Earthquakes Midfielder Vako in action in a game against the Portland Timbers on May 5th, 2018 at Avaya Stadium. Photo by Lyndsay Radnedge.

Opportunity is knocking on the door to move and shake in the Western Conference Standings for the San Jose Earthquakes and Vancouver Whitecaps as they meet Wednesday Night in Vancouver, BC in a rematch of last season’s MLS Cup Playoff Knockout Round matchup, a game in which Vancouver emphatically ended San Jose’s season with a 5-0 victory.

Featuring in the lone midweek MLS matchup, the double game week presents a unique set of challenges combined with unique senses of urgency for both San Jose’s Mikael Stahre and Vancouver’s Carl Robinson with the potential to gain six points.

San Jose picked themselves off the mat on Saturday with their first road victory of the season in a 3-1 victory over Minnesota United. That win was the first for the Earthquakes since their Opening Night victory over the Loons. Early in the series, it appears that the Earthquakes have Minnesota’s number, winning all four meetings in the series short history. That stat, unfortunately for the Quakes, means nothing for the rest of the season as there are no more regular season meetings between the two, leaving Mikael Stahre with the task of figuring out how to beat another MLS club.

The Quakes once again left club legend Chris Wondolowski on the bench to start the match, but did bring him on in the 55th minute following an injury to Jamir Hyka. Wondo responded with one of his best, most energetic showings of the season, assisting on Danny Hoesen’s eventual game winner before tacking on an insurance PK to pull one goal closer to the elusive Landon Donovan and his MLS goal scoring record.

With two games on the docket, expect to see Wondo starting in at least one of them, probably Saturday in front of the Avaya Stadium faithful against DC United. The rest of the line up will be a bit of a mystery as Coach Stahre continues to find the right mixture of players while dealing with injuries, as the lineup must once again be juggled with Jamir Hyka expected to be out for both games this week with the ankle injury he sustained last Saturday.

Chris Wondolowski reacts during a game against the Houston Dynamo on April 14th, 2018 at Avaya Stadium. Photo by Lyndsay Radnedge.

Sitting mid-table in the Western Conference, Vancouver comes into this week with an odd sense of urgency to pick up three home points against San Jose before heading out on the road for a clash with FC Dallas. The week will end with the Whitecaps having played at least one more game than any other Western Conference foe, and will have three games in hand on half the sides in the West, including San Jose, making every point crucial before other sides begin to close the games played gap.

The straw that stirs the ‘Caps drink has been their Center Back pairing of Jose Aja, who scored his first goal for Vancouver in last week’s 2-2 draw with Houston, and Kendall Watson, who assisted Aja before scoring one of his own in stoppage time to preserve the draw. Watson should be flying high into his 100th match as a Whitecap coming off that MLS Best XI performance as well as being named to his native Costa Rica’s World Cup squad. The ariel prowess of the CB tandem is going to be key for Vancouver emerging with three points.

Vancouver’s Alfonso Davies in action in a match against the Houston Dynamo on May 11, 2018 at BC Place.

Undoubtedly the Quakes are still feeling the sting of the 5-0 defeat in last year’s MLS Cup Playoff Knockout Round that ended their season, but in addition to that motivation can also take solace that in the midst of their abysmal stretch of road games to end last season, they were able to go into Vancouver in the next to last week of the season and pull a 1-1 draw that helped propel them into that playoff match up in the first place.