MEDIA RELEASE:
Feb. 22, 2025
MATCH RECAP: Earthquakes 4, Real Salt Lake 0
San Jose triumphant in new coach Bruce Arena’s Earthquakes debut; Cristian Espinoza dazzles home crowd with three assists
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes defeated Real Salt Lake 4-0 on Saturday night in front of 17,432 fans at PayPal Park to open the 2025 Major League season.
San Jose struck first in the 28th minute when Cristian Espinoza passed to recently signed midfielder Beau Leroux on the right wing. The debutant’s incisive pass rolled through the box to a streaking Jamar Ricketts, who scored his first MLS goal.
The Earthquakes doubled their advantage in the 70th minute when Espinoza’s corner kick was headed home by a leaping Rodrigues. Four minutes later, San Jose put the match away when Espinoza’s long ball, his third assist of the night, found forward Ousseni Bouda, who coolly finished to put the Quakes up 3-0. Defender Vítor Costa added an exclamation point in the 84th minute when he slotted a Mark-Anthony Kaye pass into the back of the net for the final 4-0 margin.
The Black and Blue will now head out on their first road trip of the season to take on Sporting Kansas City next Saturday, Mar. 1. Kickoff from Children’s Mercy Park will take place at 5:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (English/Spanish), as well as on local radio via KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM (English) and 1370 AM La Kaliente (Spanish).
GAME NOTES
With the win, San Jose moved to 17-15-12 all-time vs. RSL (61 GF, 62 GA) with a home record of 11-7-5 (40 GF, 28 GA).
The 4-0 final margin is the Quakes’ largest victory in a season opener in club history.
Defender Jamar Ricketts, who was selected in the first round of the 2024 SuperDraft (13th overall), scored his first MLS goal in the 28th minute. Midfielder Beau Leroux, who was selected in the second round that year (42nd overall), and team captain Cristian Espinoza supplied the assists.
Forward Cristian 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).
Forward Cristian 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.
Defender Rodrigues scored his first goal of the season in the 70th minute and fifth career goal in MLS play.
Forward Ousseni Bouda scored his first goal of the season in the 74th minute and third career goal in MLS play.
Defender Vítor Costa’s first goal of the season in the 83rd minute was his third career goal in MLS play.
Midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye’s first assist in the 83rd minute was his 27th career assist in MLS play.
Goalkeeper Daniel made eight saves and earned his first clean sheet of the season, which was also his seventh career shutout in MLS play.
Midfielder Beau 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.
A grand total of 87 Quakes players made the starting lineup in their MLS debut, with the most recent being defender Oscar Verhoeven on July 20, 2024, at Minnesota United FC. Of those 87 players, Leroux now becomes the 11th to have made a goal contribution, with the most recent being Oswaldo Alanis on Feb. 29, 2020, against Toronto FC.
Tonight’s win gives Bruce Arena his 263rd win in MLS regular-season play, a league record. The late great Sigi Schmid is second with 240 victories.
Defender Dave Romney, midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye, forward Chicho Arango and forward Josef Martínez also made their Black and Blue debuts Saturday night.
San Jose Earthquakes 4 – 0 Real Salt Lake
Saturday, February 22, 2025 – PayPal Park; San Jose, Calif.
Weather: 60°F Clear
Attendance: 17,432
Match Officials:
REF: Malik Badawi
AR1: Corey Rockwell
AR2: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt
4TH: Brandon Stevis
VAR: Shawn Tehini
AVAR: Joshua Patlak
Scoring Summary:
SJ (1-0) – Jamar Ricketts (Beau Leroux, Cristian Espinoza) 28’
SJ (2-0) – Rodrigues (Cristian Espinoza) 70’
SJ (3-0) – Ousseni Bouda (Cristian Espinoza) 74’
SJ (4-0) – Vítor Costa (Cristian Espinoza) 83’
Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Alexandros Katranis (caution) 54’
SJ – Cristian Espinoza (caution) 73’
SJ – Ian Harkes (caution) 81’
SJ – Mark-Anthony Kaye (caution) 87’
RSL – Diego Luna (caution) 90+3’
SJ – Daniel (caution) 90+4’
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Daniel (GK); Rodrigues, Bruno Wilson, Dave Romney; Jamar Ricketts (Vítor Costa 83’), Ian Harkes, Beau Leroux (Mark-Anthony Kaye 46’), Cristian Espinoza, Hernán López (Amahl Pellegrino 68’); Chicho Arango (Preston Judd 87’), Josef Martínez (Ousseni Bouda 67’).
Substitutes not used: Earl Edwards Jr. (GK), Daniel Munie, Nick Lima, Max Floriani.
POSS.: 42.5%; SHOTS: 14; SOG: 9; CORNERS: 6; OFFSIDES: 2; SAVES: 8; FOULS: 13; xG: 2.7
REAL SALT LAKE: Rafael Cabral (GK); Justen Glad, Philip Quinton (Bryan Vera 58’), Javain Brown (Emeka Eneli 46’), Alexandros Katranis (Sam Junqua 57’); Braian Ojeda (Bode Hidalgo 77’), Pablo Ruiz, Diego Luna, Nelson Palacio, Tyler Wolf; Forster Ajago (Diogo Gonçalves 68’).
Substitutes not used: Mason Stajduhar (GK), Kobi Henry, Dominik Marczuk, Lachian Brook.
POSS.: 57.5%; SHOTS: 22; SOG: 8; CORNERS: 5; OFFSIDES: 2; SAVES: 4; FOULS: 15; xG: 2.0
EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On starting the season and his Quakes era with a win:
“The scoreline wasn’t fair. I don’t think that’s a 4-0 game. They had a lot going against them coming in with their game Wednesday in Costa Rica and those challenges and all of that, so as a starting point, let’s be fair about that. But our team played well. It was a good team effort, and obviously, we’re building a team that hasn’t experienced a whole lot of success, so to kick off the season with a win is great. … But let’s keep this in perspective.”
On the team’s overall performance:
“We have a lot we can learn from this. We made some mistakes. We have to get better. But the nice part of this team is that when we started to rebuild the roster, we wanted the team in place for the whole preseason, instead of bringing in guys this week or last week and two weeks from now. So we’ve had a month to try to become a team, and they needed to understand me, and I needed to understand them. So that’s been positive every day. They’ve actually gotten better, so I’m encouraged by that. But we have a long, long way to go. The Real Salt Lake team is going to be a real hard, hard team to play against when we go into Salt Lake. I can promise you that.”
On Ousseni Bouda’s goal and the overall depth on the roster:
“Bouda played very well for us in preseason and every day we saw things in that showed that he’s a really promising player. … We have, oddly enough, four players that didn’t dress tonight that can challenge to get in our first 11 at some point. So, you know, the roster is pretty good. And I think we have some good young players that have come out of our academy system that you know, have a promising future in the league.
On the attacking foursome of Josef Martínez, Chicho Arango, Cristian Espinoza and Hernán López:
“I think our attacking group is going to get better. It’s the hardest thing in this sport. That’s why they pay these guys that score goals a lot of money around the world. in time, we’ll hopefully have a good attacking team. You’re going to see Martínez and Arango scoring goals, Espinoza setting them up and López being an improved playmaker. He’s still young. He’s got a lot to learn. But he’s shown segments in games where he’s a real promising player. There’s a lot of stuff, but to me, the most encouraging part is that our back line was good, and that’s obviously an area that was our primary concern.”
On tempering expectations and not taking too much from one game:
“I think we need a couple months to actually see what this team’s about and where we need to go. And tonight was great to get three points and have a good showing, but we certainly have a way to go. So you know, I don’t have any anything set in stone at this point, and hopefully, as we continue to move forward as a team, we’ll create a pretty consistent mentality and a style of play right now.”
EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CRISTIAN ESPINOZA
On the changes made by the new coaching staff in the preseason:
“During preseason, I remember when the coaching staff came to me with the idea that playing this with this tactic, playing me in the right side, going forward. To be honest, I was really used to playing that position, even when we play in 4-2-3-1. I always try to help the team defensively. Tonight, I feel really comfortable in that position, I am really happy, because I can help the team with the assist.”
On the performance of Chicho Arango and Josef Martínez in their debuts:
“They are doing a really good job in their positions. They force the defenders to play low balls, and that’s really important for us. They made a lot of sacrifices today that really helped the team. That’s what the team is about. Everybody has to be engaging in the defensive part and also in the offensive part. Hopefully in the future, both of them can score more goals and be more in front of the board.”
On the debut performance of Beau Leroux:
“I’m really happy for Beau. I talked to him yesterday, and we were texting because I was really happy for him to have the opportunity to play today. I tried to give him confidence, to play calm, because he’s a really calm guy. He has to do the same thing that he was doing during the preseason. I think he played a really good game. Hopefully we can see him very often this year inside the starting 11. Also, I’m really happy for the other kids like Niko [Tsakiris], Oscar [Verhoeven]. They stepped up during preseason. This is a really good team with big names. They need to be patient and try to be ready when the opportunity comes.”
On improvements moving forward:
“Every day we are improving in so many details. When we are doing good things, maybe there’s another detail that we can fix. I think in the defensive part, we were a little bit disconnected in the end of the first half because they were pushing the game, which is normal, we need to be ready for that. In the first 15 minutes of the second half, I think that we responded really well.”
EARTHQUAKES WINGBACK JAMAR RICKETTS
On scoring his first MLS goal:
“Playing wing back, you got to be up and down the field. But as I’d seen the ball, I knew that I had to crash the back post and be aggressive. Once I’d seen the ball come across, I was like, ‘I got to be the first to win the ball,’ and that’s how I got my foot on it.”
On bouncing back from an injury-riddled rookie season:
“You know, unfortunately, last year I got injured, so I was out for most of the year, but it was kind of a blessing in disguise, because I learned a lot about my body. I was able to watch and really take in everything and learn from the vets and all the coaches. … I was ready for the moment.”
On showing his versatility playing wing back:
“Yeah, so I think it’s just having the trust from my teammates and the coaches to give me confidence to keep going forward and run, and I’m willing to work for anybody in the field as for everybody that’s willing to work for me, you know? And I think that’s what makes this group so good, And the coaching staff, they push us to work for each other. There’s no like hierarchy. Everybody just is one. And then my celebration just came from this excitement,
On opening the season with a win:
“It’s great. Everybody was just smiles in the locker room. The music was blasting. Everybody just felt happy. The coaches were happy. Everybody had a big smile. And I think it’s a this is a great steppingstone, because we got three points, but this is just a start. We have a whole, whole season ahead of us, so we can’t get too much ahead of ourselves, because it’s only one game.”
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Earthquakes Communications Contacts:
Ryan Maquiñana – Director, Communications
rmaquinana@sjearthquakes.com
C: 650.243.8523
Jake Jansing – Coordinator, Communications
jjansing@sjearthquakes.com
C: 408.425.1329
