FC Cincinnati will continue their push for their first-ever Major League Soccer playoff berth Saturday when they host the San Jose Earthquakes.
Cincinnati (9-8-12, 39 points) is just above the playoff line, sitting in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. The club is unbeaten in its last eight matches (2-0-6), last suffering a loss on July 17 to in-state rival Columbus Crew.
Cincinnati is coming off a 1-1 draw with fourth-place NYCFC on Wednesday. Cincinnati’s goal didn’t come from one of its own players; rather, the club scored via an own goal by New York’s Thiago Martins.
Still, getting a point on the road was crucial to Cincinnati’s objective.
“That’s what we’ve got to do to make the playoffs,” defender Ray Gaddis said. “I think this team is trying to do something special and I’m glad to be here to and try to move the needle so we can write our own story.”
The club does have a few capable goal-scorers of its own. Leading the attack has been Brandon Vazquez, who has tallied 16 goals and four assists this season. Vazquez is tied for fourth in the league in goals. Additionally, Luciano Acosta has seven goals and a league-high 16 assists, while Brazilian forward Brenner has nine goals.
Even the defense has chipped in some scoring. Matt Miazga — the U.S. men’s national team defender who arrived in Cincinnati last month — has started in each of the past five matches and scored twice.
San Jose (7-12-9, 30 points) is likely out of the playoff picture. The Quakes are in 13th place in the Western Conference and trail seventh-place Portland by 12 points. San Jose is coming off a win, though, beating the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-0 last Sunday on goals from Jeremy Ebobisse and Jamiro Monteiro.
The Quakes added some defensive depth last week when they signed Peruvian defender Miguel Trauco to the squad. The 30-year-old last played in France’s Ligue 1. He trained with the Quakes this week and could debut on Saturday.
“Miguel possesses very high-level experience for both club and country,” Earthquakes general manager Chris Leitch said. “He’s played in the top leagues of Peru, Brazil and France, represented his country at the last World Cup, and plays a position of need.”
–Field Level Media
