Florida Showcase

The boys are headed to Florida for a big showcase in front of college coaches. These games are worth points towards the playoffs, they are not friendlies by any means. The U18s will be taking on DC United academy on November 29 and then Chicago Fire academy the next day. They finish the trip against Oakwood academy on the 2nd of December. The U16s have a huge match up against one of the top academies in America, the New York Red Bulls. Following NYRB the 16s take on the Philadelphia Union and then BW Gottschee who are no slouch. They are first in their division, ahead of NE Revolution academy.The U14s are not participating in the showcase.

Halfway There - Quakes Academy Teams are 26-7-5 Collectively Going Into the Winter Break

Although all three teams lost their final games, they can all have their heads held high with fantastic first half's to the USSDA season. The 18s ended on a rollercoaster ride of a weekend, winning their game vs the Crossfire academy 4-0 then losing the next day to first place Vancouver 0-4. The 16s tied Crossfire 0-0 then lost to Vancouver 1-2 in a heartbreaker. The U14s tied #1 ranked FC Golden State in a academy showcase at the Stubhub facility. They later went on to lose to Chivas and Galaxy.

18s Finished: (9-2-1) Second Place

16s Finished: (6-3-3) Second Place

14s Finished: (9-2-1) Ranked Second Overall in the Country

The academy get back into it starting in January after a quick showcase in Florida.

My Analysis of the first half for each team.

U18s

The 18s are having a great season so far, individual standouts are Centerback Jorge Lara (UC Irvine commit) shutting it down in the backline and adding 2 clutch goals. Center midfielder John Partida (cal poly commit) being a general in the center of the park, winning balls on defense and starting quick attacks, also doing an excellent job going box to box. M/F Amir Bashti (Stanford commit) being lethal in attack scoring 6 goals and creating most of the offensive opportunities. M/F Philip Hausen (Harvard commit) only a junior in high school, but has been racking up the goals in his Quakes career. Having missed a significant amount of games due to injury, Philip still has 4 goals. Last but not least, Forward Zac Penner with 6 goals. Individually, these players are outstanding, but if they want to win the championship, they are going to have to start to connect better more consistently to breakdown their opponents. Also, they are going to need to sure up the back line. Jorge Lara has been outstanding, but the other guys on defense need to step up. 

U16s

The U16s have been decent so far. They are having a lot of trouble scoring, but the defense is keeping them in it. If they can unlock the goal scoring, they will be a force to recon with. The coaches have seen this and that has motivated their decision to bring back down 15 year old phenom Ivan Valencia from the 18s to the 16s. Ivan is the player I am most excited about. He began the year with the 18s and was a standout player, scoring 4 goals with the big boys at such a young age. He's a winger/forward hybrid, so good at dribbling, scorching pace, and a great defensive mind and willingness to get back and win the ball. He can do it all. He has to work a bit on his finishing and final third movement, but he is definitely worthy of being called one of our most interesting prospects. 

U14s

What can I say, these boys can play. Beautiful passing, excellent organization, dominating possession.. One could easily mistake these kids as the Barcelona U14s. JJ Foe Nuphaus, Adonis, Diaz, Oscar Govea, Jason Yanez, and Mario Rocha have all been absolute class players and will be an exciting core to look forward to in the future. If I had to choose 1 kid to focus on, it would be RB #34 Mario Rocha. Mario is the youngest of the U14s, but you would not know it by looking at him. He's one of the biggest players on the field, but what stands out about him is not his height, it's his technical skill combined with defensive ability. He looks like a forward out there, dribbling kids with ease, but always getting back on defense and being a shutdown defender. He looks to be what is the future of fullbacks in modern soccer.

For All Academy Info

Epic Goonie Comeback as the Quakes Dominate the De Anza Force

It was Derby day for the boys as each team took on the De Anza Force Academy on Saturday. At 11am the U18s took on the Force in their first game at the Quakes Training Facility. This was my first game attending live this year, so I can give more in depth analysis. The 18s were coming into this game missing star center midfielder John Partida (personal) and 15 year old phenom Ivan Valencia (played with the 16s due to player shortage). Also Amir Bashti was gassed and subbed of early due to the fact that he had played just 2 days earlier for the USYNT vs LA2 (he scored a PK in that game). As for the game itself, it started with a set piece goal for the Quakes coming from Harvard commit Philip Hausen. De Anza answered back with 2 quick goals. 2-1 at the half. Brise Rory scores for the Quakes in the 54' minute. Then a goal by De Anza in the 66' minute. 3-2 De Anza with just 3 minutes left to play. At this point Philip's dad told me, and I quote "This will be their first loss of the season, unfortunately." Not so fast Mr. Hausen, it's GOONIE TIME. Quakes get the late goal from Suliman Khorami, with a cracker from outside the box. The boys were not satisfied though. With a set piece on the side of the box, they cross it in and the ball is met by centerback Jorge Lara past the far post, heading it in over the head of everyone, skimming the post and going in winning the game with this 90' minute goal. Insert crazy fun celebration involving shirtlessness, smoke and many hugs. Quakes win the derby 4-3 and stay undefeated. Hard to analyze the game without 2 main pieces (John Partida and Amir Bashti), but one player that really stood out to me was UC Irvine commit, centerback Jorge Lara. Forget the goal, he was a beast in defense. Mr. Hausen who attends every game thinks he is our best player as well.

The U16s did not have the same good fortune as the 18s. They lost 2-0, but don't let the score line fool you. We could have very easily won that game 3-2, had we finished our clear chances. I'd go as far as saying we dominated the game. The De Anza goals were pretty lucky, but still no excuse. I was very excited for this game because it was my first time seeing "The next TT" Ivan Valencia. To start with, Ivan is a Winger. He can probably play 2nd forward, but he's really really good defensively, winning the ball back. He created all of the Quakes chances and had 3 clear chances at goal, he should have buried them, but I'm still impressed none the less by how he developed those clear chances. (Note: He had been playing with the U18s every game this season before this game). I happened to be talking to Chris Dangerfield during the game and he was impressed with Ivan as well. We even had a little chuckle when he pulled a Djalo on the endline (sombrero's some kid).

And finally the 14s. They played the Force at John Mise Park. What can I say, WE DESTROYED THEM. 6-0. No analysis needed, our U14s are f'ing good. Really good. So fun to watch and honestly, they play more entertaining than our first team did this year..

Future's looking good! Get your soccer fix and keep up with the academy.
Here's a link to the website

Quakes Academy Go Undefeated In A Massive PNW Trip

The San Jose Earthquakes academy faced their toughest test of the season as they made their annual trip up to Seattle and Portland to take on the Timbers academy followed by the Sounders academy. The boys made us proud once again going undefeated in all 4 games. The U18s beat Portland 3-0, with goals coming from Philip Hausen (2) and Zac Penner (1). Also JT Marcinkowski with a big PK save. The following day they beat Sounders 2-1, both goals coming from Yousef Diyab. All this without their best player, Amir Bashti. He is with the USYNT right now. The U16s tied Portland 0-0 and beat Seattle 1-0. This was a massive trip and really solidifies us as a top academy in the nation. Hopefully this continues, not only for the season, but for a long long time. Although it has taken awhile, the wave of homegrowns is coming and in a few years it will be a constant cycle of about 2 players a year. (knock on wood...)

For all your academy info: http://ussda.demosphere.com/teams/68797515/47187491-68797603/TEAM.html

Big Week For The Club

This has been a hectic week for me and the club. Thankfully, Dom Kinnear has come to save our team. But this doesn't only affect the first team, this affects the academy and the youth system as well. I will work hard to find out how Dom plans on improving and adjusting the academy. He will want to implement his system into our academy and that will be fascinating to follow (more to come). In the mean time, Quakes academy alums Bryce Clark and Josh Morton have been doing some great things. Josh who has been recovering from an ankle injury has returned and played in 2 big games for Cal recently. The first being a HUGE win vs #2 UCLA and secondly another big win vs another Pac12 opponent, SDSU. You can see the young center-back (#21) in Palo Alto as Cal takes on Stanford on Monday at 7pm. Now for our other promising freshman defender, Bryce Clark. Clark as been starting every game for SMU as they have won 7 of their last 8 games, helping them raise their ranking to 21st in the country. He also scored his first ever college goal in OT to win the game for SMU! Congrats Bryce!

Video of the Golazo 

Quakes Academy Weekend Round-Up

Quakes Academy Weekend Round-Up

As usual, the Little Gonnies are making us proud (And helping ease the pain of the first team) with a #CleanSweep of the Santa Cruz Breakers this weekend, away at Cabrillo College in Aptos. Another goal for young Ivan Valencia (15) for the U18s. He and top prospect Amir Bashti are really paring up well in Marquis White's 4-2-3-1. If Ivan can keep up this type of play, he can be the next Tommy Thompson. U18s and 14s still undefeated. U16s have lost just 1 game.

Scores:

U18s: 2-1

U16s: 8-0

U14s: 2-1

No games scheduled this coming weekend.
For all your academy news: Academy Website

College Soccer (Quakes Academy Alumni) 10/2/14

College Soccer (Quakes Academy Alumni)

Kendall McIntosh: After only allowing 1 goal in 5 games, SCU got romped by Cal 4-0 loss. Still a bunch of saves from Kendall including this gem. http://thew.tv/videos/top-play-tuesday-september-30-2014

Josh Morton: Injured, missed the game vs SCU.

Bryce Clark: SMU got the 4-2 win on Friday and a 2-0 shutout on Wednesday. Clark with the assist in the second game. He's really become more of a well rounded player and is starting to standout more. I'm extremely impressed with him and fully expect for him to become a homegrown player for us, especially because he's a RB and we have no prospects in that position. 

Jimmy Callinan: Started and got the 3-0 shutout vs Gonzaga, also got an assist for Stanford.

Christian de Luna: Saw him in person for the first time vs UC Davis. He and Quakes PDL player Josh Smith got the 110 minute shutout and got a 3-0 shutout vs SJSU. Super solid. We don't have any LB prospects and although he plays CB, he can play LB and that's his best chance at signing homegrown.

It's funny how all of our top prospects are defenders. It's kinda good because we have zero defensive prospects on the first team right now..

The Earthquakes U18s and 16s were off this weekend. They play this Saturday October 4th vs the Santa Cruz Breakers at Cabrillo College. Schedule: http://ussda.demosphere.com/teams/68797515/47187491-68797603/TEAM.html
The 14s did have a game this weekend and it was against Placer United. Dominant game from our boys as they win 3-0. Full Stats. This game also marked the first game back for highly rated midfielder, JJ Foe Nuphaus. Coming back from injury, JJ is slowly working his way back to full fitness. He is a main piece on the USYNT U14s, almost always called up. Here are some great pictures from this game provided by Lyndsay Radnedge photography and Centerline Soccer. http://www.centerlinesoccer.com/2014/9/28/6858095/photo-gallery-quakes-academy-u14-vs-placer-united

Academy Weekend Round-up (U18s - U16s - U14s)
Big weekend for the boys as arch rivals LA Galaxy came into town along with Chivas USA academy the following day. The Little Goonies made us all proud, both the U18s and U16s won 2-1 in the Junior Classico against the defending champs. The U-14s also won on Saturday beating Ballistic Academy 3-1 making Saturday a #CleanSweep for the youth. (Making the first team loss vs Montreal a bit more tolerable!) On Sunday they took on a strong Chivas USA side. The U-18s won 2-0, with one of the goals coming from top prospect #10 Amir Bashti. Also the first shut-out of the new season for USYNT keeper and our captain JT Marcinkowski. Unfortunately the U16s lost 3-1, marking the first loss for all academy teams this year. All teams are 8-1 so far this season.

Box Scores and Stat's:

Saturday

Quakes vs LA (U18): http://ussda.demosphere.com/MatchReports/68797515/4612310.html

Quakes vs LA (U16): http://ussda.demosphere.com/MatchReports/68797515/4613363.html

Quakes vs Ballistic (U14): http://ussda.demosphere.com/MatchReports/68797515/4614283.html

Sunday

Quakes vs Chivas USA (U18): http://ussda.demosphere.com/MatchReports/68797515/4612311.html

Quakes vs Chivas USA (U16): http://ussda.demosphere.com/MatchReports/68797515/4613364.html

Friday 9/19:
Kendall McIntosh: 5 game shutout steak ends as SCU lose 1-0 to Cal State Fullerton.
Josh Morton: Out in Cal's 4-2 win over Delaware with a ankle injury.
Bryce Clark: Started and went 90 in a SMU 2-0 win over Oral Roberts.
Jimmy Callinan: Started and went 90 in Stanford's 2-1 win over Southern Illinois Edwardsville.
Christian de Luna: Started and went 90 in a USF 2-1 loss at cal Poly.

Sunday 9/21: 
Josh Morton: Out in Cal's 2-1 win over Edwardsville.
Jimmy Callinan: Started and went 90 in Stanford's 2-1 win over Delaware.

Academy Alumni (College Soccer)

These are potential Quakes homegrown players playing in college. There are quite a bit of academy alums in college soccer, but there are only a few that have homegrown potential (based on National team call-ups, scouting reports, and the Quakes first team coaches using them in reserve matches in the past). Here are the names you should know and what school they play for. If you live near any of these schools, I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you to go to some games to support local soccer and most importantly to support future earthquake players!! For me it's especially good when the Quakes season is over, because it gives me my soccer fix and I'm still supporting the Quakes at the same time!

Josh Morton: Freshman Center-back for Cal #21 (He was the kid who scored against LA in Fresno) 
Bio: http://www.calbears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209602218&DB_OEM_ID=30100
Cal Schedule: http://www.calbears.com/SportSelect.dbml&DB_OEM_ID=30100&SPID=126511&SPSID=749415

Kendall McIntosh: Junior (Captain) Goalkeeper for SCU #24
Bio: http://santaclarabroncos.com/sports/m-soccer/2014-15/bios/mcintosh_kendall_f41v
SCU Schedule: http://santaclarabroncos.com/sports/m-soccer/2014-15/schedule

Bryce Clark: Freshman Right-Mid/Right-Back for SMU (Dallas) #22
Bio: http://www.smumustangs.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/bryce_clark_914216.html
SMU Schedule: http://www.smumustangs.com/sports/m-soccer/sched/smu-m-soccer-sched.html

Christian de Luna: Sophomore Defender (anywhere on the back-line) for USF #2

Bio:  http://www.usfdons.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=2516&path=msoc

SFU Schedule:  http://www.usfdons.com/schedule.aspx?path=msoc

Jimmy Callinan: Senior Right-back for Stanford #21. 

Bio: http://www.gostanford.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208167633&DB_OEM_ID=30600

Stanford Schedule: http://www.gostanford.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=30600&SPID=130808&SPSID=789124

So I've decided to make this blog because I feel that the club isn't doing the best job at covering Quakes academy results, events, game times and so on. Soccer clubs academies are one of the biggest parts of a club around the world. Clubs like Barcelona create players who will feature in their first team and become stars, or produce players and sell them for money. Either way, academies are a huge part of a football club. The San Jose Earthquakes academy is really young and is just starting to come along and produce quality players, like a fan favorite Tommy Thompson. And many more are on the way. I will not waist your time with players who I don't believe have futures as Quakes homegrown players. Thankfully I am not alone in this, there are a few writers who cover young and emerging American talent (Such as Travis Clark of TopDrawerSoccer) but none specifically for the Quakes. Also a big part of this are the players who have graduated from the academy and are (#QuakesAcdemyAlumni) playing in D1 colleges and still strongly pursing that lucrative homegrown contract. Hope y'all spread the word and find my posts insightful and continue to follow the academy more closely and give it the attention it deserves. Follow me on twitter as @QuakesForever. Thanks!