AUSTIN, Texas – The San Jose Earthquakes and Austin FC played to a 3-3 draw on Saturday night in Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas. The result sees San Jose extend their unbeaten streak against Austin to five (2-0-3).
Austin opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Julio Cascante, before San Jose tied the game two minutes later with a goal from Benji Kikanović.
The Quakes next took a 2-1 lead in the 20th minute when a corner kick was cleared, finding Paul Marie who launched a rocket shot way beyond the 18-yard box into Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver’s net.
The home side scored two more goals to take a 3-2 lead into halftime and for most of the second half until the Quakes found the equalizer in the 88th minute via header by Jeremy Ebobisse for his 13th goal of the season.
The Earthquakes will now return to San Jose to prepare for their next road match when they face FC Dallas on Saturday, Aug. 13. The match will kick off from Toyota Stadium at 6 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on NBC Sports California Plus, KNBR 1050 (English), and 1370 KZSF (Spanish).
GAME NOTES
The Earthquakes currently hold a 5-10-9 record (24 pts.) during the 2022 MLS regular season.
San Jose is now 2-0-3 all-time vs. Austin FC, including a 1-0-2 road record.
The Earthquakes are now 5-5-6 in MLS play under interim head coach Alex Covelo.
Defender Paul Marie scored his first goal of the season and third goal of his MLS career. He also tallied an assist on Kikanović’s goal, marking his first assist of the season and second assist of his MLS career.
Forward Benji Kikanović scored his fourth goal of the season and eighth goal of his MLS career. He has now tied his single-season career-high in goals (2019).
Midfielder Cristian Espinoza tallied an assist on Kikanović’s goal, marking his ninth assist of the season and 39th assist of his MLS career. He has now assisted four of Ebobisse’s 13 goals this season and is one assist away from tying Chris Wondolowski for fourth-most in assists in club history.
Forward Jeremy Ebobisse scored his 13th goal of the season and 40th goal of his MLS career. He now ranks tied for third in goals in MLS this season. He also tallied an assist on Kikanović’s goal, marking his second assist of the season and 11th assist of his MLS career.
Goalkeeper Matt Bersano made his first MLS start, playing 90 minutes and making three saves.
MATCH INFORMATION
2022 MLS Regular Season
Austin FC 3 – 3 San Jose Earthquakes
Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022 – Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas
Attendance: 20,738
Man of the Match: Paul Marie
Scoring Summary:
ATX (1-0) – Julio Cascante (Diego Fagundez) 6’
SJ (1-1) – Benji Kikanović (Paul Marie, Jeremy Ebobisse) 8’
SJ (2-1) – Paul Marie (unassisted) 20’
ATX (2-2) – Sebastian Driussi (Ethan Finlay, Alex Ring) 26’
ATX (3-2) – Sebastian Driussi (unassisted) 44’
SJ (3-3) – Jeremy Ebobisse (Cristian Espinoza) 88’
Misconduct Summary:
ATX – Sebastian Driussi (caution) 23’
SJ – Tanner Beason (caution) 39’
ATX – Brad Stuver (caution) 60’
SJ – Jackson Yueill (caution) 84’
AUSTIN FC: Brad Stuver; Ruben Gabrielsen, Jon Gallagher, Julio Cascante, Nick Lima; Dani Pereira, Sebastian Driussi (Felipe 86), Alex Ring (C); Ethan Finlay (Rodney Redes 74), Diego Fagundez (Owen Wolff 74), Maxi Urruti (Moussa Djitte 87).
Substitutes not used: Washington Corozo, Danny Hoesen, Zan Kolmanic, Jhohan Romana, Andrew Tarbell (GK).
SHOTS: 16; SHOTS ON GOAL: 6; FOULS: 7; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 2
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Matt Bersano; Paul Marie, Nathan, Tanner Beason, Tommy Thompson (Jack Skahan 82); Judson (Jan Gregus 78), Jamiro Monteiro, Jackson Yueill (C); Benji Kikanović (Cade Cowell 78), Jeremy Ebobisse, Cristian Espinoza.
Substitutes not used: Oskar Ågren, Oussseni Bouda, Emi Ochoa (GK), Shea Salinas, Niko Tsakiris.
SHOTS: 12; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; FOULS: 10; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 3
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES INTERIM HEAD COACH ALEX COVELO
On the team message for tonight’s match:
“We need to insist, bring confidence that they can do it. It’s about believing in ourselves and these guys believe in themselves. You can control what you can control in soccer. Like I’ve said it’s the most unpredictable game. In one second the ball can go in or can go out. In the last games we were a little bit unfortunate. Obviously this happens in soccer. You can win or lose. But if you see the process, if you see the team playing offensively and defensively with those limitations, they are doing a good job. We need to keep insisting.”
On an update on goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski’s injury:
“The only news that we had before coming here is that he’s going to be out around seven days. He is improving, he’s a player that cares a lot about the team. He’s a big player inside the locker room and hopefully he recovers quick, but at the same time Matt Bersano had a very good game tonight. We need to congratulate him because he helped us.”
