In front of a sold-out electric atmosphere at PayPal Park, Cade Cowell’s strike in the 77th minute led the San Jose Earthquakes to an emotional 2-1 victory over the division-leading Los Angeles Football Club.
“Emotions are high right now,” noted Quakes interim head coach Alex Covelo who himself learned that he will be replaced after this season with Luchi Gonzalez. “We need to be calm, but I believe tonight is one of the best games I have seen from this team this season.”
San Jose took an early lead when Benji Kikanović scored off a feed from Tommy Thompson fourteen minutes into the game.
Ten minutes after the break, Los Angles tied the game up thanks to a smooth finish from striker Kwadwo Opoku that was set up by teammate Kellyn Acosta.
However, that was all a precursor to Cowell’s magic strike, thanks to a nice setup from Thompson.
Quakes midfielder Cristian Espinoza had the ball at his feet and attacking the LA goal. He set up an overlapping Thompson out wide, who was able to get to the ball just before it touched the end line and picked out an unmarked Cowell at the back post with his cross.
The 18-year-old made no mistake first timing his volley into the roof of the net past LAFC keeper Maxime Crepeau.
“We’ve had some difficult moments this year, but it’s moments like that that shows the strength of this team mentally, physically, and the ability that we have to compete with some of the best teams and the best players in this league,” explained Thompson after the game.
A few minutes later, Los Angeles’ Ilie Sanchez earned his second yellow with a reckless challenge reducing the visitors to ten men. The Quakes were able to hold off LAFC and earn the upset victory.
“Tonight, we played with 12 players,” noted Covelo about the electric atmosphere at that has often been missing at PayPal Park during a mostly disappointing season for the Quakes. “Anything can happen when the stadium is like that. It was incredible. It was amazing that the fans pushed the team and accompanied us. It helped us a lot.”
After the game, Thompson talked about the hiring of Gonzalez and what the victory meant for the players.
” I think Luchi [Gonzalez] coming in is a step in the right direction, and we’ll all be ready once he arrives in San Jose, but right now, we’re focused on giving the fans’ performances like we did tonight, and I just wanted to give credit to the coaches here that have done something special over the course of the last 15 games or whatever it may be because I’m grateful for that,” explained Thompson. “Whether I was playing or not playing, I’m grateful for that positive energy that has just provided us with that stimulus that we needed this year.”
