SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose Earthquakes II defeated Tacoma Defiance via penalty shootout 4-4 (3-1 PKs) after extra time on Sunday night at PayPal Park in the MLS NEXT Pro Play-In Round. The latter had come out on top in all three of their previous matchups during the regular season, but this time the hosts emerged victorious when it mattered most to advance to the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs.
Tomo Allen opened the scoring for Quakes II six minutes in, heading the ball home for a 1-0 lead after Jacob Heisner nodded it back across to him in the box. San Jose did not slow down and in minute 10, Zach Bohane was dragged down by Defiance defender Antino Lopez. Referee John Matto awarded San Jose a penalty kick, and Bohane subsequently converted from the spot to double Quakes II’s advantage, 2-0.
Tacoma pulled a goal back in the 38th minute as Matthew Bell picked out Rafael Jauregui at the top of the 18-yard box. Jauregui found some space and picked out the bottom-left corner with his right foot to make it 2-1.
Tacoma came out of the intermission strong and leveled the match in the 51st minute as Charlie Gaffney got to the end line and cut the ball across for Jauregui, who calmly slotted home his second goal of the night to knot the match back up at 2-2.
In minute 54, Bohane nearly gave San Jose the lead back as he approached the top of the 18-yard box, but he rang a shot off the left post and out. On a nearly identical play seven minutes later, Edwyn Mendoza found Allen, who went for goal from outside the box and his blast bounced in off the left post to give Quakes II a 3-2 lead.
The Defiance responded in minute 77 when Mark O’Neill headed home a Gaffney corner kick to once again level the match 3-3. When Matto’s final whistle blew to signal the end of regulation, there was nothing separating the two sides, resulting in extra time.
As the first half of extra time was coming to a close, San Jose recaptured the lead. In minute 104, Jermaine Spivey received the ball from Edwyn Mendoza on the right half-space and set up a one-two with Bohane at the top of the 18-yard box. Spivey hit it first time from long range with the outside of his right foot and picked out the far corner to give Quakes II a 4-3 lead.
In the second period of extra time, Tacoma equalized once more. In minute 110, O’Neill found Drew Brown on the left side of the box. Brown flicked the ball past San Jose goalkeeper Nate Crockford and Landon Lucero bundled home the loose ball to tie the score 4-4. After 120 minutes and stoppage time, Matto blew his whistle once more and the two sides headed to penalties to decide the match.
In the penalty shootout, Crockford asserted himself, making two saves and forcing a third shot wide. After Julian Donnery and Mendoza made their penalty kicks, Bohane calmly converted his to give San Jose the win.
With tonight’s result, Quakes II advances to the MLS NEXT Pro playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and will face top-seeded Austin FC II on Sunday, Oct. 18. Kickoff from Parmer Field in Austin, Texas, will take place at 5:30 p.m. PT and the match will air on OneFootball and MLSNEXTPro.com.
San Jose Earthquakes II 4(3)-4(1) Tacoma Defiance
Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026 — PayPal Park; San Jose, Calif.
Weather: 63°F Sunny
Match Officials:
Referee: John Matto
AR1: Seth Martin
AR2: Bruno Rizo
4th Official: Laadi Issaka
Scoring Summary:
SJ (1-0) – Tomo Allen (Jacob Heisner) 6’
SJ (2-0) – Zach Bohane (penalty kick) 11’
TAC (2-1) – Rafael Jauregui (Matthew Bell) 38’
TAC (2-2) – Rafael Jauregui (Charlie Gaffney) 51’
SJ (3-2) – Tomo Allen (Edwyn Mendoza) 61’
TAC (3-3) – Mark O’Neill (Charlie Gaffney) 77’
SJ (4-3) – Jermaine Spivey (Zach Bohane) 104’
TAC (4-4) – Landon Lucero 110’
Penalty Shootout Summary:
TAC – Edson Carli (no goal)
SJ – Julian Donnery (goal)
TAC – Daniel Robles (goal)
SJ – Edwyn Mendoza (goal)
TAC – Jose Kevin Bonilla (no goal)
SJ – Gabriel Bracken Serra (no goal)
TAC – Jasper Winslow (no goal)
SJ – Zach Bohane (goal)
Misconduct Summary:
TAC – Demian Alvarez (caution) 1’
TAC – Charlie Gaffney (caution) 72’
SJ – Edwyn Mendoza (caution) 73’
TAC – Mark O’Neill (caution) 102’
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES II: Nathan Crockford (GK); Jacob Heisner (Warren Boyce 81’), Alejandro Cano (C), Niklas Dossmann, Diogo Brandes Baptista (Martin Mukah Kwende Jr. 62’); Kaedren Spivey (Gabriel Bracken Serra 76’), Rohan Rajagopal, Edwyn Mendoza; Shane De Flores (Julian Donnery 115’), Zach Bohane, Tomo Allen (Jermaine Spivey 62’).
Substitutes not used: Connor Lambe (GK), Dominic Lorenti, Jorge Torres.
SHOTS: 21; SOG: 8; CORNERS: 10; OFFSIDES: 1; SAVES: 1; FOULS: 18; CLEARANCES: 16
TACOMA DEFIANCE: Max Anchor (GK) (C); Antino Lopez, Gallatin Sandnes, Demian Alvarez (Jasper Winslow HT); Charlie Gaffney (Kevin Bonilla 89’), Xavi Gnaulati, Mark O’Neill, Codey Phoenix (Drew Brown HT); Matthew Bell (Edson Carli 70’), Rafael Jauregui; Mark Bronnik (Landon Lucero 87’).
Substitutes not used: Mohammed Shour (GK), Saku Kitafuji, Jared Ríos, Danny Robles.
SHOTS: 11; SOG: 5; CORNERS: 8; OFFSIDES: 2; SAVES: 4; FOULS: 12; CLEARANCES: 8
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES II HEAD COACH DAN DEGEER
On coaching in a game with such ebbs and flows:
“Yeah, it was. It can be frustrating at times, but Tacoma are a good team, and over the years we’ve had very close games with them. ... So it was back and forth, but to be honest with you, like I never doubted our ability to come back. You know, this group has excellent character. They fight ‘til the end of the game, and to see Tomo [Allen] score that goal and Jermaine [Spivey] score the goal, I couldn't be more proud of these guys. I've known them for a long time. But it just speaks a lot to the character of the group.”
On Jermaine Spivey coming in and scoring in extra time:
“He's a player that has a lot of qualities, more of an attacking midfielder than he is as a forward. But he did play that as a youth player, you know. So I know that he can do it, and this was a game where Tomo [Allen] was actually playing a little bit injured. He's been carrying a knock for a while, so he pushed as long as he could. Jermaine came in as a [No.] 9. and he gave us some quality with his being able to keep possession for us. But the chance that he creates and the way that he strikes it with the outside of his foot, really, really impressive. He has those tools, so to see him be able to execute it in a game, I'm very happy for him.”
On Zach Bohane’s impact on the match outside of scoring goals:
“Zach covers more ground than everybody every game, and I can't wait to see the numbers because usually he covers 14 [kilometers] a game, which is such a high number, and he carried all the way through the end of the game, and you could tell he still didn't show signs of fatigue. So again, character, mentality, workrate. Zach has that, but he also has some good feet around the box, and I wish he would have had a couple more goals, of course, because he earned them. But that's Zach Bohane. He's had an excellent season.”
On moving on to face top-seeded Austin FC II:
“Well, the guys don't fear Austin. We played them twice. We played them at home. We tied them 1-1. I think we had better stats than they did. We might’ve outshot them. We played a good game, and we lost in PKs. And then on the road, I think they scored in the 70th minute or so. It's pretty even. ... We feel confident that we can give them a very competitive game, and we can get a result in Austin. So it isn't something that we're nervous about at all. We actually feel pretty confident about this opportunity.”
On what he will tell the team after the win:
“I think it's to be proud of the performance first and foremost to really celebrate each other's success tonight. I think that's important. Not to let your heads get too big, stay humble, feet in the ground. We know we have a big test coming up, so I think it's going to be about enjoying the day off, and let's re-gen and then let's get to work on Austin."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES II FORWARD JERMAINE SPIVEY
On scoring in extra time:
“My first pro goal. We needed a goal. We were chasing the game. We wanted to win, and just in the moment, the ball came to me, and I felt right. I mean, I've hit those in practice before playing around with my brothers, so I was ready.”
On playing with brother Kaedren and the support from his family:
“As a family, we pride ourselves on the workrate and work ethic. Ever since we came up, we’ve always been competitive, hungry, working hard. So it translates to the game, and we try to bring that every game as much as we can, every training. So I appreciate that. We take that as a compliment because we always try to work hard and give our all on the field.”
On navigating injuries and other adversity to contribute when it matters most:
“I'm just I feel like I'm always hungry. You know, things in the past haven't always gone my way, whether it's like injuries or setbacks, things like that. But whenever I get an opportunity, I try to make the most of it, and so I’m just really working hard. And my whole mindset, we just go in there and just try to make a play.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES II FORWARD ZACH BOHANE
On overall thoughts on the match:
“Honestly, I just am so happy we won right now. It wasn't the prettiest game of soccer. I think we would have loved to just walk out 2-0, and that's just soccer for you. So I'm happy to get a goal and assist, but honestly, I’m just way happy about the win. Happy that Jermaine [Spivey] got his first goal of the season, which was much deserved after all the hard work he put in, and our striker [Tomo Allen] when he's scoring two goals, like you just love that for your team. So, yeah, just happy that we won, and obviously our keeper Nate [Crockford] came up huge at the end. So that's what we needed going into the next round of playoffs.”
On traveling to face top-seeded Austin FC II next:
“I love playing on the road. I think it' cool to go to the No. 1 team and take it to them at their field. We played Austin twice. One time we lost in pens. The other time it was 1-0 at the end of the game. But I think everyone in the locker room has a belief that we can go on and win. I think it's fun packing a suitcase and going somewhere. And if you win, you go to another place. I wouldn't want to play against us.”
On seeing so many former Quakes II alumni on the MLS First Team, namely Beau Leroux and Nonso Adimabua:
“Honestly it gives you so much motivation. I grew up playing against Beau at San Jose State, and to see him like make the jump, it’s super motivating. Then other guys like Nonso. I played against him a bunch, and we also got the chance to train and play against these guys all year, and seeing the level they're at. But they started at Quakes II, and they made the jump on the pathway. So I think all of us look up to those guys and aspire to make the jump ourselves. So it is motivating that like the club does promote the young players and trusts the second team, so there's a complete pathway there.”
