Photo: San Jose Earthquakes
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The last time the Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes met, the Quakes controversially lost in the dying moments, ultimately steering the flow of their season for the worse.
Winless in its last five league matches, San Jose (3-13-2, 11 points) had a shot at revenge against Portland (6-7-6, 24) on Wednesday, but wasted multiple chances, falling 2-1 at PayPal Park.
For the third straight game, the Quakes conceded a go-ahead goal after the 70th minute, as forward Jonathan Rodríguez delivered the fatal blow off his head in the 72nd minute to give the Timbers the game-winning, one-score edge.
San Jose started goalkeeper Jacob Jackson between the posts following solid performances with The Town FC and in U.S. Open Cup matches with the Earthquakes. Although Jackson made two saves, he was responsible for a 22nd-minute mistouch that allowed midfielder Evander Ferreira to give Portland a 1-0 lead and set the tone early.
“Making a goalkeeper rotation or change is never easy,” said head coach Luchi Gonzalez postgame. “[Jackson] has got a bright future, he still has a good age to keep learning and getting better.”
Heading into halftime without any goals, San Jose would’ve wished for some better fortune on multiple occasions. A 12th-minute free kick saw multiple players jump offside on a prime scoring chance, and six minutes later, defender Carlos Akapo went down with a lower-body injury. While losing Akapo was frustrating, his replacement — defender Paul Marie — would come up big for the Quakes early in the second half.
Off a corner kick sent in by midfielder Cristian Espinoza, Marie — retrieving the ball well outside of the 18-yard box — added another highlight reel-worthy goal to his resume, notching the equalizer in the 50th minute off his right foot to give San Jose new offensive life.
“I was very happy to score the goal, get a second breath for the team,” Marie said.
The Quakes had an opportunity to take the lead three minutes later, as Amahl Pellegrino had a breakaway chance with only goalie James Pantemis to beat. But instead of taking a shot as soon as he reached the box, Pellegrino dribbled to his left, creating a tougher angle to shoot from, and fired the ball out of bounds.
Pellegrino’s missed chance would haunt San Jose, as Rodríguez’s game-sealing header off the hands of Jackson restored Portland’s one-goal lead, which it rode to the final whistle to extend its unbeaten streak to five games.
Ferreira sent in the pass to Rodríguez, giving him his second goal contribution of the night.
The Quakes had a couple of moments to tie the game in stoppage time, as a 94th-minute free kick was sent into the box by Espinoza, but it sailed over the crossbar. He also led an offensive chance in the 96th minute, but his shot deflected out of play, effectively ending San Jose’s shot at earning a point in the table.
“I liked the effort of the guys to push at the end,” Gonzalez said. “I thought we were deserving of a second goal, but it did not happen.”
San Jose was also without midfielder Carlos Gruezo, who is currently with Ecuador in the Copa America.
The Quakes have not won a match since May 11, as collapsing in the waning moments has still been an unavoidable theme for them. The Earthquakes’ next task will be Los Angeles FC (10-4-4, 34), the second-place team in the Western Conference. The Bay Area side defeated LAFC 3-1 on May 4 in San Jose and will look for a similar result in Los Angeles.
“We feel terrible for our fans and people who come to support us,” Marie said. “As of right now, we’re not able to click everything together.”
The Quakes will attempt to snap their lengthy winless stretch on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against LAFC at BMO Stadium.
Kasey Kazliner is an undergraduate sports broadcaster at USC. He covers a variety of sports, but particularly loves analyzing the Quakes’ prospect pipeline. He is The Town FC’s official beat writer and covers every match for the club. You can follow him on Twitter here.
