San Jose forward’s hat trick snaps D.C.’s five-match unbeaten streak
It was as if last year’s Major League Soccer leading scorer was on the field.
In fact, his team actually was.
But it wasn’t Chris Wondolowski, who scored 18 times for the San Jose Earthquakes in 2010 that took advantage of and embarrassed the D.C. United defense on Saturday – he was with the U.S. national team in Tampa.
Back in Washington, it was Steven Lenhart who looked every bit the elite scorer as his missing teammate, with a hat trick and assist to play a part in every goal for the Earthquakes, who rolled to a 4-2 victory that snapped United’s five-game unbeaten stretch in front of 14,105.
“We looked like young kids tonight,” United head coach Ben Olsen said. “This is going to happen. We’ve always said it, that we’re going to have games like this, where young kids make mistakes. That I can live with. The commitment and the energy that we didn’t show at times in that game was unacceptable.”
Olsen opted for the same starting lineup that was successful holding league-leading Los Angeles without a goal in a scoreless draw a week before, with three rookies on the back line and second-year goalkeeper Bill Hamid manning the net.
But Lenhart, who scored his first goal of the season last weekend, immediately showed it wouldn’t be that type of game, unleashing a booming shot in the second minute, forcing Hamid into a desperate one-handed save.
From there, end-to-end action ensued, and it was D.C. that struck first. In the 13th minute, Josh Wolff curled a ball through the San Jose defense that miraculously eluded three Earthquake defenders and fell perfectly at the back post for Andy Najar, who picked up his first goal of the season and was D.C.’s brightest star on the night when his bobblehead was being given out to fans.
But the celebration lasted less time than it would take to get the bobblehead out of the box. Barely two minutes later, Khari Stephenson split D.C. United rookie defenders Chris Korb and Perry Kitchen, finding an unmarked Lenhart who avoided an offside call and had only Hamid to beat to tie the score at one. It was the fifth time this season United allowed a goal within three minutes of scoring themselves.
And yet, Lenhart then quickly and ruthlessly doubled his goal total and put San Jose in front, pouncing on Hamid’s rebound following a rocket from Stephenson in the 22nd minute.
“He’s just a little pest, just always there, you know,” United defender Ethan White said. “It’s a lot of what we did, but he did his job. He played his game.”
United (4-5-4) responded 12 minutes later when Blake Brettschneider registered his first professional goal. The rookie forward looked like a calm, cool veteran as he collected a pass from fellow rookie Korb with his back to the net, then turned a fired a left-footed shot that found the smallest of spaces between San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch and the near post.
The teams went into the half tied, 2-2, but Earthquakes substitute forward Simon Dawkins scored on nearly his first touch, entering the game in the 48th minute and shredding United’s backline in the 49th on a nifty one-two sequence with Lenhart.
D.C.’s chances for a comeback became far more difficult when Lenhart leapt for a seemingly harmless header in the box in the 60th minute. But with D.C. defenders caught transfixed and Hamid rushing off his line, the ball bounced into an open net and gave the Earthquakes (5-4-4) an insurmountable lead.
“I didn’t do my part on one or two plays,” Hamid said. “I could’ve kept us in the game. I know for a fact.”
United kept up the pressure over the final half hour but couldn’t get over having given up four goals for the fourth time this season and suffered its first loss of the year when it scored first.
“It’s frustrating,” White said. “We know we’re young team. We know we’re going to bounce back from this. We bounced back after [a 4-0 loss to] New York, and we’ve just got to turn it around again, keep our heads up. The season’s not over.”
