LOS ANGELES — Amid the ashes of a lost season, the Quakes might have found a couple of planks to use in building a foundation for next year.
One could be goalkeeper J.T. Marcinkowski, who made six saves Saturday in a 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles FC in front of a sellout crowd of 22,000 at the Banc of California Stadium.
Marcinkowski’s six saves fell one short of Andrew Tarbell’s season high of seven against the Philadelphia Union in a 1-1 tie April 7.
The 21-year old from Alamo played just his second game for the Quakes, less than 72 hours after making his Major League Soccer debut at Avaya Stadium in a 4-3 loss to Atlanta United.
“We threw him into the fire last week against the highest-scoring team in the league,” Quakes interim coach Steve Ralston said. “He gave up some goals but it didn’t seem to phase him.
“He’s impressed me this entire season with the way he held himself, the way he trains. He seems very confident and we have lot of trust in him.”
Marcinkowski frustrated LAFC’s Carlos Vela three times. In the 45th minute, Marcinkowski lunged through the air and used his left hand to tip Vela’s dipping 24-yard shot.
In the 47th, the rookie jumped and used his right hand to deflect Vela’s free kick over the net. Then in the 57th, Marcinkowski stopped Vela from point-blank range with his left hand.
“I felt a little more confident,” Marcinkowski said. “I think my decision making can still be a little better. This is what I love to do. It’s what I’ve played my entire life for.”
A second plank could be Ralston himself, who became the interim coach after the Quakes fired Mikael Stahre on Monday.
“Coach Ralston’s done a great job,” captain Chris Wondolowski said. “He’s got a great message and I think everyone’s bought in. He commands the locker room and he has the respect of all the guys.”
Ralston — who played in the league’s first 15 seasons and served as an MLS assistant for the past nine — holds the credentials Wondolowski believes the Quakes need in a new coach.
Wondolowski described Stahre’s ideal replacement as “someone that understands the league, someone who knows what’s going on, who doesn’t have to take awhile to fit in, who can come in from Minute One and start rolling,” the forward said.
Ralston also brings with him a new formation designed to promote a more assertive mindset.
“For me, it’s about getting pressure on the ball,” Ralston said. “I felt that a few times this year, maybe we stepped back a little too deep. I want our first thought to be to step forward.”
The Quakes (4-18-8) almost scored first. After Wondolowski shanked Vako Qazaishvili’s cross from the right wing, Jackson Yueill’s ensuing 17-yard volley forced LAFC goalkeeper Tyler Miller to punch the ball away from the crossbar with his right fist in the 21st minute.
But LAFC (14-7-8) used Walker Zimmerman’s two goals to give the Quakes their fourth successive loss and fifth in six games. Zimmerman put the hosts ahead in the 41st minute by rising over Guram Kashia to head Vela’s corner kick into the upper-left corner of the net.
Yueill nearly tied the score in the 54th minute but his 10-yard shot barely missed the right post. Zimmerman secured the victory with a glancing 7-yard header inside the far post off Vela’s corner kick from the right wing.
“The only thing that went wrong was the tired legs,” Wondolowski said. “It’s hard to go 90 minutes against Atlanta and to come back on short rest in the heat against LAFC. They’re so talented, so dangerous and so dynamic.”
Anibal Godoy received a yellow card in the 52nd minute and will be suspended for the Quakes’ next game Sept. 29 in Houston.
• In a sidelight, an ESPN FC report noted the Quakes have requested permission from LAFC to interview assistant Marc Dos Santos for their head coaching job. Dos Santos led the San Francisco Deltas to the 2017 NASL championship in that league’s most recent season, before joining Bob Bradley’s staff in Los Angeles.TX Body: That same report confirmed the rumor that Dutch coach Peter Bosz has been contacted by San Jose. Bosz most recently worked at German powerhouse Borussia Dortmund. It also has been reported the team contacted Stanford coach Jeremy Gunn about the job.
