The San Jose Earthquakes have been on a slide in recent weeks. Following an impressive 3-1 win against the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium to close out their June schedule, the Quakes have had little to smile about in July.
In fact, San Jose has dropped its last seven games in all competitions, including three straight MLS contests, and has been outscored 14-4. So will the Earthquakes be able to get something out of their last match of a very forgetable month?
The task will be daunting, as San Jose travels to Vancouver to face the Whitecaps at BC Place, a stadium in which the Quakes have never collected a win. Their July swoon has dropped the Quakes to second from last place in the Western Conference, and heading into Sunday's match, San Jose sit seven points below the red line that indicates postseason qualification.
Not good at all.
Making matters worse is that leading goalscorer Chris Wondolowski, who paces the team with 9 goals -- 7 more than anyone else on the squad -- is has often found great success against the Whitecaps, is not available due to his participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The U.S. limped to a fourth place finish in the biennial tournament, with Wondolowski playing the first hour of the team's loss against Panama in Saturday's Third Place match. He is expected to rejoin the Quakes as soon as possible, but his first availability for San Jose won't come until next weekend's game against the Portland Timbers at Avaya Stadium.
San Jose will still feature a strong defensive lineup against Vancouver, and the goal for head coach Dominic Kinnear's men will be to keep the match tight going into the latter stages. Quincy Amarikwa, who scored the first brace of his MLS career as part of the Quakes disappointing 5-2 loss at the LA Galaxy on July 17, will hope to continue his momentum up top. Matias Perez Garcia, who has struggled with nagging injury problems for the better part of a month, is expected to be close to full strength at BC Place.
Do the Earthquakes need to win in order to keep their MLS playoff hopes alive? While it is still too early in the campaign for such urgency, a loss at Vancouver will put a significant dent in their efforts. Only one point separates the Quakes from the bottom of the Western Conference table, and though San Jose plays 7 of its last 9 MLS games at home, it doesn't want that red line to recede any further into the distance.
One last chance to play in July. One last chance to earn points in the table before the dog days of summer. Sunday marks the ideal day for San Jose to make some history at BC Place.
Match date/time: Sunday, 7 p.m. ET, 4 p.m. local
Venue: BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
TV: CSN California (U.S. - English), TSN2 (Canada)
Online: MLS Live (U.S.)