San Jose Go Toe-To-Toe With Crew For 90 Minutes But Quest For Late Equalizer Falls Short

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MLS San Jose Earthquakes

San Jose Go Toe-To-Toe With Crew For 90 Minutes But Quest For Late Equalizer Falls Short

April 26, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Jose Earthquakes News Release


San Jose Battle the Columbus Crew
San Jose Battle the Columbus Crew
(San Jose Earthquakes)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The San Jose Earthquakes fell to the Columbus Crew 2-1 on Saturday night at Lower.com Field in front of 20,737 fans.

The hosts opened the scoring off a free kick in the 29th minute when Sean Zawadzki finished a Diego Rossi service from the left wing. But San Jose would equalize in the 40th minute when Dave Romney intercepted a loose ball and found midfieder Beau Leroux, whose through ball was expertly chipped by Josef Martínez over Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte into the back of the net. The two teams went into intermission deadlocked 1-1.

Columbus came out the gate firing in the second half, with a Rossi attempt hitting the post in the 52nd minute. San Jose answered in the 56th minute on the other end when Leroux stole the ball in the box and cut back, but his right-footed curling attempt was just wide of the far post.

In the 62nd minute, the Crew regained the lead off a Max Arfsten blast from the left wing that tucked just inside the near post. Down 2-1, the Quakes almost drew level just two minutes later when an Ian Harkes through ball connected with Preston Judd, but his attempt for the far post was just wide of the net. In the 83rd minute, Chicho Arango crossed a ball that bounced off Ousseni Bouda, and Mark-Anthony Kaye emerged from a scrum to push the ball over the goal line for an apparent equalizer. However, the goal was annulled due to an earlier handball and the scoreline remained the same until the final whistle.

The Black and Blue will now travel home next Saturday, May 3, to take on the Portland Timbers in a match presented by Valley Health Plan. Kickoff from PayPal Park will take place at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (English/Spanish), as well as on local radio via KSFO 810 AM (English) and 1370 AM La Kaliente (Spanish).

GAME NOTES

The Earthquakes moved to 15-21-9 (65 GF, 74 GA) all-time against the Crew and 3-15-3 (21 GF, 35 GA) on the road. It was their first trip to Columbus since April 28, 2018, when they were also edged by the hosts by an identical 2-1 margin.

Josef Martínez's 40th-minute goal was his sixth of the season and 122nd in his MLS career, extending his lead among all active players. He currently stands sixth all-time in league history.

Josef Martínez now boasts seven goal contributions (6g/1a) in 11 career matches against the Crew.

First-year player Beau Leroux's 40th-minute assist on Josef Martínez's goal was his second of the season and third goal contribution (1g/2a).

Left back DeJuan Jones, who was traded from Columbus to San Jose earlier this week, returned to Lower.com Field and made his Quakes debut in the 65th minute.

Quakes team captain Cristian Espinoza extended his consecutive games streak-a club record and the longest active run in MLS-to 119, third on the league's all-time list.

San Jose defender Max Floriani, chosen second overall in this year's MLS SuperDraft out of St. Louis University, made his first MLS start.

The Quakes held their spot atop the MLS team goals leaderboard after scoring one more to run their total to 20. They also lead the league in expected goals with 24.61.

Columbus Crew 2 - 1 San Jose Earthquakes

Saturday, April 26, 2025 - Lower.com Field; Columbus, Ohio

Weather: 55°F Partly Cloudy

Attendance: 20,737

Match Officials:

Referee: Guido Gonzales, Jr.

AR1: Jeffrey Greeson

AR2: Justin Howard

VAR: Kevin Terry, Jr.

AVAR: Craig Lowry

4th Official: Calin Radosav

Scoring Summary:

CLB (1-0) - Sean Zawadzki (Diego Rossi) 29'

SJ (1-1) - Josef Martínez (Beau Leroux) 40'

CLB (2-1) - Max Arfsten (Aziel Jackson) 62'

Misconduct Summary:

CLB - Steven Moreira (caution) 84'

CLB - Patrick Schulte (caution) 86'

COLUMBUS CREW: Patrick Schulte (GK); Malte Amundsen, Mohamed Farsi, Max Arfsten, Steven Moreira; Darlington Nagbe, Dylan Chambost, Sean Zawadzki; Daniel Gazdag, Diego Rossi, Jacen Russell-Rowe (Aziel Jackson 54').

Substitutes not used: Evan Bush (GK), Yevhen Cheberko, Taha Habroune, Andres Herrera, Derrick Jones, Lassi Lappalainen, Cesar Ruvalcaba, Amar Sejdic.

POSS.: 60%; SHOTS: 16; SOG: 3; CORNERS: 7; OFFSIDES: 3; SAVES: 5; FOULS: 6; xG: 3.4

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Daniel (GK); Daniel Munie, Dave Romney, Max Floriani; Vítor Costa (DeJuan Jones 65'), Ian Harkes (Niko Tsakiris 75'), Beau Leroux (Mark-Anthony Kaye 75'), Cristian Espinoza (C); Cristian "Chicho" Arango, Amahl Pellegrino (Ousseni Bouda 66'), Josef Martínez (Preston Judd 46').

Substitutes not used: Earl Edwards Jr. (GK), Nick Lima, Reid Roberts, Rodrigues.

POSS.: 40%; SHOTS: 15; SOG: 6; CORNERS: 2; OFFSIDES: 4; SAVES: 1; FOULS: 14; xG: 2

EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA

On the team's performance tonight:

"I thought our team played well. Obviously, Columbus is a very good team and playing at home. It's never easy playing here. I thought we played well. We had our chances to get a second goal for sure. I think overall, we had a good performance. It's something for our team to build on."

"We had some pretty good chances in the second half. I think Preston Judd had two or three pretty good chances. I think Chicho [Arango] probably had a good chance as well. [Columbus] obviously had a couple, and obviously their second goal was a counterattack where they executed quite well. So give them credit."

On Josef Martínez scoring again and why he sat out the second half:

"I believe that was his sixth goal of the year. That's pretty good for the first 10 games. ... He's doing his job. He's a No. 9 (center forward). He's supposed to score goals and he has. So a lot of credit to Josef over our first 10 games."

"He had a little bit of a tight hamstring and we thought it was best take him out and not put him in the position to get injured. So that was my decision at halftime."

On Max Floriani making his first MLS start:

"I thought he played very well. Not only his first start, it's his first significant minutes in the league. I think we gave him five or 10 minutes last week. So for basically his first start, I thought he played very well."

On the Quakes debut of former Columbus Crew defender DeJuan Jones:

"He did a good job. It's going to take him a little time to get adjusted to our team. Overall, I think he's going to be a good addition for us."

EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER MARK-ANTHONY KAYE

On the team's performance tonight:

"We should have gotten something out of this game. At least a point. The chance where the keeper gives it right to Beau [Leroux], that's a good opportunity. Preston [Judd] is in a couple times. [Ousseni] Bouda is in a couple times. That's four or five good chances in the second half. If one is a goal, the result changes. It's hard to say if the result is fair, because we didn't take our chances. Columbus did so and we had opportunities to do so. It's difficult to say. I think at least come away with a point and we would have felt like we got something we deserved."

On the handball call that reversed an 83rd-minute Quakes equalizer:

"I'm still kind of unsure of what the call was. Obviously, we know it was a handball. But I think the defender played it off [Ousseni] Bouda, which is unintentional. It came to me. I just wanted to make sure I could put it over the line and they called the goal back. It's unfortunate. I think we created a lot of chances in the last 15 minutes of the game to really come back and score to tie it. We just weren't clinical enough and we hurt ourselves in that way."

On the team conceding the 62nd-minute goal:

"It did take us a while in the second half. We were still in the game and I think the second goal kind of made it just a little bit more difficult. We picked it up in the last 15. Columbus is a good team-possession-oriented, high-risk, high-reward for them, that's their football. They gave us some chances that we should have put away. ... It's unlucky. We played well enough to get something out of this game. It's disappointing when you come back from the locker room and you don't have three points or a point."

On Josef Martínez's impact on the team:

"He brings a sense of calmness. He obviously is a prolific goalscorer. We know that he has the capability to pull a rabbit out of his hat. His desire to win is huge. Bruce [Arena] has brought a lot of guys in who hold the standards high. Josef is a big part of the team.

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San Jose Battle the Columbus Crew
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