Josef Martinez and Niko Tsakiris scored goals over a three-minute stretch late in the match to carry the San Jose Earthquakes to a rousing 2-1 come-from-behind win over visiting Austin FC on Saturday in a key Decision Day match.
Even with the victory, the Earthquakes (11-15-8, 41 points) finished in 10th place in the Western Conference and will miss the postseason in a race that came down to the final minutes of the regular season.
Austin (13-13-8, 47 points) had little to play for as it had already cemented its first trip to the MLS playoffs. The Verde will be the sixth seed in the Western Conference and play at third-seeded Los Angeles FC in the best-of-three first round beginning Oct. 24.
Down by a goal after an early tally by Austin, the Earthquakes came alive in the 74th minute. That’s when Martinez jumped high to head home a pass from Jack Skahan, beating Verde keeper Brad Stuver to the top left corner to tie the match.
Tsakiris produced the game winner three minutes later on a free kick from just outside the box, curving the ball around the wall and into the top right corner to net his first MLS goal. Cristian Arango won that free kick, after being fouled by Austin’s Guilherme Biro.
Despite the win, San Jose will miss the postseason on goal differential to Real Salt Lake who earned a 2-2 tie with St. Louis.
The Earthquakes were the aggressor early on, producing shots by Arango and Ousseni Bouda in the 12th minute that forced Stuver into solid saves.
But it was the Verde who broke through, with Owen Wolff hammering home a right footed shot in the 22nd minute from just outside the top of the box and beating San Jose goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. to the middle of the goal. Jader Obrian fed Wolff on the goal, with the shot being the only one on target for Austin in the first half.
Stuver kept the Verde in front with saves on Ronaldo Vieira and Bouda in the 48th and 56th minutes, respectively. Benji Kikanovic also clanged a shot off the right post in the 55th minute that could have produced the equalizer for the Earthquakes.
–Field Level Media
