Tag: mls

by Marko Ukalovic

San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Beau Leroux attempts a shot on net that deflected off of Seattle Sounder defender Jackson Regan for his first career MLS goal at Pay Pal Park on Saturday MAR 29, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

SAN JOSE — Albert Rusnak’s late match heroics allowed the Seattle Sounders to earn a point against the San Jose Earthquakes in a 1-1 draw in the first installment of the 2025 edition of the Heritage Cup on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose snapped its three-match pointless streak with the draw. Seattle has points in three out of its past four MLS contests after bowing out from the CONCACAF Champions Cup by Liga MX’s Cruz Azul in a 4-1 loss back on March 11th.

Earthquakes head coach Bruce Arena made changes to his backline and formation after losing to Charlotte FC last week by a score of 4-1. Out were Nick Lima and Jamar Ricketts and in was Rodrigues. Arena went with a 3-5-2 formation as opposed to the 4-2-3-1 he employed in Charlotte.

Seattle (1-2-3) had the match’s first quality scoring chance in the 18th minute. Alex Roldan headed the ball from the center of the box but a leaping save by Quakes goalkeeper Daniel to knock the ball over the cross bar kept the game scoreless.

San Jose (2-3-1) responded six minutes later with its first descent scoring chance. Beau Leroux’s diving header attempt from three yards out was easily saved by Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei in the 24th minute.

“The first half we played well, but the second half we did not. Give Seattle a lot of credit; they have a good team. [They’ve] been together a long time, very experienced and obviously put on a lot of pressure. To get a point is a fair result,” Arena said.

The Earthquakes broke through and drew first blood in the 32nd minute thanks to a turnover by the Sounders. Leroux intercepted a pass from Roldan and his shot deflected off of Jackson Regan up into the air, past the outstretched reach of Frei and into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.

“I kissed the badge,” said the San Jose native Leroux. “This club means everything to me. You know they took a chance on me. I just love this club. I love San Jose and the people. I definitely feel some weight off my shoulders but still have a lot to work on. So, we still have a lot to do to get these results and go for three points.”

San Jose kept the pressure on in the final 5 minutes of the opening 45 minutes. Leroux nearly had a brace when his shot was saved by Frei the center of the box in the 41st minute. Then two minutes later Preston Judd’s right footed shot from a similar spot inside the box sailed just wide.

The Sounders regained the momentum earlier in the second half with back-to-back scoring chances on the same possession. Pressure inside the Quakes box forced Daniel to make two big saves with both shots by Nouhou Tolo in a 15 second span in the 51st minute.

A bit of controversary ensued in the 75th minute when there was an apparent foul inside the box committed by Ragen against Josef Martinez was uncalled by referee Guido Gonzales Jr. despite Martinez beating Ragen to the ball with Ragen impeding Martinez’s progress and knocking him to the ground.

Seattle scored the equalizer in the 80th minute when Cristian Roldan crossed the ball from left to right over to Rusnak. The left winger dribbled in before firing a shot past Daniel into the lower left corner for Rusnak’s second goal of the season in the 80th minute.

“It’s certainly something that we know has to get better. Against this team tonight, they’re a good team. I think they scored five or six goals a couple weeks ago. We have to get [Josef] Martínez and [Chicho] Arango on the field together. We had to be careful with Josef tonight because of his traveling [due to international duty]. I think we really need to see our team through the first half of the season to really be able to analyze correctly where we’re at and where we need to go,” Arena said.

Daniel had a great night in between the pipes as he stopped nine of the 10 shots on goal, with the majority of those coming in the second half. Frei made two saves on three shots to earn his side of the draw.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with four corner kicks. Seattle had 12.

Espinoza extended his consecutive game streak to 115, the longest active run in MLS.

San Jose is 5-0-3 vs Seattle in all competitions since 2021 and are 3-0-1 at home during that stretch.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts D.C. United on Sunday April 6th at 2:00pm at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose Earthquakes forward Chico Arango (#9) plays the ball up high while being defended by Minnesota United’s Morris Duggan (#23) during the United’s 1-0 victory at Pay Pal Park on Saturday MAR 8, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE —Kelvin Yaboah has been all of the offense for Minnesota United FC.

His lone goal in the first half proved to be the winner as United shutout the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose has lost for the first time this season after starting the season 2-0. They attempted to make franchise history by starting the season with consecutive wins in MLS play. It was Deja vu for Minnesota United as they won for a second consecutive week by a score of 1-0.

“[Minnesota United FC] defended very well. They dealt with a lot of crosses quite well. We obviously made a mistake on the goal, not clearing the ball properly, and not doing a good job stepping to the player who finished. I don’t even know who finished the goal, but bad defending on our part on that particular play, I’m not concerned about a couple of chances they got at the end of the game, because we were very exposed trying to get the goal. We opened ourselves up. We were well aware that was going to happen. I give our keeper [Daniel] credit. He made a lot of good saves,” Quakes head coach Bruce Arena said.

Minnesota United (2-1-0) drew first blood in the 33rd minute. A failed clearing attempt out of the box by San Jose led to Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi collecting the ball out of the air. Oluwaseyi found Michael Boxall inside the box on the right side. Boxall quickly passed it over to Kelvin Yeboah who beat Quakes goalkeeper Daniel with a shot to far corner for his second goal of the season. Yaboah has scored both of Minnesota United’s goals this season.

San Jose (2-1-0) had pressure inside Minnesota United’s zone early in the first ten minutes of the opening 45 minutes. Their best scoring chance came in the 29th minute when Jamar Ricketts centered a ball into the box for a Josef Martinez shot attempt. However, Martinez’s shot was blocked by a United defender and cleared out of the box.

In the 62nd minute Morris Duggan had a great scoring chance to double Minnesota United’s lead, but Daniel made a diving save to his left to keep the ball out of the net.

The Earthquakes won a free quick just outside the box in the 65th minute. Cristian Espinoza’s bid to even the score with his free kick curled just to the right of the net out of bounds.

“Yes, absolutely yes,” said Espinoza when asked if he thought he had scored once he kicked it. “As soon as I saw the ball going over the wall, I was almost expecting that it was going to end up inside the net. It was very close, but unfortunately, I didn’t score the goal.”

Then in the 78th minute, Mark-Anthony Kaye’s right footed shot from outside the box in the center was blocked by Hassani Dotson. San Jose’s best attempt to score the equalizer came in the 80th minute when full back Dave Romney’s (San Jose Earthquakes) with right footed shot from the central position outside the box was knocked away by Minnesota United goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair.

St. Clair finished the match with two saves on the evening to earn his second clean sheet of the season. Daniel made five saves on six shots on goal in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with 10 corner kicks. Minnesota United had four.

Midfielder Niko Tsakiris made his season debut when he came in as a substitute for Rodriguez in the second minute of stoppage time.

San Jose is 7-7-4 in the all-time series versus Minnesota United.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Colorado Rapids on Saturday 3/15 at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose Earthquakes wingback Jamar Ricketts is emphatic after scoring his first career MLS goal in his first career MLS start against Real Salt Lake at Pay Pal Park on Saturday FEB 22, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Earthquakes are out to prove the critics wrong in 2025.

San Jose scored three goals in the second half to route Real Salt Lake 4-0 in the season and home opener on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose started out the season with a win for the for first time since 2018 and first home opener win since 2021. Real Salt Lake has lost to San Jose three out of its last four matches.

“It means a lot, it means a lot to us,” said Quakes midfielder Cristian Espinoza on the team snapping the losing streak to start the new season. “We’re coming off a really tough year last year. We worked really hard in the preseason to be at this level in this first game. To be honest, I’m really happy because of the performance of the team. I personally want to go and congratulate my teammates because they made a really big effort tonight.”

It was a beginning of a new era of Quakes soccer with the coaching debut of head coach Bruce Arena, who brings a winning pedigree with having had success with Los Angeles as well as the debuts of newly acquired strikers Josef Martinez and Cristian “Chicho” Arango, both proven goal scorers throughout their MLS careers.

San Jose (1-0-0) drew first blood in the 28th minute for the game’s first goal. Beau Leroux dribbled in from the right wing before centering the ball into the middle of the box. Midfielder Jamar Ricketts, who made his first career MLS start, one-timed the ball between two Real Salt Lake defenders into the back corner of the net past goalkeeper Rafael Barbosa for his first career MLS goal. Ricketts was San Jose’s first round draft pick last year in the MLS Super Draft taken 13th overall.

“Playing wingback, you gotta be up and down the field,” said Ricketts regarding his goal. “But as I seen the ball, seen Beau (Leroux) travelling inside the box, I knew I had to crash the back post and be aggressive. So, once I seen the ball come across, I was like, I gotta be the first to win the ball. And that’s how I got my foot on it.”

Leroux, who signed a first-team contract just yesterday, dished his first MLS assist. He was  not only making his first MLS start for the Quakes but also his MLS debut. A San Jose native, Leroux scored five goals last season for the Quakes’ MLS NEXT Pro team, The Town FC.

The Earthquakes had a chance to double its lead in the 38th minute when Ricketts centered a ball into the box for Arango but Chicho’s shot attempt sailed high over the net.

Sunnyvale, Calif. native Diego Luna led the attack for Real Salt Lake (0-1-0) in the opening 45 minutes. He had three shot attempts but all sailed wide right of the net. RSL registered its first shot on goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Tyler Wolff’s free kick was deflected off of the wall of San Jose defenders from just outside the box. The rebound leaked out to Alexandros Katranisa who fired a shot on target that Quakes goalkeeper Daniel jumped high in the air to deflect the ball over the net.

San Jose had a goal disallowed in the 51st minute after Cristian Espinoza chipped the ball past a RSL defender and centered a ball out to Arango who shot the ball into the back of the net. The sideline judge deemed Espinoza was offsides wiping out the goal.

Real Salt Lake had chances to score the equalizer from Pablo Ruiz and Nelson Palacio in the 63rd and 64th minutes but Daniel stoned away the three total attempts on net.

“We made some mistakes we have to get better at, but the nice part about this team is when we started to rebuild our roster, we wanted the team in place all preseason, instead of bringing in guys this week or last week, two weeks from now. So, we’ve had a month to try to become a team,” Arena said.

The Quakes doubled their lead on its first set piece of the season. Espinoza’s free kick sailed into the middle of the box and Rodriguez headed the ball over the outstretched arms of Barbosa into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.

San Jose scored its third unanswered goal four minutes later. On a counterattack, Espinoza sent in a long ball from just beyond midfield into the center of the box. Justen Glad misplayed the ball out of the air and Ousseni Bouda, who came into the game as a substitute in the 67th minute, collected the ball and calmly kicked the ball past Barbosa for his first goal of the season.

Left back Vitor Costa closed out the scoring for San Jose in the 83rd minute when he finished off a centering pass from Mark-Anthony Kaye as the Earthquakes kept their foot on the gas pedal in the onslaught.

Daniel finished the match stopping all seven shots he faced to earn his first clean sheet of the season and also his seventh career shutout in MLS play. Barbosa made five saves on nine shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with six corner kicks. Real Salt Lake had five.

The 4-0 final margin is the Quakes’ largest victory in a season opener in club history.

Espinoza’s three assists marked his 10th career multi-assist game in MLS play, giving him 74 total helpers to extend his career club record.

Espinoza extended his run of consecutive MLS regular-season games played tonight to a current league-high of 110 (Oct. 2, 2021 – present). The streak is not only a Quakes record but now fifth longest in MLS history and second among all field players in MLS history, passing Darlington Nagbe (May 1, 2021 – Apr. 6, 2024). Goalkeeper Luis Robles holds the league record with 183 straight appearances (Sept. 29, 2012 – May 12, 2018).

San Jose is 18-15-12 in the all-time series verses Real Salt Lake.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to the Midwest to take on Sporting KC on Saturday 3/1 at Children’s Mercy Park.

San Jose Earthquakes captain Jackson Yueill (#14) celebrates with Hernán López (#23) after the first of two goals scored by López against FC Dallas in the Quakes 3-2 win at Pay Pal Park on Wednesday OCT 2, 2024. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Hernán López picked a great time to record his first MLS multi-goal game.

López scored two goals as the San Jose Earthquakes held on late to defeat FC Dallas 3-2 on Wednesday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose won for the first time in their last six matches. FC Dallas has lost three of their past four matches and with the loss were eliminated from playoff contention in the Western Conference.

It was the Hernán show on a hot muggy night in the South Bay. With temperatures still in the 90’s at game time, the Man of the Match recorded his first brace in a Quakes uniform since the Argentine midfielder signed with the club back in April of this year.

Earthquakes interim head coach Ian Russell flipped his lineup around going with a 4-2-3-1 formation that saw Bruno Wilson and Oscar Verhoeven inserted into the back line and fullback Paul Marie upfront with López and Cristian Espinoza.

“It’s been a tough season, but these fans deserve a win,” said Russell on how good the win felt. “The team deserves a win. So, I said [to the team], ‘Just enjoy tonight.’ The game did feel pretty comfortable. We looked dangerous on the break. The last four or five games have been pretty dangerous on the break, but this one, we finished our chances.”

San Jose (6-23-3-21-points) drew first blood in the 14th minute. Wilson, who cracked the starting lineup since injuring his hamstring against NYCFC on May 31st, found López down the middle from the right wing. López spun around, made one touch with the ball before firing a left-footed shot past FC Dallas goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer to the lower left side of the net from 25 yards out for his fifth goal of the season.

FC Dallas (10-15-7-37 points) leveled the match in the 41st minute. Paul Arriola chipped a ball into the middle of the box where the ball bounced off the chest of Petar Musa over to unmarked Alan Velasco who beat ‘Quakes goalkeeper Daniel with a left-footed shot for his second goal of the season.

The match was headed toward a draw until the late match magic from López who scored his second goal in the 79th minute. A collision between two FC Dallas defenders created a turnover San Jose took advantage of. Amahl Pelegrino dribbled the ball down the left wing before centering the ball back into the middle. López controlled the ball before chipping it over Maurer just inside the right post for his sixth goal of the season.

“I was happy to score tonight. Obviously, the season hasn’t gone our way, but being able to finish the season strong, we’re happy to see that and I’m thrilled with the victory … Obviously, you’d like to score three goals, but I wasn’t able to do that. I’m just very happy to be able to score two goals at home. … I was able to dedicate those goals to my mother and my father and my family,” López said.

Jeremy Ebobisse, who came in as a sub in the 63rd minute for Jack Skahan, gave San Jose an insurance goal that ended up proving to be the game winner just four minutes later. Once again, a turnover by FC Dallas in the middle of the pitch led to a Quakes counterattack. Niko Tsakiris intercepted a pass that freed Ebobisse up the pitch. A give and go between Ebobisse and Tsakiris led to the veteran striker finishing a left-footed shot with authority into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season.

FC Dallas, with their season on the line, didn’t go down quietly. Bernard Kamungo earned a penalty kick after VAR reviewed Wilson’s foul for knocking down Kamungo inside the box in the 89th minute. However, Daniel made a diving save knocking the bound out of bounds on Jesús Ferreira’s penalty attempt right before stoppage time.

Sebastien Ibeagha made it a one-goal game in the 90th minute when he headed in a corner kick from Sebastian Lletget into the far corner of the net for his second goal of the season. FC Dallas had one last chance to score the equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time but Kamungo’s bicycle kick from inside the box sailed just high over the net.

Daniel made three saves on four shots on goal to earn the victory. Maurer made one save on five shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with four corner kicks. FC Dallas had five.

Pellegrino’s 79th-minute assist was his second in MLS play and fourth in all competitions, running his goal contribution total to nine in MLS play (7g/2a) and 11 in all competitions (7g/4a).

Tsakiris recorded the first assist in his MLS career in the 83rd minute; it was his second assist and goal contribution in all competitions (0g/2a).

Espinoza’s assist of López’s 14th-minute goal was his 14th of the season in MLS play, lifting him to a tie for sixth on the overall league leaderboard. The assist also puts him now at 18 goal contributions in MLS play (4g/14a) and 21 in all competitions (5g/16a).

Espinoza also became the first player in Earthquakes history to have three straight seasons with 10 or more assists in MLS play (2022: 14; 2023: 13; 2024: 14 and counting).

San Jose is 30-22-22 in the overall series with FC Dallas.

UP NEXT: San Jose plays their regular season home finale on Saturday 10/5 against Real Salt Lake at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

St. Louis City forward Joao Klauss and San Jose Earthquakes defender Tanner Beason race for a loose ball during St. Louis City’s 2-1 win over San Jose at Pay Pal Park on Saturday SEP 21, 2024. (St. Louis City SC)

by Mark Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — St. Louis City scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the match and held on to edge the San Jose Earthquakes in 2-1 victory on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose has lost three out of its last four matches and still has not earned a point against St. Louis in four matches. St. Louis City has have won two out of its last three matches.

St. Louis City (6-11-13) drew first blood in the fourth minute. Marcel Hartel sent a cross from along the right sideline into the middle of the box. Jannes Horn quickly touched it over to an unmarked Cedric Teuchert who buried a right footed shot into an open net for his fourth goal of the season.

Thanks to a controversial call, the visiting team doubled its lead in the 13th minute. Joao Klauss chipped a ball near the box where Rodrigues took down Hartel while trying to clear the ball. After VAR review the play was ruled a penalty. Hartel finished off the penalty when he hesitated before kicking the ball to the left side of the net past ‘Quakes goalkeeper William Yarbrough for his second goal of the season.

“If it’s that close and it wasn’t called (a penalty) in live play, and it was not super clear, I don’t know why you’re giving a penalty. I’m surprised they (VAR) even called (down to the referee) ‘hey there’s a potential penalty.’ Again it didn’t even look like (the foul) was in the box. Even on replays, so why are you giving one,” ‘Quakes interim head coach Ian Russell said.

San Jose (5-22-3) had its first quality scoring chance in the 27th minute. Niko Tsakiris started a counterattack inside the St. Louis zone with an interception. Tsakiris found Cristian Espinoza along the right wing. Espinoza crossed the ball into the middle where a trailing Hernan Lopez’s one-timer was stoned away by St. Louis City goalkeeper Roman Buerki.

Then in the 32nd minute, another turnover by St. Louis led Lopez to spring Jeremy Ebobisse on a partial breakaway. Ebobisse’s right-footed shot was knocked up and over the net by Buerki. The resulting corner kick bounced over to Rodrigues, but his turnaround attempt didn’t muster much power and was easily controlled by Buerki.

San Jose finally broke through to cut the lead in half in the 40th minute. Espinoza found Ebobisse along the right slot and Ebobisse sent a touch pass out to Carlos Akapo to the right side of the box. Akapo centered the ball back to Ebobisse who beat Buerki with a left footed shot to the lower right corner of the net for his fifth goal of the season.

“The point of the game is to get three points,” said Ebobisse regarding the frustration of the outcome. “To be dominant or have more opportunities and not convert, it’s ok if it happens once or twice a year. If it’s happening several times, and then the games that you are out played you’re not able to steal points, you end up in the situation that we’re in right now.”

The Earthquakes had a chance for the equalizer in the 69th minute when Tanner Beason sent a long ball from inside his own zone that took a favorable bounce out to a Jack Skahan. Josh Yaro bodied Skahan inside the box resulting in Skahan’s shot just wide of the net.

Espinioza gave the Quakes their best chance to even the match in the 76th minute when he received the ball from San Jose captain Jackson Yueill, but his shot between two St. Louis City defenders from eight yards out was gobbled up by Buerki.

Buerki stopped four of the five shots he faced to earn the victory. Yarbrough didn’t make a save during the match with both shots on target were goals in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Each team finished the match with four corner kick each.

San Jose is 0-4 against St. Louis City in all the time series.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels north of the border to take on Montreal on Saturday 9/28 at 4:30pm at Stade Saputo.