SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Earthquakes fell to Seattle Sounders FC 1-0 on Sunday afternoon in front of a sold-out PayPal Park crowd to snap their unbeaten streak at three.
The visitors struck first in minute 20 when Danny Musovski and Jesús Ferreira combined to feed a streaking Paul Rothrock on the right wing, whose subsequent low finish gave Seattle a 1-0 lead and snapped the Quakes’ club-record streak of not conceding to start the season at 290 minutes.
After intermission, the Quakes came firing out the gate with 11 shots (five on goal), but Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas turned them all away. After an 80th-minute goal by Seattle’s Cody Baker was called back due to offside, the Quakes put on another furious rally. Ultimately, San Jose outshot Seattle 25-7, had more shots on goal (8-4), won more corner kicks (17-0), had more expected goals (3.0-0.5) and dominated possession (59.6%-40.4%), but could not secure the equalizer before the final whistle.
The Black and Blue now go on the road next Saturday, March 21, to face Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Kickoff from BC Place is 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast globally via Apple TV (English/Spanish), as well as local radio on KSFO 810 AM (English) and La Kaliente 1370 AM (Spanish).
GAME NOTES
With the result, San Jose moves to 3-1-0 with nine points (6 GF, 1 GA) and fourth in the Western Conference as of tonight’s final whistle. Seattle Sounders FC goes to 3-1-0 with six points and fifth in the West (5 GF, 2 GA).
The San Jose Earthquakes are 15-17-10 (50 GF, 62 GA) in the all-time regular-season series against Seattle Sounders FC, and 8-6-6 (25 GF, 20 GA) at home.
Today’s match marked the first leg of the Heritage Cup, a competition honoring the two teams’ history in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The winner is decided by head-to-head points, then goal differential as a tiebreaker. The Sounders are current holders after a 1-1 draw in San Jose and 3-2 Seattle win at Lumen Field in 2025.
Seattle’s 20th-minute goal snapped goalkeeper Daniel and the Quakes’ club-record streak of not conceding to start a season at 290 minutes.
The Quakes’ 23-game streak of scoring at least one goal dating back to last season came to an end. The last time they were held scoreless was May 17, 2025, at New England, in a 0-0 draw.
San Jose outshot Seattle 25-7, had more shots on goal (8-4), won more corner kicks (17-0), had more expected goals (3.0-0.5) and outpossessed them (59.6%-40.4%).
Seattle needed an average of 20.8 seconds to regain possession, while San Jose did it in 14.1 seconds, according to Sportec.
Collectively, the Quakes lead MLS in accurate longballs (23) and corner kicks won (40); are second in expected goals (10.57), goals against (1) and clean sheets (3). They are also tied for fourth in total assists (9) and tied for fifth in total goals (6).
Niko Tsakiris had four key passes to up his league-leading total to 15.
Ousseni Bouda remained fourth among league leaders in aerial duels won with 23.
To celebrate the Quakes’ first Hello Kitty Night, the club gave away Quakes x Hello Kitty Tote Bags to the first 9,000 fans through the gates.
San Jose Earthquakes 0 – 1 Seattle Sounders FC
Sunday, March 15, 2026 — PayPal Park; San Jose, Calif.
Weather: 82°F Sunny
Attendance: 18,251 (sellout)
*all stats unofficial
Match Officials:
Referee: Victor Rivas
AR1: Corey Rockwell
AR2: Kali Smith
4th Official: Nabil Bensalah
VAR: Lukasz Szpala
AVAR: Fabio Tovar
Scoring Summary:
SEA (0-1) – Paul Rothrock (Jesus Ferreira, Danny Musovski) 20’
Misconduct Summary:
SEA – Nouhou (caution) 10'
SEA – Nikola Petković (caution) 46’
SEA – Danny Musovski (caution) 56’
SEA – Peter Kingston (caution) 59’
SJ – Niko Tsakiris (caution) 86'
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Daniel (GK); Benji Kikanović (Paul Marie 90+1’), Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, DeJuan Jones (Vítor Costa 57’); Beau Leroux (Nick Fernandez 77’), Ronaldo Vieira (C), Niko Tsakiris; Ousseni Bouda (Jack Skahan 77’), Timo Werner, Preston Judd.
Substitutes not used: Earl Edwards Jr. (GK), Jonathan González, Ian Harkes, Jamar Ricketts, Dave Romney.
POSS.: 59.6%; SHOTS: 25; SOG: 8; CORNERS: 17; OFFSIDES: 0; SAVES: 3; FOULS: 6; xG: 3.0
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC: Andrew Thomas (GK); Jackson Ragen, Antino Lopez; Jesus Ferreira (Albert Rusnák 46’), Nikola Petković (Alex Roldan 65’), Peter Kingston (Snyder Brunell 86’), Nouhou (C), Paul Rothrock, Cody Baker, Georgi Minoungou (Cristian Roldan 65’); Danny Musovski (Osaze De Rosario 65’).
Substitutes not used: Stefan Frei (GK), Paul Arriola, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Sebastian Gomez.
POSS.: 40.4%; SHOTS: 7; SOG: 4; CORNERS: 0; OFFSIDES: 1; SAVES: 7; FOULS: 11; xG: 0.5
EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On the team’s first setback of the season after a club-record 3-0-0 start:
“You see the difference between the two teams defensively. One team doesn't make a mistake for 90 minutes and the other team does. So, there's still some growth there. … We’re making progress. We've conceded one goal in four games.”
On his message to the team after the match:
“I told the team after the game—in good games, in any sport, at a good level, you have to make plays. [Seattle Sounders FC] made the plays and made a difference. [Paul] Rothrock got the goal in the first half. Their keeper making two saves on breakaways and defense saving the ball off the line. Those are guys that made plays. There's the difference in the game, we had guys in position to do the same and didn't get it done, so that's part of the growth.”
“Today's game shows that we're making progress as a team, and it's a good lesson for us. Hopefully we can learn from it and get better. And then we go to Vancouver on Sunday and Vancouver embarrassed us last year, so it'll be interesting to see if we can give them a good game.”
On the team winning 17 corner kicks to none for Seattle:
“We had 17 corner kicks. You'd like to believe you can be a little bit more dangerous. We weren't good on our corners. Today's service wasn't good. But give Seattle credit, they did a real good job there.”
EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER RONALDO VIEIRA
On increasing the pressure in attack on Seattle in the second half:
“I think the performance in the second half was much better than first one. We had a few chances. They didn't threaten us at all in the second half, but we have to come to win the game and just put the chances away. We have to take the positives from the game like this is—they are a team that's been together for a long time. We’re a fairly new team, so we take on the positive and move on to next week.”
On the first time playing a full 90 minutes with Timo Werner on the pitch:
“I think we all know he's obviously a very good player. Creates a lot of chances, like you saw today, he created a lot of chances for us. I think overall, for this being his first game—his first start, I think he's fitting in well with the team, and we can only get better. We take on the positives from this game and move on.”
On looking ahead to next week’s match:
“I think we just have to be honest with each other and hold each other accountable when things don't go right, and that's part of the game. So today, we look at each other and we say, ‘I think we all know we have to do better.’ ... ‘Look, that's a team that's been a winning team for a long time, and a team that's been together for a long time.’ So not necessarily we have to put heads down and say we lost. Fair enough, we lost. But we lost to a good team, and they didn't win comfortably. So that's most important.”