SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Robin Fraser has consistently asked one thing from his team since the start of his tenure: energy. The Chivas USA boss said that if his young team showed some, the wins would come.
On Saturday, one finally came. The Rojiblancos earned their first victory of the season after a gritty 2-1 victory on the road at Buck Shaw Stadium against the San Jose Earthquakes.
WATCH: Full match highlights
With the win, Fraser earned his first career victory as a head coach. However, he admitted afterward that he wasn’t so much pleased about the win, rather the effort that was shown in the match.
“The win was going to come; I never thought that I was going go my whole career without a win,” Fraser joked. “I’m happy for the guys because they’ve worked incredibly hard and have been scrutinized up and down. For them to get their first win on the road; it was a huge testament to what they’ve done.”
Throughout the match, Chivas USA put a great deal of pressure on the Earthquakes in their own end, forcing a number of mistakes and forcing San Jose into turnovers.
Though the Quakes took the lead early, the Goats continued to press, waiting for the break that to put them back in the game. The break that the team needed came just moments before halftime when a Heath Pearce free kick found the foot of Alejandro Moreno and went into the back of the net.
It was the first goal the Rojiblancos had scored in three matches.
Throughout the early part of the season, Chivas USA routinely found themselves unable to find the extra luck needed to score. However, highly energetic second-half substitute Justin Braun was able to provide that extra something that willed them to victory.
In the 85th minute, Braun made a run down the field, beating two Quakes defenders before playing it to Mariano Trujillo, who scored his first MLS goal to seal the win for Chivas USA. While there was joy in the locker room and on the bench after the match, Fraser was quick to put his first victory in perspective.
“We got the monkey off our back," Fraser said. "We still have a lot of games left, so it’s not like we can say that we’ve got our win and now we can relax. Let’s keep it in perspective, it's one win; there are a lot of teams in this league that have four wins already. We still have a lot of work to do.”
With the result, Chivas USA catapulted themselves from the bottom of the MLS table to the middle of the Western Conference. Fraser’s men are now unbeaten in their last four matches.
“We all feel that we can build on something special here," said goalkeeper Dan Kennedy, "and we’re just starting to take those steps now."
Adam Serrano covers Chivas USA for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached at adam.m.serrano@gmail.com and on Twitter: @adamserrano
