Earthquakes-Rapids Preview

Although goals have been difficult to come by, the San Jose Earthquakes are in position to wrap up their longest trip of the season with their first consecutive road wins in 20 months.

That certainly seems like an attainable goal against the Colorado Rapids, who haven't won at home since July.

Colorado's Sam Cronin and San Jose's Marvell Wynne face their former clubs for the first time Friday night when the Earthquakes try to extend a 10-game unbeaten streak over the Rapids.

San Jose (4-4-1) is scuffling on the attack with four goals in its last six matches. Star forward Chris Wondolowski has scored a team-high four times, but he's recorded one goal in five matches while dealing with a strained calf.

Adam Jahn stepped up with his first goal since May 2013 when he headed home Matias Perez Garcia's free kick in the 54th minute Tuesday, giving coach Dominic Kinnear a 1-0 win in his return to Houston.

David Bingham recorded his second shutout in four matches after denying a penalty kick in the 57th minute for the Earthquakes, who improved to 1-1-1 on their four-game road swing.

"Any time you play any of the guys from the Western Conference it's great to get three points," Bingham said.

Wynne is looking forward to facing Colorado (1-2-6) after spending the past five seasons with the Rapids and helping them win the MLS Cup in 2010. The defender was picked up by San Jose after Colorado declined his option for 2015.

Cronin joined the Rapids this season after spending five with the Earthquakes.

San Jose has gone 3-13-8 away from home since last winning back-to-back road games in September 2013. It's earned a pair of draws at Colorado in that span and has outscored the Rapids 16-7 while going 5-0-5 in the past 10 meetings overall.

Colorado is having its own problems scoring with one goal in each of its last four matches while settling for draws in the past three. The Rapids have managed one or no goals in eight of their nine games and totaled two scores in the last five of an 0-6-4 stretch at home.

"Whilst we're not getting the wins, we're building a ton of character, we're a hardened bunch of individuals that fight extremely hard for one another," coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "That's all I ask from the guys."

Gabriel Torres has provided a spark with four goals in his past five matches. His goal Saturday put the Rapids in position to snap the Galaxy's 27-game home unbeaten streak across all competitions before Los Angeles tied it in the 75th minute of the 1-all draw.

Torres scored for Colorado in the 84th minute of a 1-all tie with San Jose in the most recent meeting Sept. 27. Those were the only two goals of the last year's series as the clubs tied all three matchups.