SANDY, Utah -- It had been seven games and three months, but Chris Wondolowski only needed eight minutes to find a goal and put the San Jose Earthquakes ahead on the road Friday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Real Salt Lake found a second half equalizer, but San Jose put together a solid road performance to come away with a point from the 1-1 draw.
Wondolowski hadn’t scored since April 24th and in that stretch San Jose had gone 2-4-5. While they didn’t get their first road win of the season on Friday, it was a solid performance away from home even if the Quakes feel like they could have taken maximum points.
“He seems to get his goals,” San Jose head coach Dominic Kinnear said after the game. “His movement in the box was good. The ball went over his head. He turns his run around and he put it away, so good for him.”
The goal came off a Simon Dawkins corner kick, hit off RSL’s Luke Mulholland in the box and bounced into Wondolowski’s path where he tucked it in the near post.
“It hit me in the chest and bounced perfectly to Wondolowski,” Mulholland said. “I think that's his 117th goal he's scored [in MLS]. We know he's a quality player and if we give him half a yard he's going to punish us.”
Since 2010, Wondolowski is the leading goal scorer in MLS and it’s not close. His 110th goal in that span on Friday night puts him 31 goals ahead of second-place Robbie Keane. He trails Landon Donovan by three for the most road goals scored in MLS history and passed Donovan for second place in most goals scored for a single club with 113.
Getting back to his scoring ways is a good sign for San Jose as they try to climb the Western Conference standings.
“My mentality doesn't change much whether I'm scoring or not,” Wondolowski said. “I want to start collecting some wins though, that's the biggest thing right now.
“We need to be staying mentally sharp and having that killer instinct both offensively and defensively,” he added. “We had a few chances in the first and second half and if we finish that 2-0 is a different game.”
With Wondolowski back on the scoresheet, the team focuses on breaking their winless run on the road with the playoff race heating up.
“Those are some big swings in points,” Kinnear said. “If you can pick up a win on the road it’s going to be good for you.”
