SAN JOSE – The Earthquakes’ first home win in more than three months has them back in playoff position.
Preston Judd scored four minutes into extra time as the Quakes took advantage of an early Vancouver Whitecaps red card to win 2-1 Saturday night at PayPal Park.
“If we’re a team that has any interest in being in the playoffs, we have to win these home games, so this is critically important,” said coach Bruce Arena, who extended his MLS record with his 270th regular-season win. “We don’t have much of a margin of error at this point.”
The win pushed the Quakes (8-10-8, 32 points) from 10th to eighth in the Western Conference standings, ahead of Real Salt Lake (31) and Colorado (30). Austin (34) sits in seventh. The top seven teams will automatically qualify for the playoffs, while the eighth-place team hosts the ninth-place team in a one-game wild-card match to complete the field.
The points are even more critical for the Quakes considering their closing schedule. Six of their remaining eight games are against the top seven teams in the conference, including a home-and-home with conference leader San Diego and a return game at second-place Vancouver (13-6-6, 45 points).
The Quakes hadn’t won at home in league play since May 3, but they were given a golden opportunity when Whitecaps right back Edier Ocampo received two yellow cards in seven minutes.
Ocampo bloodied left midfielder Vitor Costa in the 20th minute on a challenged header, and then pulled Costa down just outside the box in the 27th minute to get sent off.
Costa also drew a foul on Tristan Blackmon to earn a penalty kick early in the second half. Though Arena had 11-goal scorer Chicho Arango (2-for-2 on PKs this season) and All-Star Cristian Esponiza (1-for-1) at his disposal, he turned to Josef Martinez for the first time this season because of how Martinez performed in practice.
Martinez’s penalty kick went in off the left post to give him 127 career MLS goals, second among active players (Kei Kamara, 147) and sixth all-time, 44 behind all-time leader and club legend Chris Wondolowski.
The Quakes hadn’t faced much danger from 10-man Vancouver throughout the match, but the Whitecaps equalized in the 88th minute when San Jose centerback Bruno Wilson slipped, allowing Vancouver captain Brian White to beat keeper Daniel to the far post.
That still left 11 minutes of extra time, and some late subs ensured the Quakes would break their six-game winless streak.
Jamar Ricketts entered in the 93rd minute because of his speed on the wing, and just one minute later he created the winner. His cross was redirected back into the box by DeJuan Jones and hammered in by Judd, who had come in for Martinez in the 81st minute.
Judd said his team responded well after giving up White’s “frustrating” goal.
“We never got out of the game. Right away we started attacking,” he said. “We were pushing for that goal. We knew we needed the goal. Our attitude on the field showed that we were going to score a goal. I felt it. I believed in it. I think a lot of the players believed that we were going to score a goal to win that game. It showed and it worked out.”
It was the fifth goal of the season for Judd, who has mainly been used as a second-half sub due to the presence of Arango and Martinez up top.
“I think at this point in the season, every point is important,” Judd said. “We needed three today; we didn’t need one. I just put in everything I could to get the win. I was in the right position, made the right play and I got the goal.”
The Quakes hope to start their first home winning streak of the season when they face expansion side San Diego FC for the first time Sunday at 4 p.m. at PayPal Park.
“Every game at home is going to be important, and obviously, we need to get some results on the road,” Arena said. “So typical of Major League Soccer, I think everything’s going down to the last day for a lot of teams in both conferences.”
