Real Salt Lake visits San Jose on Saturday for the Claret-and-Cobalt’s only trip to Avaya Stadium this year to face the Earthquakes. Here’s three things to know about RSL’s opponent.
As Wondo Goes, So Go the Quakes
San Jose went 4-2-2 in its first eight matches. It’s not a coincidence that Chris Wondolowski scored seven goals in those eight games to lead the Quakes to a hot start. Since then, San Jose has gone 3-8-11 and Wondolowski has just four goals. While his 11 goals on the season are nothing to ignore, the limited scoring contributions from his supporting cast have limited the attack. Keeping him off the scoresheet is no easy task, but when teams can do that, success is much more achievable. San Jose is just 3-7-9 in matches when Wondolowski doesn’t score.
The Maestro Shakes the Quakes
In 17 career matches against San Jose, Javier Morales has amassed nine goals and seven assists, including a helper on the equalizer in a 1-1 draw with the Quakes back in July. Nobody has more goals or assists in the 26 meetings the two teams have had in the series.
Not The Same Earthquakes
Since steamrolling the league to the Supporters’ Shield in 2012 with a 19-6-9 record, the Earthquakes haven’t been the same. Despite a 14-11-9 record in 2013, San Jose missed the playoffs the following year and have not been back to the postseason since. The Bash Brothers made that team a contender in each match, but as the league evolved, teams got better around San Jose and pushed them out of the top tier. It doesn’t look likely they will return this year, either, but with some young talent in place, the Colorado Rapids have proven that turning things around could be only a few key moves away.
