San Jose’s Late Surge Sinks Austin: Earthquakes Rally for 2-1 Win, Disrupting Playoff Chase
As the autumn sun slipped behind the Santa Cruz Mountains and PayPal Park’s floodlights settled over a crowd still clinging to hope, the San Jose Earthquakes delivered the kind of twist Major League Soccer’s closing chapter is built for. Down at home, outplayed for stretches and haunted by the memory of a 3-1 defeat in Austin just weeks ago, San Jose staged a three-minute resurrection that left their guests from Texas stunned and the Western Conference playoff picture flickering with new possibility.
For most of the first hour, San Jose appeared destined to replay the frustrations that have defined their autumn. Austin, entering the night protecting sixth place and their postseason ambitions, dictated tempo early. The visitors were rewarded in the 22nd minute when Owen Wolff found the net, capping off a sweeping move that split San Jose’s midfield and silenced the locals. Wolff, fresh off his late winner against LAFC just a week prior, continued a knack for crucial goals—a habit that has become Austin’s lifeline.
The Earthquakes, meanwhile, carried the scars of four defeats in their last five. Their lone recent win—a nervy 1-0 escape in San Diego—had been the exception in a fall defined by defensive lapses and missed chances. When Wolff’s effort rippled the net, a collective tension settled over the stadium. San Jose’s attack, led by veteran Josef Martínez, sputtered through the first half, scraping for openings against an increasingly compact Austin back line.
As the match wore on, urgency finally yielded opportunity. The Earthquakes poured forward with greater intent after the break, and the crowd’s apprehension gave way to a restless hope. In the 74th minute, PayPal Park erupted. Martínez, whose midseason arrival has been one of San Jose’s few bright lights, seized on a loose ball just inside the area, driving home a left-footed strike that caught Austin’s Brad Stuver wrongfooted. It was Martínez’s second goal in as many road and home matches—a sign that the 32-year-old still knows exactly where to be when his team demands it most.
Momentum, so fleeting in San Jose’s recent run, suddenly brimmed in blue and black shirts. Three minutes later, the turnaround was complete. Niko Tsakiris, the 19-year-old homegrown midfielder with a composed head on young shoulders, found space at the top of the box after a clever interchange with Carlos Gruezo. Tsakiris’s low shot tucked just inside the post, leaving Stuver motionless and the South Bay faithful in full voice. It marked Tsakiris’s fifth goal of the campaign—a mark of his growing influence and a testament to the Earthquakes’ trust in youth as veteran options thin.
The closing minutes unspooled with all the frantic energy that typifies late-season football. Austin, stung, threw numbers forward. Sebastián Driussi and Diego Rubio both came close, but San Jose’s back line, so often porous this fall, held firm under pressure. The final whistle signaled not just relief but a rare moment of catharsis for a team whose 2025 campaign has so often offered more questions than answers.
With the victory, San Jose climbs to 38 points—still marooned in 11th but temporarily halting their autumn skid. The win doesn’t vault them into the playoff conversation, but it does offer a palate cleanser after last month’s 1-3 loss in Austin and a string of heavy defeats. For Martínez, Tsakiris and interim boss Ian Russell, it’s reason enough to believe that even a campaign littered with setbacks can offer moments of collective pride.
For Austin, the defeat is an untimely blow. Entering the evening in sixth place with 47 points, the Verde watched a near-certain three points slip away in minutes. Austin’s last five have revealed a team wobbling on tired legs: two wins overshadowed by three defeats, including a painful US Open Cup exit. Tonight’s collapse in San Jose adds complexity to their playoff pursuit—a chase that, with only one game remaining, now teeters with the West’s pack closing behind.
Head-to-head, the Earthquakes and Austin have traded heavy blows this year; each has now taken full points at home. But with both teams on opposite sides of the table, the narratives diverge. San Jose, all but playing for pride, found a measure of redemption. Austin, once comfortably above the line, now faces a week of anxious scoreboard-watching.
Next weekend, the stakes crystallize. Austin returns home needing a result to secure their postseason berth. San Jose, freed from the pressures of qualification, will look to spoil another script—and end an unstable season on their own terms.
On a night where patience threatened to fade into resignation, San Jose delivered a reminder: in MLS, no advantage is safe, and hope is rarely wasted on those willing to chase it late.