The San Jose Earthquakes and Austin FC battled to a 1-1 at Q-2 Stadium in Austin TX on Sat Sep 5, 2026 (San Jose Earthquakes X image)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes were back on the road on Saturday night, as they visited Austin,Texas to face off against Austin FC in the second half of their Texas road trip which finished in a 1-1 draw. Entering the night, Austin were the heavy favorites despite the Earthquakes dominating the prior meeting between the two teams.

Beau Leroux scored a bit of an anticlimactic goal to start things off for the Quakes, poking the ball softly under a defender’s leg and into the corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season. Regardless of how the goal was scored, the Earthquakes had the lead just eight minutes into the match.

Austin would quickly go down to the other end of the pitch, and Facundo Torres seemingly scored an equally awkward goal as he dinked it off of his foot past a laid out Angus Gunn to tie things up in the 10th minute. After a review by the official though, there was ruled to be a handball on the play and the goal was nullified, restoring the Earthquakes’ lead.

Shortly before half time, Ousseni Bouda had a great run end in a scoring chance, but rather than passing to a wide-open Eduard Lowen who had a clear path to an empty net, he attempted to shoot himself and the ball deflected out of play.

Jamar Ricketts’ speed came into play around the hour mark, as he generated a chance for Bouda who failed to get a boot on a centering pass. Despite an awkward defensive play by Austin, they were able to keep the ball out of the net.

Reid Roberts was shown the Earthquakes’ first yellow card of the night in the 65th minute. In the 70th minute, Bouda was taken off the pitch for Preston Judd. Angus Gunn made a huge save in the 77th minute to deny Torres from pointblank range.

Torres then playfully pushed Gunn toward the net to show his displeasure. The Earthquakes made a pair of changes in the 81st minute, bringing Jack Jasinski and Vitor Costa onto the pitch for Benji Kikanovic and Ricketts.

The Earthquakes failed to secure their first win since May, as Guilherme Biro scored in the 96th minute, the final minute of stoppage time, to tie the game at 1-1. As a result, their winless streak continues to grow despite two straight draws.