Preston Judd scored the decisive goal in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to give the San Jose Earthquakes a 2-1 victory over the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night.
Josef Martinez scored on a penalty kick early in the second half for the Earthquakes, who won an MLS match for the first time since beating FC Dallas 4-2 on June 25. In doing so, San Jose (8-10-8, 32 points) moved into eighth place in the Western Conference.
Brian White scored in the 88th minute for the Whitecaps, who played with 10 men for the final 63-plus minutes due to Edier Ocampo drawing two yellow cards to prompt his exit in the first half.
Vancouver (13-6-6, 45 points) fell four points behind first-place San Diego FC in the West, as San Diego beat Sporting KC on Saturday to earn three points.
Daniel made two saves for the Earthquakes, while Yohei Takaoka had four for the Whitecaps.
San Jose’s winning goal was set up by Jamar Ricketts, who sent a cross from the left side toward the right side of the net. DeJuan Jones was there and took a shot. Judd was stationed in front of the net and deflected the ball with his right leg for the goal.
Vancouver’s goal was set up when Tristan Blackmon was in the midfield and sent a high, floating pass downfield. White tapped the ball with his foot and San Jose defender Bruno Wilson slipped and fell to the turf. White dribbled in closer and sent a left-footed shot into the right corner of the net.
San Jose was awarded the penalty kick in the second half after Vitor Costa was brought down in the box by Blackmon.
Martinez stood at the spot in the 54th minute. He kicked the ball to his left and it struck the goal post and caromed into the net.
Vancouver was intent on getting the goal back quickly as Jayden Nelson made a long run up field. He passed the ball to his right to a rushing Daniel Rios, who unleashed a fierce right-footed shot just as Daniel went down to use his body to stop the blast.
Ocampo received his yellow cards in the 20th and 27th minutes — both against Costa — with the second one assuring the upgrade to red and the end of his night.
San Jose’s Cristian Espinoza had a good chance late in the first half, but his long right-footed shot was stopped by Takaoka.
The Earthquakes outshot Vancouver 16-7 and had a 6-3 edge in shots on target.
–Field Level Media
