Houston Dynamo x San Jose Earthquakes

This Western Conference game had two teams looking to climb their way into the playoff race as both teams are in the bottom half of the western conference. Cristian Espinoza had a good chance in the 13th minute to score the first goal of the game for San Jose, but Steve Clark dove to his side to deflect the ball away for a save. San Jose was awarded a free kick in the 28th minute that Paul Marie took, but Steve Clark was able to deflect it out of bounds. Marie again made a fantastic shot in the 41st minute that took Clark off balance as he stopped the goal. 

Houston’s first attempt at a goal in the second half came when Griffin Dorsey received a cross in front of the goal from Adalberto Carrasquilla with a right-foot shot, but it hit the post. Jackson Yueill scored for San Jose in the 53rd minute off a cross that was initially headed by Tommy Thompson and bounced off the net post. Yueill then saw a gap between the defenders and decided to shoot it in for a goal. Three minutes later, Fafa Picault made a nice shot from the left side of the field, but JT Marcinkowski made a diving stop. Picault was all over Jackson Yueill in the 70th minute and eventually got the ball from him, only to turn around and give it to Sebastián Ferreira for an easy tap-in goal. Houston lost possession right in front of their own goal in the 74th minute, and when Cristian Espinoza retrieved the ball, he passed it to Jeremy Ebobisse for a tap-in but a last-minute save on the goal line from Tim Parker saved the ball from crossing the line. Two minutes later, Houston would extend their lead 2-1 with a goal from Thorleifur Úlfarsson. This goal came off a poor play by San Jose in the corner. They couldn't get control of the ball and ended up giving an easy look to Houston.

[Photography by ICONIC photographer Jason Allen]