Earthquakes head to D.C. with postseason berth in sight (Sep 23, 2017)

The San Jose Earthquakes could go a long way toward solidifying their first postseason appearance since 2012 with a victory at D.C. United on Saturday night.

Coach Chris Leitch's side won two of its last three matches to move into fifth place in the Western Conference standings in the battle for six West playoff berths.

That recent run includes the 'Quakes third away win of the season as they beat California rivals LA Galaxy for a third consecutive time across all competitions. Their only loss in the stretch came at Toronto FC, the runaway leaders in the race for the Supporters' Shield and the top overall seed in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Most recently, San Jose pulled out a 1-0 home win over a seventh-place Houston Dynamo side that will be trying to pass the 'Quakes down the stretch.

"I think we can build off the momentum of the Houston game on Saturday and take that with us to D.C., a tough place to play," said Leitch. "Obviously it's a long way to travel. But as these guys are well aware, there's a lot on the line at this point in the season."

Meanwhile, back-to-back losses have forced D.C. to accept their inevitable absence from the postseason for the first time since 2013 and look toward the 2018 season.

The Eastern Conference's last-place team has more to be excited about than most clubs in similar positions.

For one, there's a move out of the aging RFK Stadium to a new home, Audi Field.

For another, there's an influx of younger players. Summer acquisitions Paul Arriola, Russell Canouse and Bruno Miranda are all age 23 or under. So are defenders Jalen Robinson and Chris Odoi-Atsem, who began the season with D.C. but have seen more playing time of late.

"The priority is to win games," said D.C. coach Ben Olsen. "But beyond that, there's certainly some guys that we want to see a little more of, and we will."

The match will be D.C.'s second-to-last at RFK before closing down the stadium on the season's final weekend against Atlantic Cup rivals the New York Red Bulls. D.C. and San Jose also share some history as literally the league's oldest series, having contested the inaugural MLS game -- a 1-0 San Jose victory in California -- in 1996.