SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Earthquakes and Quincy Amarikwa joined forces early in the athlete's career, when the team drafted him straight out of college in 2009. But after five years of playing for other teams, most recently the Chicago Fire, he returned to his first this year. And now, both parties are hoping the reunion will spark something special -- a rediscovery of the Amarikwa from 12 months ago, when he set career highs for the Fire.
His chance to reignite that spark, this time for the Quakes, could happen as early as this week, when San Jose host Houston in a showdown between two Western Conference teams currently sitting below the red line.
“We’ll see,” said Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear, of Amarikwa. “He’ll be involved in some fashion on Friday night.”
In 2014, Amarikwa set a personal record: eight goals and five assists in 2,549 league minutes for the Chicago Fire (although he only had two of each in his final 17 appearances). Ultimately, though, that wasn’t enough to cement a place in Fire coach Frank Yallop’s preferred lineup. And with the Fire’s offseason acquisitions of Guly do Prado and Kennedy Igboananike -- plus an in-season trade for Jason Johnson and the continued presence of Mike Magee and Patrick Nyarko -- there wasn’t a guaranteed place for Amarikwa, and his reputation as a high-energy, but poor-finishing, forward.
Enter the Quakes, who originally drafted Amarikwa out of UC Davis in 2009 with their third-round SuperDraft selection, before dealing him to Colorado the following season. With a paucity of attackers on hand, San Jose flipped center back Ty Harden to Chicago in exchange for Amarikwa, who was able to officially join San Jose at the opening of the transfer window on Wednesday.
“I just hope he continues his consistency of 2014,” said Kinnear, who saw plenty of Amarikwa last season while scouting Eastern Conference teams as Houston’s head coach. “Strong, fast, he can hold the ball up, he can stretch the field. And he scored quite a few goals last year, so we’re hoping that continues here.”
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Amarikwa, a Bakerfield native. His time with the Quakes dates back to the days when San Jose had to practice on a nearby community college field and showered and changed in cramped quarters at Santa Clara University. Now the club has a dedicated training pitch in the shadow of gleaming, $100-million Avaya Stadium.
He's joined a team in need of some help on the front line. Forwards Innocent and Steven Lenhart are both out indefinitely due to injury, and club captain and leading scorer Chris Wondolowski could spend all of July with the U.S. Gold Cup squad. The Quakes’ starting lineup against Portland last weekend combined to record three goals through San Jose’s first 16 matches; San Jose generated just two shots on target in a 1-0 loss to the Timbers.
- WATCH GAME HIGHLIGHTS: Portland Timbers vs. San Jose Earthquakes, July 5, 2015
“I’ve been in the league long enough to understand what’s going on,” Amarikwa said. “I figured that I’m the lowest guy on the salary cap, so it’s probably easiest to move me. I figured it was bound to happen, I just didn’t know where I’d end up. And luckily, I ended up back in California, so I’m happy with that.”
Amarikwa said he enjoyed the confidence that a regular starting spot gave him in 2014, when he started 29 of 34 league matches. One mistake was not going to banish him to the bench for weeks on end. Playing from the opening whistle also gave him the opportunity to grow and vary his attack -- as opposed to coming on as a late sub, with his team looking to kill off a win or throwing men forward in search of an equalizer.
“It’s something that’s not in your control. All you can do is control what you do when you get on the field, be ready when your opportunity comes," Amarikwa said of sliding down Chicago’s pecking order. “I took advantage of my opportunity last year, and unfortunately, it didn’t turn into solidifying my spot there for this year. But I’m on a new team now, new opportunity, and hopefully I can prove my worth and get into the starting lineup.”
