SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Town FC, the San Jose Earthquakes’ MLS NEXT Pro team, have chosen to face North Texas SC in the MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference Quarterfinals on Sunday, Oct. 19, at PayPal Park (6 p.m. PT). The match will air on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
As part of the league’s unique postseason format, the first three seeds in each conference selected their preferred opponents out of the next four seeds, with the fourth seed getting the remaining team. In the West, after top-seeded St. Louis CITY2 picked No. 8 seed Ventura County FC with their first choice, second-seeded The Town FC subsequently tabbed No. 6 seed and 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Cup winners North Texas.
The two teams met previously in on April 23 in Arlington, Texas, with NTSC pulling out a 2-0 triumph. That setback propelled TTFC into a six-game winning streak, with five of those coming in regulation.
“There’s nothing like taking on the defending champions to motivate our guys to start the playoffs,” said Earthquakes technical director John Wolyniec. “We’ll have a couple weeks off, so there will be a lot of buildup to the game. We know it’s going to be a tough matchup, but to play a team that has been there and done that will help us set a standard for the postseason.”
The Town FC has enjoyed another banner year under Head Coach Dan DeGeer, who recently celebrated his 100th match in charge. In addition to securing a third consecutive berth in the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs and back-to-back Pacific Division titles, the team amassed 14 wins and 52 points to once again break last season’s club records. This year, the goal is to advance even further than the 2023 and 2024 trips to the Western Conference Semifinals.
“We know North Texas SC is a good team, having played them earlier in the season on the road,” said DeGeer. “That game served as a great turning point in our season. We’d love to play them again. They have some dangerous players like Samuel Sarver, but we have a lot of confidence in the group and look forward to the challenge.”
Over the course of the season, TTFC has earned a plethora of awards at both team and individual levels. In May, the league named them Team of the Month and DeGeer the Coach of the Month after winning all four of their games by a combined score of 12-0. They captured Team of the Month again in August after earning 14 points over six matches to finish a spectacular nine-match unbeaten streak. Francesco Montali, acquired via a trade with the Philadelphia Union in February, earned Goalkeeper of the Month as well after recording two clean sheets.
TTFC has also inundated the list of MLS NEXT Pro End-of-Year Award nominees. Forward Nonso Adimabua, who previously played collegiately at Cal and for the San Francisco Glens in USL League Two, paced the team with a club-record 19 goal contributions (13g/6a) and is among the finalists for both the league’s Most Valuable Player and Forward of the Year. Additionally, DeGeer is up for Coach of the Year, Montali (seven clean sheets) for Goalkeeper of the Year, Quakes Academy product Alejandro Cano for Defender of the Year, as well as a pair of first-team players for Midfielder of the Year—Homegrown Cruz Medina (7g/5a) and MLS SuperDraft second-round pick Nick Fernandez (7g/3a).
Several Earthquakes first-team Homegrown Players who appeared for TTFC in 2025 also earned international call-ups. A trio of midfielders—Niko Tsakiris, Medina and Edwyn Mendoza—were all called to the United States Under-20 team, with Tsakiris currently starting for the USA in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. A fourth midfielder, Kaedren Spivey, is currently in camp with the USA U-17s, while forward Chance Cowell earned a call-up earlier this year with the United States U-17 Men’s Youth National Team. The future is bright in San Jose.
Earthquakes Season Ticket Holders will receive free admission to the Oct. 19 match and should contact their representative for more information. The base price for general admission tickets is only $5 for adults and $1 for youth (age 17 and under) at Ticketmaster.com. Fans interested in purchasing suites should contact suites@sjearthquakes.com.
MLS NEXT PRO PLAYOFFS – CONFERENCE QUARTERFINAL MATCHUPS
Western Conference (Sunday, Oct. 19)
Colorado Rapids 2 (No. 3) vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 (No. 7) – Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (1 p.m. PT) St Louis CITY2 (No. 1) vs. Ventura County FC (No. 8) – Energizer Park (4 p.m. PT)
Real Monarchs (No. 4) vs. MNUFC2 (No. 5) – Zions Bank Stadium (5 p.m. PT, MLSNEXTPro.com)
The Town FC (No. 2) vs. North Texas SC (No. 6) – PayPal Park (6 p.m. PT)
Eastern Conference (Sunday, Oct. 19)
Philadelphia Union II (No. 2) vs. FC Cincinnati 2 (No. 7) – Subaru Park (1 p.m. PT)
New England Revolution II (No. 3) vs. Chicago Fire FC II (No. 6) – Gillette Stadium (3 p.m. PT)
New York Red Bulls II (No. 1) vs. Carolina Core FC (No. 8) – MSU Soccer Park (4 p.m. PT)
Chattanooga FC (No. 4) vs. Huntsville City FC (No. 5) – Finley Stadium (4 p.m. PT, MLSNEXTPro.com)
