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San Jose Earthquakes match wrap: Quakes blank Whitecaps 1-0 end Vancouver’s win streak

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San Jose Earthquakes Beau Leroux (34) heads down field against the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place on Sat Mar 21, 2026 (San Jose Earthquakes photo)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes went on the road for Saturday night’s matchup against the undefeated Vancouver Whitecaps and handed the Whitecaps their first loss of 2026 with a 1-0 shutout at BC Place in Vancouver.

The Earthquakes were doing a good job putting pressure on the Whitecaps’ defense early on, but some errant passes and turnovers ruined some scoring chances.

Daniel was forced to make a big save in the 30th minute when AZ Jackson danced around the defense, firing a dangerous shot on goal. Moments later, Daniel was forced to make another big save to deny a Vancouver header attempt.

In the 31st minute, Timo Werner was shown a yellow card. Oddly though, Werner was sitting on the bench.

The Quakes had a great scoring opportunity in the 33rd minute. Preston Judd had a center pass which found Jamar Ricketts, but the ensuing shot went just wide of the goal.

Beau Leroux broke the deadlock in stoppage time of the first half with a shot from well outside of the box to make it 1-0 heading into halftime.

Both teams made a change to start the second half as Tomas Muller entered the game for Vancouver and Ian Harkes took the field for San Jose.

Werner and Vitor Costa entered the game in the 54th minute taking the place of Ricketts and an injured DeJuan Jones.

The Earthquakes maintained their lead for the second half, and ultimately walked away with a 1-0 victory over a very strong opponent.

Earthquakes suffer first goal against in first loss of the season to Seattle 1-0

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Seattle Sounders midfielder Paul Rothrock (#14) celebrates his first half goal against the San Jose Earthquakes with his teammate Nouhou (#5) at PayPal Park on Sunday MAR 15, 2026. (Seattle Sounders)

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — All good things must come to an end.

The Seattle Sounders were dominated on the stat sheet by the San Jose Earthquakes but won on the stat that matter the most, the goal stat, in a 1-0 victory on Sunday afternoon at PayPal Park.

San Jose had its three-game winning streak snapped. Seattle has won three out of its first four matches.

Seattle (3-1) finally ended Quakes goalkeeper Daniel’s shutout streak to start the season when they drew first blood in the 20th minute. Jesús Ferreira sent a long ball down the right wing from midfield. Paul Rothrock stayed onside as he raced down the pitch and dribbled into the box before beating Daniel with a right footed shot for his team leading second goal of the season.

San Jose (3-1) had chances early on and towards the end of the opening 45 minutes. Niko Tsakiris had back-to-back chances inside the Seattle box, but the Sounders defenders collapsed down low and blocked both attempts. Beau Leroux also had a shot attempt that was also blocked and away from the net.

The Quakes best scoring chance in the first half came at the 44th minute when Preston Judd was fouled just outside the D by Antonio Lopez. Tsakiris’ free kick just missed the far corner of the net as Sounder goalkeeper Andrew Thomas made a diving attempt at it.

San Jose controlled the pace of play and possession in the second half as they created quality scoring chances only to have Thomas and his backline thwart off any balls crossed into the middle of the box.

The Earthquakes came within inches of scoring the equalizer in the 74th minute. Judd chased down a long ball and was able to chip the ball over Thomas as the ball was heading for the far corner of the net. However, Lopez chased it down before it could cross the goal line and kicked it out of danger for Seattle.

The Sounders thought they iced the game in the 86th minute when Cody Baker scored his first goal of the season. Osaze De Rosario centered the ball to Baker who beat Daniel with a low right footed shot to the far corner. However, after a VAR review it was determined the play was ruled offsides.

Thomas made seven saves to earn his third victory of the year. Daniel made three saves on four shots to suffer his first loss of the year.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with 17 corner kicks. Seattle had zero.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels north of the border to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday March 21 at 7:30pm at BC Place.

Werner’s debut sparks Earthquakes to 2-0 shutout win over Atlanta United

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San Jose Earthquakes forward Preston Judd celebrates his first half goal among the Earthquakes super fan group The Ultras against Atlanta United at PayPal Park on Saturday FEB 28, 2026. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Earthquakes have jumped out to a quick start to the 2026 season. They defeated Atlanta United FC 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at PayPal Park.

San Jose has started 2-0 for the second consecutive year in a row. Atlanta United has started the season 0-2 and has lost both matches by a 2-0 score.

The match featured the San Jose debut of German international striker Timo Werner who came as a substitute for Preston Judd in the 61st minute. The Quakes acquired from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig back in late January. He’s recorded 153 goal and 86assits in nearly 450 appearances across stints with German Bundesliga sides VFB Stuttgart and RB Leipzig, as well as English Premier League teams Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

Werner has been capped 57 times by his country and lifted seven trophies for club and country, including the UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup with Chelsea.

San Jose (2-0-0) drew first blood in the 24th minute. Jamar Ricketts intercepted a free kick off of the foot of Atlanta United goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos. Ricketts raced down the left wing before chipping the ball into the center of the box where an unmarked Judd headed the ball into the far corner of the net for his second goal of the season.

Judd has scored in back-to-back games as head coach Bruce Arena has made Judd his starting striker to open up the 2026 season with the subtractions of Chico Arango, Cristian Espinoza and Josef Martinez.

Atlanta (0-2-0) spent the majority of the opening 45 minutes inside its own zone defending San Jose’s offensive attack. The Quakes had the pitch tilted on the United’s as they had eight total shots to just three for Atlanta in the first half.

The Earthquakes thought they had doubled their lead in the 70th minute when Ricketts centered a ball into the middle of the box and Niko Tsakiris tapped home the ball into an open net. However, the sideline official ruled the play offsides and negated what would’ve been Tsakiris’ first goal of the season.

San Jose did eventually double its lead in the 79th minute. Werner ran down a long pass down the right wing. Werner then crossed the ball into the middle where a sliding Ousseni Bouda one-timed the ball with a right footed shot top shelf for his first goal of the season.

It was the type of play on why Arena wanted Werner in a Quakes kit as his speed and playmaking ability will make Werner a catalyst of San Jose’s offensive attack.

Quakes goalkeeper Daniel (2-0) recorded his second straight clean sheet having to make only one save during the match. He wasn’t tested much in the second half but came up with his lone save in the 89th minute was a sliding save on a shot attempt from Miguel Almirón. It was Atlanta’s best chance of the match.

Hoyos (0-2) made four saves on six shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with seven corner kicks. Atlanta United had four.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to Philadelphia for its first road match of the season against the Union on Saturday March 7th at 4:30pm at Subaru Park.

Earthquakes blank Sporting KC 3-0

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Earthqakes celebrate their win over Sporting KC at Pay Pal Park in San Jose on Sat Feb 21, 2026 (San Jose Earthquakes photo)

By William Espy

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Earthquakes kicked off the regular season on Saturday night as they hosted Sporting Kansas City in their home opener shutting out Sporting KC 3-0. Star signing Timo Werner remained out of the lineup for Bruce Arena’s side, as he continues to sort out visa issues for his move to the United States.

The Earthquakes applied a lot of pressure early, earning a couple of shots in the fourth minutes. Jamar Ricketts’ speed was doing wonders for the Quakes defensively as well, as he was regularly beating Shapi Suleymanov to the ball in the corner.

Ronaldo Vieira fired a shot from just outside of the 18-yard box that went narrowly wide of the goal, nearly giving the Quakes an early lead in the 12th minute. Roughly a minute later, Benji Kikanovic found Ousseni Bouda in quite a bit of space, but his shot was deflected out of play, and the Earthquakes were once again denied on a great scoring chance.

Beau Leroux became the third Earthquake to nearly get his team the go-ahead goal in the 29th minute, but again it went just wide. Suleymanov got a talking to from the official in the 32nd minute after a challenge on Ricketts led to some shoving and an Earthquakes free kick.

As the game seemed to be slipping out of the referee’s control, he showed Daniel Munie the first yellow card of the night in the 36th minute. In the 42nd minute, Munie would be the one to score San Jose’s first goal of the season. Off a Niko Tsakiris corner kick, the ball landed directly in front of the goal line, and Munie was able to put it past John Pulskamp, giving the Earthquakes a 1-0 lead. In stoppage time, moments after being the first to congratulate Munie, Preston Judd scored his first of the season, doubling the Earthquakes’ lead ahead of halftime.

Daniel made a big save early in the 49th minute to maintain the Quakes’ two-goal lead. Munie made it a brace with his second goal of the night with a header in the 55th minute, making it 3-0 for the Quakes.

Arena made a change in the 66th minute, taking out Vieira for Ian Harkes. Vitor Costa and Jack Skahan joined him on the pitch a few minutes later,0 taking the place of Judd and DeJuan Jones.

Paul Marie and new signing Jonathan Gonzalez were brought into the game with roughly ten minutes left in the game.

Ultimately, when the referee blew the final whistle, the Earthquakes walked away with a 3-0 victory to kick off their 2026 season.

San Jose Earthquakes match wrap: Marie breaks deadlock as Quakes edge Timbers 3-2

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The San Jose Earthquakes came away with a 3-2 victory match against the Portland Timbers in MLS pre season action (photo by San Jose Earthquakes X page)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes continued their preseason as they faced off against the Portland Timbers in Indio on Wednesday evening.

Preston Judd opened the scoring for the Earthquakes in the 20th minute.

Kristoffer Velde tied things up in the 31st minute, getting the Timbers on the board. Five minutes later, Velde scored his second of the game with a header to give the Timbers their first lead of the night.

Ousseni Bouda was shown a yellow card in the 45th minute. The Timbers then carried their lead into the second half.

Nonso Adimabua got an equalizer for the Earthquakes in the 71st minute, tying the game at 2-2. Just three minutes later, Paul Marie scored the game-winning goal for the Quakes, giving them a 3-2 lead that they’d carry to the end of regulation.

The Quakes have one preseason game remaining, as they’ll face New York City FC on Saturday in a matinee matchup.

San Jose Earthquakes match wrap up: Austin-San Jose play to a 2-2 draw

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The San Jose Earthquakes time and time again during their match against Charlotte FC take the ball up the field in the Coachella Valley Invitational in Indio CA on Sat Feb 7, 2026 (San Jose Earthquakes X photo)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes kicked off their public preseason at the Coachella Valley Invitational as they faced off against Charlotte FC at Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA which concluded in a 2-2 draw.

San Jose Starting XI: Daniel, DeJuan Jones, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benji Kikanovic, Beau Leroux, Ronaldo Vieira, Niko Tsakiris, Jamar Ricketts, Ousseni Bouda, Preston Judd.

After a scoreless first half hour, the Earthquakes made a couple of changes bringing on Vitor Costa and Jack Skahan for DeJuan Jones and Preston Judd. 

Despite Charlotte controlling play toward the end of the first half, San Jose native Beau Leroux opened the scoring for the Earthquakes off of a pass by Ousseni Bouda, making it 1-0 in the 41st minute. A couple of minutes later, Ronaldo Vieira was shown the game’s first yellow card for a challenge on Luca De La Torre. 

The Earthquakes carried their lead into the halftime break. 

The Quakes came out of the gate with a lot of attacking pressure in the second half. There was a big collision between Jamar Ricketts and Jack Neeley when they were both looking up at the ball in the 53rd minute. Both returned to their feet, avoiding the worst possible outcome. Ricketts was shown a yellow card on the play. 

Wilfried Zaha and Vieira collided in the 60th minute causing another slight delay. Zaha was taken down again, this time by Leroux, right outside of the box  about a minute later. 

Just after the hour mark, the Earthquakes made quite a few changes. Daniel, Vieira, and Reid Roberts came out of the game, while Earl Edwards Jr, Dave Romney and Ian Harris came into the game.

Benji Kikanovic was shown a yellow card for a challenge on Zaha in the 65th minute. In the 67th minute, Charlotte got their best scoring chance to this point as they hit the goalpost. 

When all was said and done, the Quakes held on to their clean sheet and walked away with a 1-0 victory to kick off their preseason in Indio.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary:San Jose Earthquakes Soccer team is still for sale — And the Potential world Stoppage in Baseball

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The San Jose Earthquakes and Pay Pal Park are both up for sale by Quakes owner John Fisher for a cool $600 million (photo of Pay Pay Park by Arch Key Solutions)

San Jose Earthquakes Soccer team is still for sale — And the Potential world Stoppage in Baseball.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

SAN JOSE–According to Forbes, the San José Earthquakes are valued at approximately $540 million, while Sportico values them at $600 million. The team for sale by John Fisher, owner of the once Oakland A’s, now playing temporarily in Sacramento.

The Quakes is officially on the market, with Fisher hiring an investment bank to handle the sale of a controlling share of the club. Fisher bought the team in 2007 for $20 million.

The top-valued team in Major League Soccer is LAFC (Los Angeles Fútbol Club) at $1.28 billion, followed by Inter Miami, LA Galaxy, Atlanta United, and New York City FC. The valuations of the top teams are much higher, with LAFC leading the league at $1.28 billion, followed by Inter Miami, LA Galaxy, Atlanta United, and New York City FC.

The original cost of the 33,000-seat Las Vegas A’s baseball park, $1.5 billion, is now expected to exceed $2 billion. It increased due to rising construction costs and detailed planning. Cost overruns are not unique to baseball stadiums; they are a frequent issue in almost any large construction project.

Could the potential MLB work stoppage be an obstacle for the A’s Las Vegas baseball park? Considering a potential work stoppage is expected for the 2026-27 season, it could not only halt the A’s Las Vegas project but also kill the Major League Baseball season.

The owners want a salary cap, but the union opposes it. What else is new? The baseball owners and the players’ union are like the two main political parties in Washington. The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association expires on December 1, 2026. There is a lot at stake, and this could be a long work stoppage.

Note: There have been nine work stoppages in Major League Baseball (MLB) history, which include both player strikes and owner lockouts. The most recent Major League Baseball (MLB) work stoppage was a lock out inititated by the team owners, which lasted 99 days from Decemvber 2, 2021, to March 10,2022

Tsakiris propels Earthquakes with first career MLS goal 2-1, team fails to qualify for playoffs

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San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Niko Tsakiris (#30) celebrates his first career MLS goal with teammate Cristian Espinoza (#10) by carrying him on his back during the team’s 2-1 victory over Austin FC at PayPal Park on Saturday OCT 18, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — It was a bittersweet ending for the San Jose Earthquakes on MLS Decision Day.

Niko Tsakiris’ scored his first career MLS goal late in the second half that proved to be the game winner as the Quakes defeated Austin FC 2-1 in the team’s regular season finale on Saturday evening at PayPal Park.

San Jose came into the match needing to win and have two of three scenarios to go their way in clinching a playoff berth. Any combination of an FC Dallas loss, a Real Salt Lake loss or a Colorado loss or draw along with the victory would’ve earned the Earthquakes the 9th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

FC Dallas defeated a short-handed Vancouver squad 2-1, Colorado drew 2-2 with LAFC but Real Salt Lake tied 2-2 with St. Louis City. Real Salt Lake and San Jose tied with 41 points, but RSL owned the tie-breaker over San Jose in total wins (12-11). Thus, the Earthquakes missed the postseason under first year head coach Bruce Arena.

Under Arena, San Jose doubled their points and win total from last season with 11 wins and 41 points.

“We blew too many games this year, wasted too many points and we put ourselves in a position that made it difficult,” said Arena. “However, from 2024 we basically doubled our wins—six last year, 11 this year, 21 points last year, 41 this year. We scored 60 goals, 41 last year; we could see progress was made. That’s all I can say. That part’s good, but I can easily count the half a dozen games where we should have walked off with a win, so we put ourselves in this position.”

Austin FC (13-13-8-47 points) drew first blood in the 22nd minute. Jáder Obrian crossed the ball with a back pass that skipped passed two Earthquakes defenders. Owen Wolff collected the ball and made a move into the middle before depositing the ball into the back of the net past Quakes goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. for his team leading seventh goal of the season.

San Jose (11-15-8-41 points) was on the tough end of a controversial call in the 31st minute when Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver’s free kick from inside his own box deflected off of the head of Chicho Arango outside the box. Josef Martinez collected the ball and chipped into an open net. However, referee Filip Dujic ruled that Arango was too close to Stuver on the free kick and wiped away the goal.

Stuver sent Austin FC into the intermission with the lead as he made three saves in the first half, including a rocket of a shot from Ousseni Bouda in the 33rd minute that Stuver jumped up high to knock it over the net.

The Earthquakes had a golden chance to score the equalizer in the 55th minute when Beau Leroux crossed the ball into the box to a trailing Benji Kikanovic’s whose one-timer hit off the right post and back to the left side where it was cleared out by Austin FC.

San Jose finally got their equalizer in the 74th minute. Jack Skahan centered the ball into the box from the left wing over to Josef Martinez who finished off the play with a header into the near corner of the net for 14th goal of the season. Martinez finished the season as the team leader in goals, edging Arango by one goal.

Tsakiris’ heroics came three minutes later in the 77th minute. After Arango won a free kick just outside the box, it was the young midfielder, who came on as a sub just four minutes earlier, and not captain Cristian Espinoza that blasted the free kick from 20 yards out off of the hand of Stuver and into the back of the right corner of the net for his first career MLS goal.

It was an up and down year for Tsakiris as he just came back from playing with the USMNT’s Under 23 squad at this year’s World Cup in Chile.

“It was definitely a learning year for me,” said Tsakiris. “With injuries, my time on the field obviously wasn’t as much as I would have liked. I think it just taught me to stay patient and be ready for my time—making sure that I’m sharp whenever that opportunity comes. I think the [U.S.] National Team allowed me to kind of stay fit and informed.”

Edwards Jr. finished the match with one save on two shots to earn his first win of the season. Stuver made eight saves on 10 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the match with 15 corner kicks. Austin FC had just one.

San Jose is now 3-2-6 overall (23 GF, 20 GA) against Austin FC in the all-time MLS series and 2-0-3 (10 GF, 5 GA) at home.

Bruce Arena won his 273rd regular-season MLS game to extend his league record among head coaches. The late great Sigi Schmid is second with 240.

The first 5,000 fans through the doors received a Cristian Espinoza “La Máquina (The Machine)” action figure that commemorated his club-record consecutive games streak of 122.

Espinoza had eight key passes to finish as the league leader with 114. He also finished as the league leader in corner kicks (167), chances created (118) and chances created per 90 minutes (3.9) as well as second in MLS in crosses (81) and tied for eighth in assists (12). Espinoza led the Quakes in all of these categories this season.

Tsakiris also accrued his second assist of the season and third of his MLS career in minute 74.

Skahan amassed his second assist of the season and fourth of his MLS career in the 74th minute.

McSorley’s braces paces St. Louis CITY in 3-1 win over Earthquakes

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St. Louis CITY striker Brendan McSorley celebrates his second goal against the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park during St. Louis’ 3-1 victory on Saturday SEP 20, 2025. (St. Louis CITY)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Brendan McSorley picked a good time to score his first career MLS goals.

McSorley scored twice in his first ever start for St. Louis CITY SC as they defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 on Saturday evening at PayPal Park.

It was only McSorley’s third appearance for CITY as the former Providence Friar started the season with St. Louis’ developmental team CITY2 and signed his first professional contract just two weeks ago on September 5th.

For San Jose this loss marks its third in a row and impeded its chances of earning the 9th place and final wild card spot in the Western Conference with three matches left in the regular season. St Louis CITY has won two games in a row for just the second time this season and has points in three consecutive matches.

St. Louis CITY (7-17-7-28-points) drew first blood in the 10th minute. Chris Durkin crossed the ball into the box over to Joao Klauss along the right slot. Klauss headed the ball back into the middle where an unmarked Brendan McSorley one-timed the ball out of the air past Quakes goalkeeper Daniel for his first goal of the season.

San Jose (9-14-8-35 points) had two set piece opportunities two minutes apart in the 16th and 18th minute to score the equalizer, both corner kicks. First in the 16th minute, Cristian Espinoza found Dave Romney inside the box, but Romey’s header was easily saved by CITY goalkeeper Roman Burki. Then in the 18th minute, Chicho Arango’s header from Espinoza’s corner kick sailed just wide right of the net.

Marcel Hartel doubled CITY’s lead in the 19th minute. A long ball in from Durkin made its way over to McSorley just outside the box. McSorley found Hartel who spun and fired a shot past Daniel for his seventh goal of the season. Hartel is second in goals for St. Louis CITY two behind Klauss who leads the team with nine.

The Earthquakes cut their deficit in half when Arango earned a penalty kick in the 29th minute after he was tripped inside the box by right wing Célio Pompeu. Two minutes later, Arango cashed in the penalty with a blistering shot to the left corner of the net for his team leading 13th goal of the season.

McSorley recorded his brace just before halftime. Hartel crossed the ball into the box from just outside the D and McSorley’s diving header sneaked into the bottom left corner of the net for his second goal of the season in the 45th minute.

San Jose turned the momentum to start the second half by creating quality scoring chances only to have those chances blocked or saved by Burki, including four saves in the first 17 minutes. Burki’s best save came in the 80th minute off a right footed blast from Arango.

Burki finished with seven shots on nine shots on target to earn his sixth victory of the season. Daniel made three saves on six shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with 11 corner kicks. St. Louis CITY had three.

Tonight’s attendance was 15,337.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels down to Southern California to take on San Diego FC on Saturday September 27 at 7:30pm at Snapdragon Stadium.

Bouanga’s hat trick powers LAFC past Earthquakes 4-2 in front of record crowd at Levi’s Stadium

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San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Beau Leroux plays the ball away from LAFC midfielder Mathieu Choiniere during LAFC’s 4-2 win at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday SEP 13, 2025. (John Todd, Getty Images)

by Marko Ukalovic

SANTA CLARA, Calif, — The invasion of Heung Min Son made its way to the Bay Area in front of a record crowd of 50,978 at the home of the San Francisco 49ers.

The former Tottenham Spurs captain and Korean national was all the buzz before the match but it was his teammate Denis Bouanga that stole his thunder recording a hat trick in LAFC’s 4-2 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday evening at Levi’s Stadium.

San Jose has lost three out of their last four matches and occupies the 9th and final wild card spot in the Western Conference. LAFC has earned points in four out of its five past matches.

Turnovers told the story for San Jose as LAFC took advantage of the Quakes lack of sharpness to start the match.

LAFC (12-7-8-44 points) began the fireworks in the first minute of the match. A bad turnover by San Jose led to Marco Delgado finding Artem Smolyakov along the left wing. Smolyakov crossed the ball over to Son who easily tapped the ball into an empty net for his second goal in an LAFC kit.

Denis Bouanga scored the first of his two goals in the ninth minute. Bouanga stripped the ball off of Daniel Munie along the sideline at midfield. Bouanga raced down the pitch before depositing the ball off of Quakes goalkeeper Daniel for his 16th goal of the season.

Three minutes later Bouanga had the brace when he broke away from the Quakes defense onside when Sergei Palencia sent a long ball down the right wing. Bouanga dribbled in all alone before chipping the ball over Daniel into the far corner of the net for his 17th goal of the season.

“I have to accept the responsibility that we have two of our better players in [Chicho] Arango and [Cristian] Espinoza turning the ball over right in the opening minute of the game that helped create their goal. We have to be better to start a game. They’re veteran players and they have to be a little bit sharper. You got to give the opponent credit, to turn that into a goal. But poor playing on our part and having a team step on the field and play the way we did in the open minutes of the games, it’s on me. I’m quite surprised at the way we stepped on the field in the opening minutes of the game,” Quakes head coach Bruce Arena said.

San Jose (9-13-8-35 points) finally stopped the bleeding in the 18th minute when they got on the scoreboard. Chicho Arango threaded the needle with a pass between two LAFC defenders into the middle of the box. Preston Judd raced in and fired a shot past LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for his seventh goal of the season.

LAFC put the game away in the 87th minute when Bouanga finished off his hat trick. Palencia came in from the right wing after taking a long ball from midfield. Palencia got Daniel to come out before sending the ball over to Bouanga who tapped in his team leading 18th goal of the season into an empty net. Bouanga finished with four points as he was involved in all four of his team’s goal.

“We haven’t played a back four for a long time, but we had a whole week to work on it. I think we felt pretty good, and we wanted to isolate Rodrigues, because he played really well against [Denis] Bouanga the first time when we went away against LAFC. The way they shaped up was a little different, and he didn’t receive the ball too much in the touchline. They were running behind a lot. I think we were a little naïve in the way we approached that and didn’t really change,” Earthquakes midfielder Ian Harkes said.

The Earthquakes cut the lead in half the 90th minute when Benji Kikanovic crossed the ball into the middle of the box. Josef Martinez’s bicycle kick attempt missed the ball and hit off the knees of Palencia into the back of the net for an own goal. However, it was too little, too late for San Jose as they were dominated their SoCal rival from start to finish.

Lloris, who made three spectacular saves in the second half, earned his 12th win of the season. Daniel made two saves on six shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with 10 corner kicks. LAFC had two.

The previous record for a home Earthquakes game was 50,850 at 2019 California Classico at Stanford Stadium.

The Quakes are now 7-12-1 against LAFC in MLS regular season play with a 6-3-0 record at home.

Judd’s 18th-minute goal was his 11th of his career.

Arango’s 18th-minute assist was his seventh of the season in MLS play and 28th of his career. He increased his tally to five goal contributions (2g/3a) in just four meetings with LAFC.

The Quakes snapped a six-game unbeaten streak in all competitions at Levi’s® Stadium tonight (4-0-2).

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host St. Louis City at 7:30pm at PayPal Park.