By Felix Peterson (@_felixpetersson)
The 23rd Major League Soccer season began earlier Saturday when Columbus defeated the defending champions, Toronto 2-0. In just a few hours, it’s the San Jose Earthquakes turn to kick off its season against the Minnesota United tonight at Avaya Stadium.
It took until the last kick of the season last season for the Quakes to secure a spot in the playoffs. The kick was off a stoppage-time goal from Marco Urena, putting San Jose on top 3-2 victory over the same Minnesota United, earning them a ticket to their first postseason in five years.
This year, the Earthquakes have a new head coach Mikael Stahre and he hopes to seal a spot in the playoffs earlier this year.
“My first goal is to make it to the playoffs,” said Stahre. “But the fun part with MLS is, if you make it to the playoffs, you can be the champion.”
San Jose won both games over Minnesota last year. It did so at home, 3-2 and on the road 1-0.
Home games were the Earthquakes’ strength last season. The team finished the season 10-2 at Avaya stadium. Stahre hopes to continue making it difficult for visiting teams to get anything past San Jose at their fortress.
“Winning at home is always important” Stahre said. “ I hope we can take our first victory in the the first game, making it a good start of the season.”
