Making his first start for visiting St. Louis City SC, Brendan McSorley recorded a brace and added an assist Saturday night in its 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes.
Marcel Hartel also scored a goal for St. Louis (7-17-7, 28 points), which won consecutive matches for just the second time this year and the first time since March 9 and 15. Goalie Roman Burki logged nine saves.
The result was a damaging one for San Jose (9-14-8, 35 points), which started the night in ninth place in the West table and ended it in 11th, two points behind Dallas for the conference’s last playoff spot. It lost despite advantages of 21-16 in shots and 10-6 in shots on frame.
But familiar defensive letdowns colored the Earthquakes’ efforts as they fell to 0-6-0 all-time against St. Louis. The first one occurred in the 10th minute when McSorley, playing just his sixth game in two seasons with the club, ran down the middle of the penalty box unmarked and poked Joao Klauss’ centering pass into the goal just under the crossbar.
Hartel made it 2-0 in the 19th minute as he corralled a high pass to the top of the box from McSorley, pivoted to his left and ripped a shot into the right corner that froze goalkeeper Daniel.
San Jose pulled one goal back in the 31st minute after Christian Arango drew a foul in the box from Celio Pompeu. Pointed to the spot, Arango finished with precision, slotting his shot into the lower left corner as Burki dove the other way.
But McSorley answered back in the 45th minute with his second professional marker. Hartel looped a cross near the left post and McSorley’s twisting header bounced inside the left post.
Burki and McSorley kept their team in control with a pair of major stops in the 61st minute. Burki denied Arango’s point-blank header, then McSorley blocked Arango’s follow-up before it could get to net.
–Field Level Media
