Adam Jahn Stoppage Time Goal Gives San Jose a Point Against Portland Timbers

April 21, 2013; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Jose Earthquakes forward Adam Jahn (14) scores a goal against the Portland Timbers during the second half at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Earthquakes tied the Timbers 1-1. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

For 91 minutes, it looked as though the Portland Timbers had claimed their third straight victory when they visited the San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium in Sunday’s night match. Then rookie Adam Jahn entered the game as a supersub, hitting the equalizer in stoppage time for the home side as the Western Conference rivals split the points in a 1-1 draw.

The first half saw San Jose press forward, generating far more scoring chances than they had the previous weekend in Portland. But Timbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts came up with several quality saves, his counterpart Jon Busch did the same to Portland’s attack at the other end, and the sides slipped into the intermission scoreless.

The Timbers took the lead thirteen minutes into the second half. Busch was tested by a hard Ryan Johnson shot. The keeper was game to make the save, but unable to hold onto the ball Busch pushed it away and into the path of Diego Valeri. The Argentine midfielder, starting his first match since suffering a head injury April 6 against Houston, firing into the net from 12 yards out and handing the visitors the lead.

Ricketts made several more saves, extending his shutout streak beyond 300 minutes, but the introduction of Jahn — the 15th pick in this year’s MLS SuperDraft — turned the corner for the Quakes where the firepower of Steven Lenhart and Chris Wondolowski could not. Just as he performed late-match heroics against the New York Red Bulls on March 10, Jahn once again proved he has a nose for the net and a keen sense of timing.

The goal built up quickly, as Lenhart flicked a long restart from Busch toward the attacking area. Jahn headed it on to Nana Attakora, who delivered a pass to Wondolowski in the center of the box. With a soft touch, Wondolowski teed up the chance for the rookie. Jahn would not waste his opportunity to be the hero for the home crowd, shooting into the left part of the net past Ricketts to send Buck Shaw Stadium into an uproar.

The missed two points prevented Portland from vaulting into second place behind FC Dallas in the Western Conference. The Timbers, unbeaten in the past five matches, occupy the last playoff qualification spot with 10 points; immediately behind them is San Jose, currently sixth with 9 points.

PORTLAND TIMBERS @ SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Buck Shaw Stadium
April 21, 2013
Attendance: 10,525

SCORING

• 58′ — POR/Diego Valeri (unassisted)
• 92′ — SJ/Adam Jahn (unassisted)

STARTING LINEUPS

• SJ (4-4-1-1): Jon Busch; Justin Morrow, Nana Attakora, Victor Bernardez, Steven Beitashour; Ramiro Corrales (Sam Garza/69′), Rafael Baca (Adam Jahn/84′), Sam Cronin, Shea Salinas (Marvin Chavez/60′); Steven Lenhart, Chris Wondolowski
• POR (4-3-3): Donovan Ricketts; Michael Harrington, Mikael Silvestre, Mamadou Danso, Jack Jewsbury; Will Johnson, Diego Chara, Diego Valeri (Kalif Alhassan/76′); Rodney Wallace, Ryan Johnson (Frederic Piquionne/78′), Darlington Nagbe (Ben Zemanski/86′)