MLS San Jose Earthquakes

Earthquakes Weekly Update: August 22, 2022

August 22, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Jose Earthquakes News Release


SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San Jose Earthquakes defeated first-place Los Angeles Football Club 2-1 in front of a sellout crowd at PayPal Park on Saturday. LAFC entered the match on a seven-game winning streak and hadn't lost since July 2. For match highlights, click here.

Defender Tommy Thompson assisted both goals on Saturday, earning him MLS Team of the Week honors on Monday.

Also last week, the club announced the hiring of Luchi Gonzalez as head coach. Gonzalez, currently an assistant coach with the United States Men's National Team, will take over at the conclusion of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The interim coaching staff, led by Alex Covelo, will remain in their current roles through the end of the 2022 season. For more information, click here.

The Earthquakes will now travel to face Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, Aug. 27. The match will kick off from Children's Mercy Park at 5:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Bay Area, KNBR 1050 (English), and 1370 KZSF (Spanish).

OPPONENT INFORMATION

San Jose Earthquakes vs. Sporting Kansas City All-Time

MLS Regular Season: 25-28-10

Home: 17-7-8 (45 GF, 31 GA)

Away: 8-21-2 (33 GF, 50 GA)

All-Time Scoring: San Jose - 78, Kansas City - 81

Last Game vs. Kansas City

San Jose Earthquakes 1-1 Sporting Kansas City; May 22, 2022; PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif.

EARTHQUAKES NOTES

LAST GAME VS. LOS ANGELES FOOTBALL CLUB (8/20)

Beat LA

San Jose is now 5-2-0 in the last seven meetings with LAFC, including three straight home wins at PayPal Park.

Youth Authority

Forwards Benji Kikanović (22) and Cade Cowell (18) scored to give San Jose the win. Cowell scored his second goal of the season and eighth of his MLS career, while Kikanović tallied his fifth goal of the season and ninth of his MLS career.

Double Trouble

Defender Tommy Thompson and midfielder Cristian Espinoza each tallied two assists vs. LAFC on Saturday. Thompson tallied his first and second assists of the season while Espinoza earned his 10th and 11th assists of the season.

Assist Milestone

Cristian Espinoza now has 41 assists in MLS, passing Chris Wondolowski on the club's all-time assists leaderboard and now ranks fourth in club history, just three behind third-place Richard Mulrooney.

NEXT GAME VS. SPORTING KANSAS CITY (8/27)

Top of the Leaderboard

Quakes midfielder Cristian Espinoza ranks tied for third in MLS with 11 assists this season. His 11 assists are the most among all players in the Western Conference.

Hard to Separate

The last two matches between San Jose and Sporting Kansas City have resulted in 1-1 draws.

Fast Start

The Earthquakes have scored first in four of their last five matches against Sporting Kansas City, dating back to 2019.

Snapping the Streak

San Jose will seek their first win on the road against Kansas City since Aug. 19, 2015.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Earthquakes Defender Tommy Thompson Selected to MLS Team of the Week

San Jose Earthquakes defender Tommy Thompson has been selected to Major League Soccer's Team of the Week for Week 26 following the Earthquakes' 2-1 victory over first-place LAFC in front of a sellout crowd at PayPal Park on Saturday night.

Earthquakes Hire Luchi Gonzalez as Head Coach

The San Jose Earthquakes announced last Wednesday that the club has hired Luchi Gonzalez as head coach. Gonzalez, currently an assistant coach with the United States Men's National Team, will take over at the conclusion of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The interim coaching staff, led by Alex Covelo, will remain in their current roles through the end of the 2022 season. Gonzalez was named FC Dallas' head coach ahead of the 2019 season and led the club to back-to-back MLS Cup Playoff appearances in 2019 and 2020. Over those two seasons, FC Dallas lost just one of 27 home matches (17-1-9) and ranked top-seven defensively both years. He departed the club in September 2021.

Earthquakes to Launch Artist in Residence Program in Collaboration with Adobe

The San Jose Earthquakes launched a local photography-focused program last Friday in collaboration with Adobe titled Artist in Residence. The Quakes are excited to announce that San Jose native Mallie Sovan-Soeung, known as '35mmallie' , has been selected as the winner of the program's inaugural year, which is set to run through the remainder of the 2022 MLS season. The Quakes and Adobe's Artist in Residence initiative gives the opportunity for one local artist to participate in a set of photography content productions with the San Jose Earthquakes and includes access to a 12-month Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.

EARTHQUAKES II UPDATE

Earthquakes II fell to second-place St Louis CITY2 5-2 on Sunday at PayPal Park. Quakes II remain in playoff contention with four games remaining in the regular season. Miles Robinson and Jack Skahan scored for the home side.

Earthquakes II will now travel to play Sporting KC II on Sunday, Aug. 28. Kickoff from Mercy Victory Field is scheduled for 3 p.m. PT and the match will be streamed live on MLSNEXTPro.com.




Major League Soccer Stories from August 22, 2022


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