San Jose – The Force was not with the San Jose Earthquakes on Star Wars Night at PayPal Park.
A late goal by Colorado Rapids forward Calvin Harris in the 72nd minute sealed San Jose’s fate in a 2-1 defeat. The loss marks the Earthquakes’ second straight after opening the season with a perfect 2-0-0 record.
”It’s frustrating,” Earthquakes head coach Bruce Arena said. “We played well enough to come out of this game with at least a point, just a couple of mental breakdowns for sure. The second goal was just a mistake by a couple of players, and it cost us dearly.”
On the match-winning goal, San Jose’s backline was easily broken by a precise pass from Colorado’s Djordje Mihailovic, who found a wide-open Omir Fernandez. Timing his run perfectly to stay onside, Fernandez collected the pass near the post and sent a cross to Calvin Harris, who slotted it into an open net to secure the victory.
”I thought (we’d) push the game real hard and in the last 20 minutes to try to get the three points,”: Arena explained. “(We) failed when we had a lapse defensively, and if you do that, you deserve to lose that game.”
Colorado opened the scoring in the 37th minute as Cole Bassett capitalized on a defensive miscue, finishing off a breakaway by the Rapids’ attacking front.
Striker Rafael Navarro gained possession in midfield and sent a pass downfield toward Bassett, who was initially offside but smartly peeled off, allowing Djordje Mihailovic—positioned behind and wide of the advancing attackers—to keep the play onside. Mihailovic then delivered a cross to Kevin Cabral, whose initial shot was parried away by Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel. However, Bassett was in the right place at the far post to bury the rebound, giving Colorado the early lead.
The Earthquakes, who generated plenty of scoring opportunities throughout the night, found an equalizer just before halftime. Cristian Espinoza delivered a perfectly placed corner kick to Chicho Arango, who finished with a highlight-reel goal to bring San Jose level.
Despite the momentum from the late first-half equalizer, San Jose’s finishing struggles persisted for the second straight week. The Earthquakes dominated offensively, outshooting the Rapids 28-9, including a 13-4 advantage in shots on target, but failed to convert their chances into a result.
‘It’s very frustrating,” said Earthquakes midfielder Ian Harkes. “Obviously they have a very good goalkeeper who usually comes up with big saves, but I think we could have definitely done better and been more clinical on our chances.”
Colorado goalkeeper Zach Steffen delivered a stellar performance, making 12 saves, including several crucial stops in second-half stoppage time to secure the victory for the Rapids.
“We just have to be a little bit more consistent,” Arena said. “I think we squandered a few chances and a couple of plays where we needed to be cleaner on the ball to create a pretty good chance at goal, and we failed. We walked away with only one goal and a couple of mistakes that cost us in conceding. Those things have to be cleaned up.”
With the loss, the Earthquakes drop to sixth in the Western Conference standings with a 2-2-0 record early in the season. They will travel to Charlotte for the first time to face Charlotte FC next Saturday (March 22, 4:30 p.m. PT, Apple TV).
Photo provided by SJE
