Tag: mls

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.

San Jose Earthquakes defender Daniel Munie battles for the ball against San Diego FC’s Jeppe Tverskov during San Diego’s 2-1 win over San Jose at PayPal Park on Sunday AUG 17, 2025. (Brandon Vallance-Getty Images)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — You can’t let a sleeping dog lie around too long.

Anders Dreyer scored the game winning goal in the 84th minute as San Diego FC delivered a 2-1 comeback win over the San Jose Earthquakes in the first ever matchup between the two squads on Sunday afternoon at PayPal Park.

San Jose has lost three out its last four matches and remained in 9th place and the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 32 points. San Diego has won three league matches in a row and five overall including Leagues Cup play as they remained atop of the Western Conference standings with 52 points.

San Jose (8-11-9-32 points) dominated the first half play with nine total shots compared to just two for San Diego. The Earthquakes had three quality chances in the final five minutes of the half. Cristian Espinoza had two chances in the 42nd and 45th minutes with two shots inside the box. Espinoza’s first attempt sailed just wide left of the net. Then his second attempt was stopped by San Diego goalkeeper CJ dos Santos.

San Diego (16-7-5-52 points) came into the match with injuries to their back line with three of their starting defenders out. Leading MVP candidate Dreyer was relatively quiet for the MLS all-star and Jeppe Tverskov who is second on the team with nine assists.

The Quakes broke through on the scoreboard in the 72nd minute thanks to an embarrassing blunder by dos Santos inside his own box. dos Santos nonchalantly tried to kick the ball out of the zone but Noel Buck, who came in as a substitute a minute before, pressured dos Santos and the ball deflected off his body. Josef Martinez collected the ball, made a move around dos Santos and delivered the ball into the back of the net off of the head of Manu Duah for his team leading 12th goal of the season and 128th of his MLS career.

The expansion club struck back to even the match in the 81st minute. Franco Negri crossed the ball into the middle of the box from just outside the 18 on the left side. An unmarked Marcus Ingvartsen buried the ball into the back of the net with a header for his second goal of the season.

Then three minutes later San Diego gained its first lead on a counterattack play. Christopher McVey sent the ball up Ingvarsten inside their defensive zone. Ingvarsten quickly sent a long pass out to Dreyer for a breakaway attempt. Dreyer got Quakes goalkeeper Daniel to go down before gliding the ball into the far corner of the net for his team leading 13th goal of the season.

dos Santos finished the match with four saves on five shots to earn the victory. Daniel made one save on three shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with three corner kicks. San Diego had six.

The Earthquakes celebrated Autism Awareness Night, where the first 200 fans who bought a special-event ticket benefiting autism organizations received a limited-edition poster illustrated by artist Shane Tarkington, who was diagnosed with autism at age 2. Quakes Sporting Director/Head Coach Bruce Arena joined his grandson Holden, who was diagnosed with autism at an early age, in the ceremonial First Kick with his mother Jenny and father Kenny, who is currently an FC Cincinnati assistant coach. Comedian Ron Funches, whose son was also diagnosed with autism, fired the ceremonial pregame siren.

DeJuan Jones is the only Quakes player who had previously faced San Diego FC. The defender tallied an assist against San Diego with former club Columbus Crew on March 15, 2025. 

Espinoza had three key passes to run his league-leading total to 89. His 12 assists are still good for fourth in MLS (tied).

After scoring once today, the Quakes are now tied for fourth in the league for team goals (50), behind Orlando City SC and Inter Miami CF (53) and San Diego FC (52). 

The Earthquakes continue to lead MLS in expected goals (55.73).

UP NEXT: San Jose begins a two-match road trip on Saturday August 23rd when they play the Houston Dynamo at 5:30pm at Shell Energy Stadium.

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.

San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Beau Leroux battles for possession of the ball with FC Dallas wingback John Todd at PayPal Park on Wednesday JUL 16, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — If you blinked for a second, you might have thought you traveled back to 1996.

The San Jose Earthquakes, who donned kits from 1996 when they were known as the Clash, came back after giving up the go-head go to settle for a 2-2 draw with FC Dallas on Wednesday evening at PayPal Park.

San Jose has earned a point in three of its last four matches and currently sit in ninth place in the Western Conference. FC Dallas is winless in its past five matches.

Earthquakes center fullback Bruno Wilson returned to the Starting XI after missing the majority of the first half of the season with a leg injury. Midfielder Niko Tsakiris was also added to the starting lineup by Quakes head coach Bruce Arena.

“It was a sloppy performance at the end of both halves,” said Arena. “The first goal they scored, we could have done better on that play. We give them credit. The second goal they scored, we have three guys that just fell asleep, did a really poor job. I give our guys a lot of credit getting a point out of this game. In a game where we’re a little bit better, maybe we win by a couple of goals. I’m disappointed in our inability to see out both halves. The first half, we should have gone in at 1-0. And I would have liked to have had the game at 1-1 in the final minutes and see if we could win. We put ourselves in a difficult position.”

San Jose (7-8-8-29 points) drew first blood in the 21st minute. A shot attempt by Rodrigues from 20 yards out deflected inside the box off of a FC Dallas defender. Chicho Arango touched the ball over to Joesef Martinez in the center of the box. Martinez sent a back pass out to an open Ian Harkes right at the D. The Quakes fullback buried a shot past FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes into the upper right corner for his second goal of the season.

Vitor Costa went down with an injury in the 30th minute when he committed a high foul against Shaq Moore just outside the box. Costa laid on the pitch for a few minutes until he was carted off of the field by the medical staff. To add insult to injury, Costa was issued a yellow card on the play by referee Ramy Touchan. Dave Romney came in as a sub to replace Costa in the 33rd minute.

“It’s two players going in for a ball, and I could be mistaken that the [FC Dallas] player probably got to the ball first and went through it and got to Vítor. It wasn’t a foul on Vítor. The injuries, unfortunate, but it’s certainly not a foul on Vítor. I think was almost like a 50/50 play. I haven’t seen it on film, so I can’t give more detail. He took about a dozen stitches,” Arena said.

On the ensuing free kick for Dallas (5-10-7-22-points), Patrickson Delgado crossed the ball into the center of the box where Sebastien Ibeahga’s left footed one-timer from point-blank range was saved Bernardo Kumango shot saved by Quakes goalkeeper Daniel.

FC Dallas scored the equalizer just before halftime in the third minute of stoppage time. Petar Musa started the counterattack when he threaded a pass between three Quakes defenders that sprung Delgado on a breakaway. Deglado’s chip shot hit off the crossbar, but the Croatian striker followed up the play by collecting the rebound and beat Daniel with a right-footed shot into the near corner for his team leading eighth goal of the season.

Musa recorded his brace in the 85th when he gave FC Dallas their first lead of the match. A give and go inside the box between Ramiro and Logan Farrington, with Farrington making a pretty back pass, led to Ramiro finding Musa all alone in front of the net for an easy tap in for his ninth goal of the season.

The lead didn’t last long for the visitors as the Earthquakes scored their equalizer a minute later. Romey sent a ball down the left wing to Jack Skahan, who remained onside, as he fought the ball away from Kaick Ferreira. Skahan crossed the ball into the middle from the endline to Josef Martinez who headed the ball into the net for his ninth goal of the season.

The officiating was suspect throughout the entire match as Touchan issued five yellow cards to San Jose but none to FC Dallas despite hard fouls taken on both sides of the ball.

Daniel finished three saves on five shots for his eighth draw of the season. Paes made one save on three shots.

“We wanted to win. I think was a very important game to win. We didn’t win. We are not happy about that, but we have to keep working. We have a big chance to go to the playoffs, and we want that a lot. So keep working. Tomorrow is another day. In three days, we have another game so we can improve and we have an opportunity to win,” Bruno said.

GAME NOTES: San Jose and FC Dallas both finished the match with four kicks.

San Jose Earthquakes is now 31-22-23 all-time against FC Dallas with a 18-8-13 home record.

On Tuesday, the Quakes announced team captain Cristian Espinoza was named to the 2025 Major League Soccer All-Star roster. The match will take place next Wednesday, July 23, at Austin FC’s Q2 Stadium.

Espinoza made two key passes, extending his league lead to 72. He also ranks second in MLS with 11 assists.

Martínez’s 21st-minute assist was his second in league play and the 22nd of his MLS career. His ninth in league play and the 125th of his MLS career, good for sixth in the all-time rankings.

With 43 goals in 22 matches, the Black and Blue are currently tied for third in Major League Soccer, three goals behind leaders San Diego FC and one behind Inter Miami CF. The Quakes are currently second in MLS in expected goals (46.7), trailing only Nashville SC (47).

Tonight’s attendance was 15,304.

UP NEXT: San Jose begin a two-game road trip when they travel up to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seattle Sounders on Saturday July 19th at 5:30 pm at Lumen Field.