Dream goal puts Quakes in playoffs
Urena scores dramatic stoppage-time winner
All seemed lost as Marco Urena stepped onto the field Sunday with the Earthquakes playoff chances frittering away.
But the Costa Rican’s first touch culminated a desperate sequence that saved San Jose’s season and catapulted it into the MLS Cup playoffs for the first time in five years.
In one heartpounding play,
Urena scored his fifth goal of the season with two minutes left in extra time as the Earthquakes roared back for a 3-2 victory over Minnesota United FC on the final day of the regular season.
On a day captain Chris Wondolowski moved into second place on the all-time league scoring list, San Jose ended four years of futility in a must-win game in front of 18,000 fans at Avaya Stadium.
The Earthquakes (13-14-7, 46 points) grabbed the final playoff berth and will head to thirdplace Vancouver on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. on NBCSCA and UniMas) for a Western Conference knockout game.
But the playoff scenarios can wait. On Sunday, the team and its fans collectively released years of pent-up frustration.
“There wasn’t any emotion left that was stored inside,” said Chris Leitch, who took over the team in midseason.
The defining moment came on a scramble in front of the net in the 93rd minute after Quincy Amarikwa tested Minnesota goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.
The blocked ball landed to Wondolowski, who scored his team-leading 13th goals in the 55th minute. The Danville native opted to pass to Urena.
“Legitimately one of the hardest things I had to do in my life,” Wondolowski said of passing up a shot.
“I’ve never seen that in my life,” teammate Florian Jungwirth said. “Usually the guy tries to hit it.”
But Wondolowski found Urena near the six yard line where the Costa Rica international fired a shot that deflected off a Minnesota defender and into the net.
Urena has had his own frustrations since helping Costa Rica qualify for the 2018 World Cup. He has been relegated to a supporting role in favor of Holland’s Danny Hoesen, who also scored his fifth goal Sunday.
Urena didn’t expect to play after Leitch sent fellow striker Quincy Amarikwa in for Hoesen in the 80th minute. It frustrated him to no end because he loves nothing more than playing in big games.
“I always shine in these important moments,” he said. “God chose me” for such occasions.
Once Minnesota tied it 2-2 a minute later, Leitch held nothing back by eventually sending on a fourth forward.
No one gave Urena instructions.
“What can they tell me with two minutes to go?” he said.
It has not been an easy year with so many new players and a midseason coaching change that saw veteran Dominic Kinnear sacked. The tumult also included benching goalkeeper David Bingham for Andrew Tarbell, who started his 12 consecutive game Sunday.
New general manager Jesse Fioranelli tried to release the tension by publicly stating the Sunday’s results would not define the Earthquakes’ success.
But really, who believed that?
“This game was an epitome of the season in a sense that we’ve had some ultimate highs and some lows where you are reeling,” said Wondolowski, who is tied with Jeff Cunningham on the all-time scoring list with 134 goals. “It was a look in the mirror and see what you’re made of” season.
What everyone saw Sunday was a resilience reminiscent of 2012 when San Jose won the Supporters’ Shield with a team known as the “Goonies” because they never quit.
Now the question is whether the Quakes can keep doing it in the playoffs.