SAN JOSE, Calif. ā The bulk of practice had concluded Tuesday afternoon, and as the San Jose Earthquakesā attackers prepared to run through some finishing drills, most of the clubās defenders were in the process of peeling off their cleats and heading back to the locker room at Avaya Stadium.
On the far side of San Joseās practice field, however, there remained a trio of figures: assistant coach John Spencer, veteran Andres Imperiale and rookie Nick Lima. The threesome spent several minutes intently discussing one of the finer points of defending at the MLS level.
It was just another learning experience for Lima, a 22-year-old who signed a Homegrown contract with the Quakes in December. As a freshman at Cal in 2013, Lima was still playing at forward, his position coming up through the youth ranks. Three years of NCAA play as a right back had made him into an MLS prospect; now comes the part of refining Lima into an MLS starter.
āThereās stuff to learn every day,ā Lima told MLSsoccer.com. āAll the older guys, like Imperiale, theyāre helping me. Iām just trying to take in as much information as I can and just learn more and more every day. Thatās why weāre here, to get better. Just one percent a day, if you can. Thatās my goal.ā
Lima seems to be absorbing his lessons well, if the first two weeksā worth of results are any indication. The Bay Area native, who grew up watching the Quakes and āidolizingā club captain Chris Wondolowski, has played all 180 minutes in San Joseās first two matches ā both victories. Lima scored his first MLS goal with a savvy run into the area and a clinical finish from Wondolowskiās layoff as part of the Quakesā come-from-behind 3-2 victory against Vancouver on Saturday.
āStepping in and playing the real thing, you definitely learn a lot from [the matches],ā Lima said. āItās been a little surreal at times, but youāve got to be focused, and Iāve learned to keep my mind on the game and just keep going.ā
Limaās contributions have been even more important considering that the Quakesā incumbent at right back, longtime MLS stalwart Marvell Wynne, was found in February to be suffering from a heart abnormality and is sidelined indefinitely due to the condition.
āWe gave him a whole preseason and I thought he had a really good preseason, and that was what gave us the confidence to put him in the starting lineup,ā Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear told MLSsoccer.com.
Limaās ascension gives the Quakes a second Homegrown player alongside midfielder Tommy Thompson, who has also started in both victories this season. San Jose is hoping itās only the first of many such additions; at halftime on Saturday, the club honored nine current or former academy players who are representing US national team youth sides, including midfielder Amir Bashti of Stanford and goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski of Georgetown.
Lima follows in the MLS footsteps of young defenders Keegan Rosenberry and Joshua Yaro of the Philadelphia Union and Brandon Vincent of the Chicago Fire. All three moved into starting roles as rookies in 2016; Rosenberry and Vincent were both named to the MLS All-Star team and featured in the leagueās 2-1 loss to Arsenal.
The emergence of those players ā especially Vincent, whom Lima saw in Pac-12 conference play ā helped convince Lima āthat itās possibleā to immediately jump into an MLS lineup. But thereās still a long way to go, as Lima himself points out. The MLS regular-season grind is roughly three times as long as the typical college season, with twice as many matches.
āIāve done well for two games, but itās two games,ā Lima said. āThereās 32 games left in the regular season, and like one of the coaches told me, āYouāve got to treat it like a tryout, every day.āā