For the second week in a row, the San Jose Earthquakes rescued a home draw with a stoppage-time equalizer, an exhilarating habit reminiscent of their Goonie-era squad of 2012. If last week’s ninety-first minute comeback against the Seattle Sounders wasn’t entertaining enough, it took all four minutes of stoppage time for Jahmir Hyka to notch a breathtaking equalizer against reigning Supporters’ Shield Champions FC Dallas.
The visitors had appeared to orchestrate a flawless smash-and-grab victory courtesy of Kellyn Acosta’s late strike, yet Hyka’s strike salvaged the most unlikely of draws for the Quakes to maintain their undefeated home record.
The Quakes sought to apply immediate pressure from kickoff, lining up their entire offensive line on the halfway line, but Dallas absorbed such momentum early on.
Ronald Lamah threatened with a low effort in the third minute, but Dallas were otherwise content to sit deep and let the Quakes boss possession, launching Christian Colmán and Maximiliano Urruti on the quick break. Not much else about their game was rushed, given the visitors were time-wasting within the opening fifteen minutes.
Although the Quakes aren’t traditionally a possession-based side, they saw over seventy-percent of the ball in the first half while undefeated Dallas completed only fifty-six percent of their passes.
Wondolowski so nearly scored in the seventeenth minute, somehow reaching an overhit cross from Nick Lima at the far post with an acrobatic back-heel, forcing Dallas keeper Jesse Gonzalez into an impressive save to tip it over.
Wondolowski’s inventiveness aside, the Quakes were hopelessly unsuccessful with their crosses as Matt Hedges and Walker Zimmerman held the fort for Dallas at the back. Ureña also tested Gonzalez with a low effort from twenty-five yards, but the Quakes couldn’t capitalize on their early dominance.
At the back, the home side were considerably less poised. Fatai Alashe maintained his start spot at center-back despite the return of Victor Bernardez from suspension, but there were early signs of gaps in the back-line.
The Quakes gifted Dallas a golden opportunity in the twenty-eighth minute, a miscommunication between Florian Jungwirth and David Bingham allowing the ball to bouncing favorably for Cristian Colmán to tap home in front of an open net. However, the Paraguayan forward couldn’t sort out his feet in time to get a touch on the ball and it rolled wide, letting the home side off of the hook.
The opportunity seemed to draw Dallas out of their shells as the half came to a close, and a dangerous Maynor Figueroa free-kick deflected inches wide off of the ball soon thereafter.
Dallas continued to grow into the game in the second half, pressing high up the pitch instead of sitting deep. Their work nearly paid dividends on the hour mark, when Lamah darted in behind the defense and had his low shot stopped by David Bingham with a smart kick-save.
The opener finally came twelve minutes from time, with Urruti sucking Alashe out of position with a neat fake. Ceren dove back to make the tackle, but the ball deflected into the feet of Kellyn Acosta, whose low effort was deflected off of Alashe’s lunging tackle and into the back of the net.
The goal gave the Quakes eleven minutes plus stoppage time to choreograph another comeback victory, and they used every minute of it. Although their momentum began to peter out as the clock ticked down, Hyka volleyed home a jumbled cross with the last kick of the game to seal another incredible turnaround.
Photo: ISI Photos