SAN JOSE Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes defeated Bay Cities FC 5-0 on Tuesday night at PayPal Park with five different players scoring for the home side. The result sees San Jose advance to the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32.
Midfielder Jack Skahan opened the scoring for the Quakes in the 25th minute via a curling free kick. San Jose doubled their lead in the 37th minute when Paul Marie sent a low, left-footed shot from distance into the net. In the second half, the Quakes went on to tally three more goals. Cade Cowell scored a penalty in the 59th minute, followed by goals from rookies Niko Tsakiris and Ousseni Bouda.
Bouda, Skahan and Tsakiris all scored the first competitive goals of their careers while defender Oskar Ågren made his professional debut. Goalkeeper Matt Bersano also made his first competitive appearance for San Jose, recording the shutout.
The Earthquakes will remain in San Jose to resume MLS action when they host Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday, April 23, presented by City of San Jose. Kickoff from PayPal Park is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT, and the match will be broadcast nationally on UniMas and TUDN, and via radio on KNBR 1050 and KZSF 1370.
GAME NOTES
The San Jose Earthquakes advance to the 2022 U.S. Open Cup Round of 32.
The interim coaching staff, led by head coach Alex Covelo, made their Quakes debut in tonight’s match.
San Jose’s starting XI featured six players 23 years of age and under, including teenagers Cade Cowell (18) and Niko Tsakiris (16).
Four rookies started for San Jose: Oskar Agren (23), Ousseni Bouda (21), Will Richmond (21), and Niko Tsakiris (16). Agren made his professional debut in the match.
Three players scored their first competitive goals of their careers: Jack Skahan, Ousseni Bouda, and Niko Tsakiris.
Midfielder Eric Remedi wore the captain’s armband for the first time with the Earthquakes.
Midfielder Shea Salinas made his first Quakes appearance of the season, entering as a substitute in the 69th minute. He played with the first team for the first time since suffering a right knee injury last season.
Goalkeeper Matt Bersano made his first competitive appearance for San Jose, starting and playing 90 minutes, and keeping the shutout.
MATCH INFORMATION
2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
San Jose Earthquakes 5 – 0 Bay Cities FC
Tuesday, April 19, 2022 – PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif.
Man of the Match: Ousseni Bouda
Scoring Summary:
SJ (1-0) – Jack Skahan (free kick) 25’
SJ (2-0) – Paul Marie (unassisted) 36’
SJ (3-0) – Cade Cowell (penalty) 59’
SJ (4-0) – Niko Tsakiris (Will Richmond) 83’
SJ (5-0) – Ousseni Bouda (Jan Gregus) 88’
Misconduct Summary:
BCFC – Daniel Turgeon (caution) 16’
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Matt Bersano; Marcos Lopez (Shea Salinas 69), Tanner Beason (Francisco Calvo 69), Oskar Ågren, Paul Marie (Jackson Yueill 62); Eric Remedi (Jan Gregus 77); Will Richmond, Niko Tsakiris, Jack Skahan, Ousseni Bouda; Cade Cowell (Jamiro Monteiro 62).
Substitutes not used: Cristian Espinoza, JT Marcinkowski.
SHOTS: 23; SHOTS ON GOAL: 9; FOULS: 9; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 0
BAY CITIES FC: Ian Mcgrane; Jacob Penner, Christian Dean, Danny Turgeon (Rei Dorwart 46), Malik Shaheed, Jonathan Partida (Victor Romero 78); Mumbi Kwesele, Carlos Gomez-Zavala (Andres Jimenez 62), Tony Jimenez; Josiah Romero (Kevin Salto 78), Anthony Orendian (Marco Silveira 62).
Substitutes not used: Alan Cruz, David Kinnear.
SHOTS: 3; SHOTS ON GOAL: 0; FOULS: 13; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 4
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES INTERIM HEAD COACH ALEX COVELO
On his first match as interim head coach:
“The experiences when you win are always good. We thought that this was going to be a good opportunity for the players to play this game against Bay Cities FC. We passed this eliminatory [round] and we now have to look forward. I think the players did amazing, they interpreted very, very well. They could have won on their own. We have a very good group of players.”
On the game plan for tonight’s match:
“I cannot speak about the past. I can speak about what I saw today, and I think that the guys did amazing. I interpretated what we want to do today. We spoke to them, tried to tell them what we’re looking for defensively and offensively. It was the first step. Also, we were able to give some minutes to other players, experienced players so that they can feel part of that style that we want to play. It was great. I told them all the credit to them.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER JACK SKAHAN
On what the game plan was:
“The game plan, to be honest, was pretty different. There are some different things structurally, especially when we attack, where we are positioned to stop counterattacks specifically, and you can see a lot of that with the opposite outside back coming into the middle to sit next to the six. And I thought we implemented it well. I think that we really haven’t had any time to practice it and we really did well translating as a team and we have a lot to build on.”
On the game-winning free kick goal:
“I feel comfortable with set pieces. In college, I took corners, set pieces, a lot of the shooting set pieces, all the crossing set pieces. I practice it all the time. With the second team the day before games in set piece practice, I’ll oftentimes be the one taking them. And I actually scored one very similar to that last week in practice, so I felt very comfortable, very confident. To be honest, I thought I was going to score it.”
