The Galaxy’s Marco Reus, right, punches in a goal during the second half against the San José Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium on Sat Jun 28, 2025 (Getty photo)

PALO ALTO, Calif. — In what felt like a game they should’ve earned three points, the San Jose Earthquakes settled for a 1-1 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 104th California Clasico on Saturday evening at Stanford Stadium

San Jose has earned points in nine of their last 10 matches with only one loss in the past six weeks. Los Angeles remained with just one win on the season but have earned a point in two of its past three matches.

“A tale of two halves, yeah,” said Quakes head coach Bruce Arena. “It was a real rivalry match and very physical on a tight field. Surface wasn’t perfect because they just laid down the field, but I give Galaxy credit. We didn’t play well in the second half, and you can attribute a lot to the Galaxy. … I think Daniel made some really big saves, as did their keeper at the end of the game. But that was a rivalry game. Regardless of record, there’s a history, and it’s always good to see.

The San Jose Earthquakes drew with the LA Galaxy 1-1 on Saturday night in the 104th California Clasico at Stanford Stadium presented by El Camino Health in front of a crowd of 42,881 fans, the fifth-highest attended game in Major League Soccer this season.

The Earthquakes drew first blood with a nine-pass display in the 16th minute that resulted in Mark-Anthony Kaye finding Beau Leroux, who turned and rifled a shot from the top of the box into the upper right corner of the net past the outstretched Galaxy goalkeeper Novak Micovic for his fourth goal of the season sending the crowd of 42,881 into a frenzy.

“Mark-Anthony Kaye opens up and finds me in the pocket. I already had it in my mind that I was going to touch it and hit it. And when I hit it, I thought it was actually hitting the crossbar and going out, because that happens a lot for me. But I then I saw it hit the back of the net, and that was a surreal moment.”

The Galaxy came out with an aggressive approach after halftime, and their hard work paid off in the 70th minute, when Marco Reus scored the equalizer. Reus fired a shot on Quakes goalkeeper Daniel who made the initial save, but Reus collected his own rebound and buried the ball past Quakes goalkeeper Daniel to into an open net for his tied for the team lead in goals with his fourth of the season

Los Angeles kept the pressure on as Daniel made two outstanding saves to keep the Galaxy from taking a late lead in the match. First in the 75th minute he stoned away Mauricio Cuevas’s right-footed attempt from the right side of the box. Then in the 88th, Daniel made his best save of the match when he made a one-handed save on Gabriel Pec’s point-blank side from the left of the box that went over the net.

Micovic kept the game even in the 72nd minute when he was in perfect position to knock away a right-footed blast from Cristian Arango from 12 yards out in the middle of the box.

San Jose had one final chance for the game winning goal in the 94th minute, Leroux’s cross from the right wing was headed just wide of the net and the rivals split the points at Stanford.

Daniel finished with six saves on seven shots while Micovic made two on three shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with three corner kicks. Los Angeles had seven.

San Jose moved to 29-40-18 (126 GF, 142 GA) against the LA Galaxy in MLS play overall, and 18-16-12 (69 GF, 68 GA) at home.

On the heels of their May 28 1-0 win in Carson, the Quakes went unbeaten in the regular-season series against LA for the first time since 2019. That year, San Jose won 3-0 on June 29 at Stanford Stadium and 3-1 on July 12 in Carson.

Tonight’s match was the fifth-most attended in MLS this season:
65,520 Atlanta United vs. CF Montréal (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Feb. 22)
62,358 Chicago Fire FC vs. Inter Miami CF (Soldier Field, April 13)
60,614 Columbus Crew vs. Inter Miami CF (Cleveland Browns Stadium, April 19)
51,002 Charlotte FC vs. Atlanta United (Bank of America Stadium, March 1)
42,881 San Jose Earthquakes vs. LA Galaxy (Stanford Stadium, June 28)

The Quakes are now second in the league in team goals with 40 after scoring one tonight. They continue to lead MLS with 42.29 expected goals.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the New York Red Bulls on Saturday July 5th at 7:30pm at PayPal Park.