CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The San Jose Earthquakes were defeated by Charlotte FC 4-1 on Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium in front of 27,463 fans.
Charlotte FC scored first in transition when midfielder Pep Biel’s left-footed shot from the edge of the box found the back of the net in the 11th minute. The hosts doubled the advantage in the 36th minute when another transition opportunity resulted in forward Idan Toklomati finding midfielder Ashley Westwood in the box for a 2-0 lead. Four minutes later, Biel curled a through ball behind the back line and midfielder Brandt Bronico finished the service. Despite outshooting Charlotte FC 11-7, San Jose entered halftime down 3-0.
In the 52nd minute, Charlotte right winger Kerwin Vargas hauled in a long ball from Biel on the right wing and slotted it home for a fourth goal. San Jose forward Preston Judd helped the Black and Blue get back in the game in the 74th minute when he was dragged down in the box by Andrew Privett, resulting in a red card for the Charlotte defender and a penalty kick for the Earthquakes. Three minutes later, Quakes forward Chicho Arango converted from the spot to pull one back for the final margin.
The Black and Blue will now head home next Saturday, March 29, when they defend the Heritage Cup against Seattle Sounders FC. Kickoff from PayPal Park will take place at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (English/Spanish), as well as on local radio via KSFO 810 AM (English) and 1370 AM La Kaliente (Spanish).
GAME NOTES
Tonight marked the first official matchup between San Jose and Charlotte FC.
Forward Chicho Arango’s 77th-minute penalty kick conversion was his third goal of the season and 56th of his MLS career.
Defender Reid Roberts made his San Jose and MLS debut in the 65th minute. The Quakes acquired the fifth overall pick in the first round of this year’s MLS SuperDraft from the New England Revolution to select Roberts.
Forward Preston Judd made his first start of the season for San Jose, drawing a second-half penalty in the 74th minute that led to Chicho Arango’s goal.
Quakes forward/team captain Cristian Espinoza extended his consecutive games streak—a club record and the longest active run in MLS—to 114, passing David Ousted for third all-time. Only Luis Robles (183) and Chris Klein (141) are ahead of him on the list.
MLS ALL-TIME CONSECUTIVE GAMES
183 Luis Robles (2012-18)
141 Chris Klein (2005-09)*
114 Cristian Espinoza (2021-present)
113 David Ousted (2013-16)
112 Kevin Hartman (2006-09)
field players
Former Quakes goalkeeper David Bingham, who made 96 appearances for San Jose from 2011-17 and was part of the Supporters’ Shield-winning 2012 team, was an unused substitute for Charlotte tonight.
Charlotte FC 4 – 1 San Jose Earthquakes
Saturday, March 22, 2025 – Bank of America Stadium; Charlotte, NC.
Weather: 72°F Sunny
Attendance: 27,463
Match Officials:
Referee: Armando Villarreal
AR1: Cory Richardson
AR2: Diego Blas
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
AVAR: Jeff Muschik
4th Official: Sergii Demianchuk
Scoring Summary:
CLT (1-0) – Pep Biel (unassisted) 11’
CLT (2-0) – Ashley Westwood (Idan Toklomati ) 36’
CLT (3-0) – Brandt Bronico (Pep Biel) 40’
CLT (4-0) – Kerwin Vargas (Pep Biel) 52’
SJ (4-1) – Chicho Arango (penalty kick) 77’
Misconduct Summary:
CLT – Brandt Bronico (caution) 40’
CLT – Djibril Diani (caution) 73’
CLT – Andrew Privett (ejection) 74’
SJ – Rodrigues (caution) 80’
CHARLOTTE FC: Kristijan Kahlina (GK); Andrew Privett, Nathan Byrne, Souleyman Doumbia, Adilson Malanda; Ashley Westwood (C), Brandt Bronico, Pep Biel; Kerwin Vargas (Djibril Diani 70’), Wilfried Zaha, Idan Toklomati (Iuri Tavares 86’)
Substitutes not used: David Bingham (GK), Ben Bender, Nikola Petković, Nick Scardina, Tyger Smalls, Bill Tuiloma, Eryk Williamson.
POSS.: 68.3%; SHOTS: 14; SOG: 8; CORNERS: 0; OFFSIDES: 0; SAVES: 6; FOULS: 10; xG: 2.8
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Daniel (GK); Nick Lima (Rodrigues 46’), Bruno Wilson, Dave Romney, Jamar Ricketts (Reid Roberts 65’); Ian Harkes (Jack Skahan 84’), Mark-Anthony Kaye (Beau Leroux 46’), Chicho Arango; Cristian Espinoza (C), Ousseni Bouda (Amahl Pellegrino 65’), Preston Judd.
Substitutes not used: Earl Edwards Jr. (GK), Paul Marie, Daniel Munie, Oscar Verhoeven.
POSS.: 31.7%; SHOTS: 27; SOG: 7; CORNERS: 5; OFFSIDES: 1; SAVES: 3; FOULS: 10; xG: 2.9
EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On squandering early chances to score:
“Every game is different, and let me be fair about tonight. We deserved to lose the game. We made too many mistakes in both penalty areas. In the early moments of the game, we had the best chances to take the lead, but then in the last 15 minutes of the first half we made some crucial mistakes that basically took us out of the game, and we go into halftime 3-0.”
On drawing positives from the night despite the result:
“The positive there is our team never quit. I thought our second half performance was better. However, we squandered too many chances on the night. We had a number of good goalscoring opportunities, and we ended up only with one goal and it was on a penalty kick, so we got to accept responsibility for playing so poorly on those two parts of the field.
“We continued to try to push the game and get back in the game. Obviously the fourth goal was a killer. But our guys never quit. On the night, we need to be better than scoring one goal off a penalty kick. ... Defensively, we clearly made a couple mistakes that hurt us. On the night, Charlotte deserved to win. They were the better team. But there were some good moments for us, and we have to build on that, but there are things we need to clean up before we play next Saturday.”
EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER MARK-ANTHONY KAYE
On overall thoughts of the game:
“Obviously, not happy with the result of the game. I think we started the game pretty well and created some chances. If we put some in the back of the net, maybe we could ease the pressure a little bit that they were coming with. We know they’re a team that likes to break out in transition. Today we didn’t deal with it properly and got punished.”
On pulling back a goal in the second half:
“Chicho has a good attitude, so he’s always trying to score whether it’s the first minute or the 90th, so that’s nothing new to us. Kudos to him for converting the penalty kick, and hard work by Preston [Judd to draw the penalty].”
On bouncing back and responding next Saturday against Seattle:
“It’s a long season. We understand some games aren’t going to go the way we planned, so we need to continue to do the right work when we go back to the training field, watch film and just push ourselves to keep a high standard. Obviously this is not how we want things to go. We will bounce back. We have a good group of guys here and we trust in the coaching staff. It’s part of the long season and I have full confidence in the team.”
