The San Jose Earthquakes lead the New England Revolution by a score of 1-0 at halftime in tonight’s season opener. Chris Wondolowski opened the scoring in the 15th minute when he beat Matt Reis one-on-one after a mistake in midfield by Shalrie Joseph.
The Revs haven’t looked particularly confident or hard-working so far. For all of head coach Jay Heaps’ preseason talk of focusing on possession, the Revs appear to be having difficulty with keeping the ball on the ground. Most passes have been long balls, and those that haven’t are generally cut out easily by the San Jose defenders and midfielders.
Benny Feilhaber nearly gave the Revs the lead in the 9th minute when Fernando Cardenas fed Benny Feilhaber wide on the left. The USA international cut inside, and after surveying his options, ripped a shot on goal to the near post but it skipped wide.
The Earthquakes dominated play afterwards, but New England managed one more chance in the 32nd minute when a Feilhaber free kick found the head of Soares at the near post, but his header flashed wide of the far post. Feilhaber also had a long range drive saved easily by Jon Busch in the 44th minute.
A.J. Soares took a knock on his knee in the 36th minute after getting tangled up with Quakes bruiser Steven Lenhart, but was able to return to the game.