SEATTLE, Wash. – The San Jose Earthquakes defeated Seattle Sounders FC 1-0 on Wednesday night at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. The Quakes earned their first road win of the season, while forward Jeremy Ebobisse scored his sixth goal of the season to reach 50 goals in his MLS career.
After a scoreless first half that saw 11 total shots, the Earthquakes found the game-winning goal in the 48th minute through Jeremy Ebobisse. Rodrigues headed a ball off a corner kick taken by Cristian Espinoza, redirecting it towards Ebobisse for the tap-in.
Goalkeeper Daniel made a total of eight saves tonight, earning his first shutout of the season.
The Earthquakes will continue on the road to face the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, June 3. Kickoff from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is set for 6:30 p.m. PT and will be streamed globally on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app, as well as on local radio via 810 AM The Spread (English) and 1370 KZSF (Spanish).
GAME NOTES
The Earthquakes now hold a 6-5-4 record (22 pts.) during the 2023 MLS regular season and currently sit in fifth place in the 14-team Western Conference.
San Jose have only lost once in their last five matches against Seattle (3-1-1) and are undefeated in their last three games at Lumen Field (2-0-1). Tonight’s victory also marks the Quakes’ seventh win at Seattle, the most road wins against the Sounders in their MLS history.
Forward Jeremy Ebobisse scored his sixth goal of the season and 50th of his MLS career. His goal was also his first game-winning goal of the season and seventh of his MLS career. Ebobisse has now scored 24 goals with San Jose, ranking seventh most in goals in club history. He also ranks third in goals among Americans in MLS this season.
Forward Cristian Espinoza tallied an assist on Ebobisse’s goal, marking his fourth assist of the season and 48th of his MLS career. He now has sole possession of second most assists in Quakes history, only two behind club leader Shea Salinas.
Defender Rodrigues tallied an assist on Ebobisse’s goal, marking his second assist of the season and second of his MLS career.
Midfielder Jackson Yueill made his 162nd MLS appearance for San Jose, tying Victor Bernardez for eighth most appearances in club history.
Goalkeeper Daniel earned his first shutout of the season. He made eight saves tonight, tied for third most in saves made in a single game this season.
Defender Daniel Munie made his MLS debut, entering the match as a substitute in the 72nd minute.
MATCH INFORMATION
2023 MLS Regular Season
Seattle Sounders FC 0 – 1 San Jose Earthquakes
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 – Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash.
Attendance: 30,013
Man of the Match: Daniel
Scoring Summary:
SJ (1-0) – Jeremy Ebobisse (Rodrigues, Cristian Espinoza) 48’
Misconduct Summary:
SEA – Alex Roldan (caution) 19’
SEA – Jackson Ragen (caution) 43’
SJ – Paul Marie (caution) 66’
SJ – Jackson Yueill (caution) 78’
SEA – Josh Atencio (caution) 86’
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC: Stefan Frei; Xavier Arreaga, Nouhou (Kelyn Rowe 73’), Jackson Ragen; Nico Lodeiro (C), Albert Rusnak (Fredy Montero 73’), Alex Roldan, Leo Chu, Josh Atencio, Dylan Teves (Reed Baker-Whiting 58’); Heber (Raul Ruidiaz 58’).
Substitutes not used: Stefan Cleveland, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Yeimar Gomez Andrade, Sota Kitahara, Travian Sousa.
*
SHOTS: 23; SHOTS ON GOAL: 8; FOULS: 12; CORNER KICKS: 10; SAVES: 2*
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Daniel; Miguel Trauco, Tanner Beason, Rodrigues, Paul Marie (Daniel Munie 72’); Jamiro Monteiro (Ousseni Bouda 89’), Carlos Gruezo, Jackson Yueill (C) (Michael Baldisimo 89’); Benji Kikanović (Tommy Thompson 72’), Jeremy Ebobisse, Cristian Espinoza.
Substitutes not used: Substitutes not used: Cam Cilley, JT Marcinkowski, Will Richmond, Jack Skahan.
*
SHOTS: 9; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 9; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 8*
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH LUCHI GONZALEZ
On tonight’s win:
“It’s important that we take things one moment at a time, stay present. We’ve had these opportunities in stoppage time and we’ve earned those opportunities to get a win or a draw. We’re putting ourselves in good places. Some of the stoppage times were very long, 10-20 minutes, which aren’t typical. It’s about believing in ourselves. The guys continue to train with intensity, focused and being excited for the next moment. We address things that we want to improve. We earned this opportunity to get better. They showed it tonight and I’m really proud of them.”
On goalkeeper Daniel’s outstanding performance:
“Great performance. He’s worked hard to be and stay healthy. He’s had great competition with JT [Marcinkowski]. We have a great goalkeeping crew. That’s going to help us in the long season because there are injuries and ups and downs. Daniel was really important for us tonight, and we’re really proud of him. Great performance.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD JEREMY EBOBISSE
On tonight’s performance:
“Yeah, it was a good feeling to see all the work we’ve put in on the training ground in set pieces come to fruition. I think we’ve come close a few times: a free kick goal last game, a corner kick goal. We’ve had some good looks as well. Today, we had a clean header, guys ended up in their spots, and I was able to convert. It’s some to build off of. On the road it’s going to be difficult. Alluding to Seattle’s reaction, which was one of a winning team, a championship team. They came at us with a lot, but we held it down well tonight. I know they had some chances and opportunities before, but it’s the game we play. We’ve had good games where we’ve had good chances that we weren’t able to convert to get the game out of reach. Today, we made it hard enough for them to not score more goals than us. We’ll take some pride in that and then try to replicate something on Saturday against Colorado.”
On bouncing back from last week’s result and earning their first road win this season:
“After we finished the game against FC Dallas [last week], there were a lot of opportunities to discuss ways to move forward, whether that’s from an emotional, tactical, management standpoint. We saw some of that tonight. We were able to dig deep, manage certain moments with a definice that gave us the life to keep propelling their attacks. Ultimately, we are still in work in progress. I don’t think we’re fully satisfied with how we attacked and were able to turn them and put them under pressure. Once we scored and once they started piling the pressure on, we went through a difficult phase maybe giving away the ball a little too much, myself included. That fact that we can win on the road against a team that is number one in our conference and maybe not be playing at our best but we can fight our way out of a situation gives me a lot of encouragement. Saturday is an opportunity to back that up with hopefully another meaningful result and something that can set us up for a good month of June.”
