Calvin Harris scored the game-winning goal in the 71st minute off an assist from Omir Fernandez as the Colorado Rapids beat the host San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 on Saturday night.
Fernandez snuck behind the San Jose back line to set up a 2-on-1 that pulled goalkeeper Daniel out of the net, providing Harris with an open goal. Cole Bassett also scored for Colorado (2-0-2, 8 points), which got 12 saves from goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
For San Jose (2-2-0, 6 points) which lost its second straight match, Cristian Arango had a goal on an assist from Cristian Espinoza.
One of Steffen’s big stops came when he turned away a dangerous chance from Josef Martinez in the 85th minute. Steffen also survived seven minutes of stoppage time as Colorado posted its second straight win.
The Rapids took a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute on their first shot on goal. Djordje Mihailovic gathered a wide pass over the top of the Earthquakes’ defense. A centering pass didn’t connect with Kevin Cabral but it ricocheted off Daniel, and as Bassett jumped up, his right foot tapped the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The Earthquakes tied the match at 1 in the 46th minute when Espinoza’s corner found the right foot of a sliding Arango for a one-touch goal.
Just two minutes into the match, San Jose began its sustained, first-half attack. Steffen deflected a Martinez shot and dove to knock away the follow up shot. In the fourth minute it was Martinez again whose shot through heavy traffic was turned away as Steffen reached back for the save.
In the 26th minute, Espinoza’s shot off a restart just outside the box sailed over a wall of Rapids defenders into the hands of a jumping Steffen.
Ousseni Bouda had his shot stopped as Steffen dove to his right in the 60th minute. Moments later, Bouda settled down a bouncing through ball and his shot hit the crossbar in the 61st minute.
–Field Level Media
