SAN JOSE, California – The Montreal Impact and the San Jose Earthquakes played to a 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon at Buck Shaw Stadium. Midfielder Justin Mapp (24th and 47th minute) scored a brace for the Impact.
A double for Mapp
Justin Mapp opened the scoring in the 24th minute with a blast from long distance. Fellow midfielder Felipe played the ball to Mapp towards the right side of field, just past half. Mapp, who was playing his 199th game in MLS, cut towards the middle, dribbling towards goal, then firing a left-footed blast from 35 yards out that bounced off the post before beating Quake’s keeper Jon Busch low, to his left.
Mapp then scored his second of the game in the 47th minute. Midfielder Andres Romero beat his defender deep down the left flank and fired a sharp angled shot on goal that was blocked by Quakes defender Victor Bernardez, falling to Andrew Wenger. The young American forward played the ball across the six-yard box, where Mapp was waiting far post to knock it home into an open net.
WATCH : Mapp's goals
The Earthquakes got one back in the 59th minute when forward Chris Wondolowski played a short lateral pass to Adam Jahn near the half circle. The rookie striker took one touch forward before beating Perkins low to his right as the Impact keeper came charging out to challenge the player.
Sam Cronin scored in extra time for San Jose with a low blast from near the entrance of the box, beating a screened Troy Perkins to his right.
Perkins denies Quakes in first half
Perkins, who reached the 15,000 minutes played plateau in MLS, was forced to make three key saves in the first 15 minutes of the game. In the 6th minute midfielder Rafael Baca found the ball near the corner of the six yard box and fired a rising shot but Perkins parlayed the ball. Then in the 12th minute, Quakes’ Shea Salinas played a corner kick that curled in towards goal, far post, but Perkins managed to get a hand on it, diving backwards to push the ball out of bounds. Two minutes later, forward Adam Jahn hammered a half volley that rebounded off the cross bar and came back out into the box, forcing Perkins to make a diving save to his left on the rebound, off of a header from point blank range by Chris Wondolowski.
WATCH: Perkins denies Wondo
Defender Matteo Ferrari, who was wearing the captain armband, returned to the lineup following two weeks of inactivity due to a calf injury. Collen Warner was called to the starting Xl for the first time this season in MLS regular season action, surpassing the 4,000 minutes played plateau in MLS.
Andrew Wenger, making his first start of the regular season, had a chance to put the game out of reach in the 71st minute when he cut in from midfield on a break away, but his low shot was stopped by the Quakes keeper.
Two minutes later, second half substitute Sanna Nyassi played Felipe behind the defenders, but the Brazilian midfielder managed to get just a toe onto the ball before Busch charged out of his goal and scooped up the ball.
Schällibaum happy with performance
“It is always a shame to suffer an equalizing goal in the last minutes of the game, but our team did well today with the heat, the travel and pressure applied by the Earthquakes,” said Impact head coach Marco Schällibaum. “They fought really well today. Overall, we are happy with the point on the road and the performance.”
“Road games are never easy but we had our chances to win the game,” said midfielder Justin Mapp. “It seems time and time again you see San Jose come back. We battled hard today and we will be ready for our next game next Wednesday in New York.”
“At the end of the day, I should have done better on that last goal, but they probably wished they could have had more in the first half,” added goalkeeper Troy Perkins. “It’s just the way it happens sometimes. We knew they were coming to fight until the end. It was a battle.”
Upcoming game
The Impact will return to Montreal on Sunday before departing for New Jersey where it will play a second consecutive game on the road, against the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday at 7:30pm (ET) at Red Bull Arena. The game will be broadcast live on TVA Sports. The Impact plays its next home game at Stade Saputo on Saturday, May 11, against Real Salt Lake.
Lineups
MTL – GK-Troy Perkins; D-Jeb Brovsky, Hassoun Camara, Matteo Ferrari, Dennis Iapichino; M- Justin Mapp Collen Warner, Felipe (Blake Smith 88’), Andrés Romero; F-Marco Di Vaio (Sanna Nyassi 65’), Andrew Wenger (Patrice Bernier 73’)
Unused subs: GK-Evan Bush; D-Karl W. Ouimette, Maxim Tissot; M-Wandrille Lefèvre
SJ – GK-Jon Busch; D-Steven Beitashour, Victor Bernardez, Nana Attakora, Justin Morrow; M-Marvin Chavez (Marcus Tracy 76’), Rafael Baca (Walter Martinez 62’), Sam Cronin, Shea Salinas (Cordell Cato 58’); F-Chris Wondolowski, Adam Jahn
Unused subs: GK-Evan Newton; D-Ramiro Corrales, Dan Gargan; M-Sam Garza
Goals
MTL – Mapp (Felipe) 24’
MTL – Mapp (Wenger) 47’
SJ – Jahn (Cronin, Wondolowski) 59‘
SJ – Cronin (Wondolowski, Martinez) 91‘
Cautions
SJ – Morrow 19’
MTL – Brovsky 22’
MTL – Warner 31’
SJ – Cronin 45’
SJ – Baca 52’
