San Jose Earthquakes forward Preston Judd celebrates his game winning goal in a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps with his teammates and fans at PayPal Park on Saturday AUG 9, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Preston Judd has made the most of his opportunities when his number is called.

Judd scored the game winning goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time in the second half as the San Jose Earthquakes pulled out a 2-1 upset victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday evening at PayPal Park.

Jamal Ricketts, who came into the match as a sub in the third minute of stoppage time, set up Judd’s late match magic when he went around a defender and crossed the ball over the middle from left to right. DeJuan Jones, one touched it back into the middle of the box before Judd blasted it in from point-blank range for his fifth goal of the season.

“I’ve been saying it all year. Whenever I get in, I want to make a difference. We were winning 1-0, but even then, I wanted to get the second goal to hopefully help the team win. I got in a position where I helped the team win in the 94th minute,” Judd said.

San Jose snapped a six-match league winless streak and seventh overall as well as moved up to the eighth spot in the Western Conference. Vancouver had its three-match point streak snapped and remained in second place, four points behind San Diego.

Vancouver (13-6-6-45 points) put themselves behind the eight ball early in the match as they went down a player in the 27th minute when Édier Ocampo picked up his second yellow card of the match after knocking down Vitor Costa just outside the box resulting in a red card and an automatic ejection. Ocampo recorded his first yellow card in the 20th minute with a hard foul.

San Jose (8-10-8-32 points) were left wondering in the 30th minute on an apparent foul inside the box by Vancouver’s Andres Cubas after making contact with Chico Arango causing Arango to fall to the turf. Referee Timothy Ford let the play go as no penalty was called on the play.

The Whitecaps got caught with their hand in the cookie jar one too many times in the 50th minute. Triston Blackmon tripped up Costa inside the box resulting in a penalty. After a short video review that confirmed the penalty on Blackmon, Josef Martinez scored his co team-leading 11th goal of the season after converting the penalty kick with a right footed shot off of the left post and into the back of the net past Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka.

Martinez has scored five goals in four career games against Vancouver.

A minute later Quakes goalkeeper Daniel made a point-blank save with his right leg when he challenged an unmarked Daniel Rios who was left wide open inside the middle of the box after Vancouver quickly attacked on the ensuing kickoff.

Daniel kept his bid for a clean sheet with a timely diving save off of a Jayden Nelson right-footed shot from the left side of the box in the 71st minute.

Vancouver scored the equalizer in the 88th minute thanks to a lucky break. Blackmon lofted a ball out to Brian White who was able to volley the ball to himself. On the same play Quakes defender Bruno Wilson slipped and fell that led to a breakaway for White. The Whitecaps leading scorer chipped the ball past Daniel for his team leading 12th goal of the season.

“Giving up a goal, up a man, that late, it’s frustrating. We never got out of the game. Right away we started attacking. We were pushing for that goal. We know we needed the goal. Our attitude on the field showed that we were going to score a goal. I felt it. I believed in it. I think a lot of the players believed that we were going to score a goal to win that game. It showed and it worked out,” Judd reiterated.

Daniell finished with two saves on three shots to earn his eighth win of the season. Takaoka made three saves on five shots on target in the losing effort.

“A tough game, but we’ve been in a lot of those games this year and been on the other side of it as well,” said San Jose Earthquakes head coach Bruce Arena. “I’m pleased with the win. If we’re a team that has any interest in being in the playoffs, we have to win these home games, so this is critically important.”

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the match with five corner kicks. Vancouver had three.

The Earthquakes improved their record against the Vancouver Whitecaps to 11-12-12 all-time in MLS regular season play with an 8-2-8 (26 GF, 16 GA) record at home.

The Quakes moved up to eighth in the MLS Western Conference standings with 32 points (8-10-8). Vancouver Whitecaps FC remained second in the West with 45 points (13-6-6).

Bruce Arena won his 270th regular-season game, extending his MLS record among head coaches. The late great Sigi Schmid is second with 240.

The Quakes earned their first home victory in league play since May 3, a 4-1 win over Portland.

The team celebrated Portuguese Heritage Night at PayPal Park, with Lisbon native Bruno Wilson starting at center back for the Quakes. Wilson played his youth football at Oeiras and Sporting Clube de Portugal before playing as a professional with SC Braga, CD Tondela and FC Vizela.

Cristian Espinoza made four key passes tonight to extend his MLS lead (86). He remains tied for second in the league in assists (12).

Daniel’s two saves ran his total to 82, good for sixth in MLS.

With 48 goals in 26 matches, San Jose is currently third in MLS in total goals. Only San Diego FC (50) and Inter Miami CF (49) have outscored the Quakes in 2025.

The Earthquakes’ attack is back up to first in the league in expected goals (53.92). The Philadelphia Union is second (52.23).

Whitecaps newly acquired midfielder Thomas Müller will be introduced at a press conference on Thursday by the Whitecaps as he hopes to make his Vancouver debut in their next match against the Houston Dynamo on August 17th.

UP NEXT: San Jose plays its inaugural match against San Diego FC on Sunday August 17th at 4:00pm at PayPal Park.