gjertsen, set free by a Leitch pass, in first-half stoppage time.
Quakes defender Ike Opara, who entered the game in the 70th minute, almost made game-winning plays on both sides of the ball. His 74th-minute header off a corner kick beat Keller but slid just wide.
Then, on defense in the 81st, Opara’s attempt at a clearing header came up quite short, landing at the feet of Seattle’s Nate Jaqua. But Opara was able to make a sliding deflection on Jaqua’s ensuing 10-yard shot.
San Jose next host Toronto FC on April 9 at 10:30 pm ET, while Seattle next head back home to host the Chicago Fire that same day at 4 pm ET.
Scoring Summary:
SEA -- Brad Evans 1 (Mauro Rosales 1, Erik Friberg 1) 17
SJ -- Simon Dawkins 1 (Bobby Convey 1) 32
SEA -- O'Brian White 1 (Steve Zakuani 1) 42
SJ -- Khari Stephenson 1 (unassisted) 52
Misconduct Summary:
SJ -- Chris Leitch (caution; Reckless Tackle) 6
SEA -- Nate Jaqua (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 71
SEA -- Leo Gonzalez (caution; Delaying a Restart) 80
Lineups:
Seattle Sounders -- Kasey Keller, James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Jeff Parke, Leo Gonzalez, Erik Friberg (Alvaro Fernandez 46), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Mauro Rosales (David Estrada 83), Steve Zakuani, O'Brian White (Nate Jaqua 66).
Substitutes Not Used: Servando Carrasco, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Zach Scott, Terry Boss.
San Jose Earthquakes -- Jon Busch, Chris Leitch (Ike Opara 70), Jason Hernandez, Brandon McDonald, Ramiro Corrales, Sam Cronin, Simon Dawkins (Scott Sealy 85), Chris Wondolowski, Joey Gjertsen (Khari Stephenson 46), Ryan Johnson, Bobby Convey.
Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Burling, Ellis McLoughlin, Brad Ring, Andrew Weber.
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Referee's Assistants: Rob Fereday; Colin Arblaster
4th Official: Niko Bratsis
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 68 degrees
Attendance: 10,276
