SAN JOSE, Calif. -- There’s still a long way to travel, but the San Jose Earthquakes are finally heading in the right direction, at least.
The Quakes’ 1-0 victory against the Colorado Rapids might not have sent fans swooning, but it was good enough for San Jose to celebrate their first victory since June 27. And good enough to bring an end to a season-worst six-match winless streak -- a run that was threatening to suck any playoff-chase drama out of the tail end of Avaya Stadium’s inaugural season.
“It’s uplifting,” Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski said. “It’s something that can kind of be a catalyst to spur us on through the rest of the year. Like I’ve said before, our belief hasn’t wavered. We believe that we can still be right in this playoff hunt. We know that it’s first going to take one win, and we got that. We have to build on that.”
San Jose created the better moments of a dull first half, but almost went down 1-0 in the 52nd minute when Rapids midfielder Dillon Powers cut in front of charging Quakes goalkeeper David Bingham to get his head on a looping lead pass. Fortunately for Bingham and San Jose, Powers’ attempt went off the crossbar and back the way it came.
Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin wasn’t as lucky in the following minute. A penalty-area scramble from a long free kick ended with the ball bouncing to the left of goal, where Quincy Amarikwa took control. The Quakes’ forward -- with four goals in his previous four matches -- spooned a delicate cross for Clarence Goodson to head home off the woodwork.
“That was an alley oop,” said Goodson, who scored his first career Quakes goal in San Jose’s last win, 3-1 against the LA Galaxy. "Quincy put a good ball in there. I’m not going to miss too many of those. It was good to get a goal, and good to get a victory. We needed that.”
The victory allowed San Jose players to enjoy their locker room routines and marvel at the sight of Panamanian international Anibal Godoy making his MLS debut -- and going the full 90 minutes -- just 10 hours after arriving in San Jose. It also helped take some of the sting out of injuries forcing off defender Jordan Stewart -- who suffered a “left ankle injury” that might be a torn Achilles tendon -- and midfielder Matias Perez Garcia, who limped through much of his 50 minutes, troubled once again by a left hamstring problem.
“Huge three points,” Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear said. “You see yourself slipping down the standings, so it’s not just the results. It’s also your position in the table. You see yourself five weeks before in a good spot; now you’re in a bad spot. So it’s a drag. . . . We’ll be scoreboard-watching this weekend. Mentally, the guys are happy. I’m sure they haven’t felt this way in a while.”
