Quakes win, clinch MLS playoff berth
With the Earthquakes needing a win in their final regularseason game Sunday to clinch the last Western Conference playoff berth, Marco Ureña scored in the third minute of stoppage time to beat Minnesota United 3-2 at Avaya Stadium.
San Jose (13-14-7) needed the win after FC Dallas’ 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy. It’s an unexpected run for the Quakes, who fired head coach Dominic Kinnear midway through the season. San Jose is in the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.
In the build-up to the winner, San Jose goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell sent a long ball that was chested by Victor Bernardez and headed to Quincy Amarikwa inside the 18-yard box. Minnesota goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth pushed Amarikwa’s shot wide but San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski chased it down for a feed to an open Ureña in front of the goal.
The Earthquakes have won seven of their past nine home games — with every win coming by one goal.
Wondolowski gave San Jose a 2-1 lead in the 55th with an easy redirection of Danny Hoesen’s cross at the back post.
Minnesota (10-18-6) tied it 2-2 in the 81st on Francisco Calvo’s header off the crossbar.
The Earthquakes will be at Vancouver for a playoff match Wednesday night.
In other MLS highlights:
Roland Lamah scored twice, Mauro Diaz had a goal and two assists, and host FC Dallas beat the 10-man Galaxy 5-1.
FC Dallas (11-10-13) needed at least a tie and some help to make the playoffs, but the Quakes’ win over Minnesota United eliminated the defending Supporters’ Shield winner.
Darren Mattocks scored early in the second half and the host Portland Timbers held off the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1.
Portland (15-11-8) won the Western Conference to earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The Timbers also won their second Cascadia Cup since joining MLS. The Cascadia Cup is a trophy created by the fans of Portland, Vancouver and Seattle awarded to the best team in the Pacific Northwest.
Nicolas Loderio scored two goals, Will Bruin had his third in the past two games and the host Seattle Sounders beat the Colorado Rapids 3-0 to wrap up the No. 2 playoff seed in the Western Conference.
The defending MLS Cup champion Sounders (14-9-11) avoided this week’s knockout round.
David Villa scored two goals and New York City FC tied the Columbus Crew 2-2 in the first regular-season match at Citi Field to secure the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The new venue was selected for the regular-season finale because of a conflict with the New York Yankees’ playoff run.
Atlanta United set two attendance records but failed to secure a first-round bye in the playoffs when Sebastian Giovinco scored on a brilliant free kick in the 84th minute, giving Toronto FC a 2-2 tie and the most points ever in an MLS season.
United broke its own MLS single-game attendance record with a crowd of 71,874 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the retractable roof was open on a warm, cloudy day. Atlanta also set a season record with an average of 48,200 a game, eclipsing the mark of 44,247 set two years ago by Seattle.
The tie gave Supporters’ Shield winner Toronto (20-5-9) 69 points on the season, beating the previous MLS mark of 68 set by the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1998.
Around the world: Brazil scored twice in a six-minute span in the second half to beat Germany 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Under-17 World Cup in Kolkata, India, setting up a semifinal with England. Earlier