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SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake played to a scoreless draw in front of an announced crowd of 16,351 at Avaya Stadium Saturday night as neither side was able to break through on offense.
The result pushed the Quakes’ winless streak to 12 games, though there was one silver lining for San Jose: the 0-0 scoreline marked the team’s first shutout of the season.
“I see some improvements, that’s for sure,” said Earthquakes head coach Mikael Stahre. “We are much more compact, and we are more aggressive and conceded less chances. The best thing this evening is that we kept a clean sheet, our first in the league.”
The last time the Quakes goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell had posted a clean sheet was last September, a stretch of 25 games in which San Jose had failed to keep an opponent off the scoreboard. After earning two shutouts in his first six starts last season, it was a relief to finally registered the third of his career.
“We are happy to finally get the monkey off our back and get a clean sheet,” Tarbell said. “The whole team worked hard defensively, but we’re disappointed we couldn’t score and win.”
As promised, Stahre made a raft of changes to his starting lineup following Wednesday night’s 1-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders. Quincy Amarikwa got the nod at forward in place of leading goal scorer Danny Hoesen, Magnus Eriksson, and Anibal Godoy and Tommy Thompson joined a midfield anchored by rookie Luis Felipe, making his second consecutive start.
“I think it’s really important to have fresh legs and energy and that’s why it was important for me to keep the old squad alive,” Stahre said. “I think all of them today did well.”
The Quakes took advantage of those fresh legs, and from the opening whistle, they were able to control possession. The visitor’s start did not go as well, as star midfielder Albert Rusnak had to exit the game with severe neck pains in just the seventh minute, forcing Real Salt Lake to bring in Damir Kreilach, burning an early sub.
Most of the first half was contested primarily in the midfield, with neither side making a successful foray on offense. San Jose had the better of the shots attempted, but only one was counted as on target, as the Salt Lake back line limited the hosts to speculative efforts from outside the area.
With minutes to go before halftime, Thompson showed off some of his trademark dribbling skills, slicing through the RSL midfield before being taken down by Marcelo Silva, who earned a yellow card for the tackle. Eriksson took the free kick, 25 yards from goal, but his curling shot glanced off the top netting.
In the 52nd minute, a nifty spin move from Amarikwa freed the forward in the box, but his pass toward the target was narrowly missed by Thompson, and the ball was readily scooped up by Nick Rimando.
Two minutes later, both teams had prime chances to break the deadlock. It was Real Salt Lake with the first try, as Justin Glad’s header on a free kick by Joao Plata was batted away by Tarbell. On the ensuing change in possession, Eriksson found himself behind the defense, but his lifted shot over Rimando bounced harmlessly wide of the post.
Amarikwa was again at the center of the action in the 66th minute, when the striker one-timed a volley from a Nick Lima cross that Rimando palmed off the crossbar. It would be his last contribution in the game, as Hoesen entered as a substitute a moment later.
RSL had a golden opportunity denied in the 73rd minute, as Silva directed a open header on frame that Tarbell pushed away. The teams then traded shots over the next five minutes, culminating with Valeri “Vako” Qazaishvili’s rocket right into Rimando’s breadbasket.
Stahre made his last two substitutions in an effort to break the scoreless draw, bringing first Jahmir Hyka and second Chris Wondolowski to get more attackers on the field, but it was not enough, and the game ended 0-0.
Up next for the Quakes is a trip to Western Conference leaders FC Dallas, as San Jose will look to break a 12 game winless streak.