SAN DIEGO (Saturday, April 4, 2026) – San Diego FC (SDFC) fell 3-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park, suffering its first defeat of the 2026 MLS regular season. San Jose scored three first-half goals, snapping SDFC’s 12-match unbeaten road streak.
San Jose took a 1–0 lead with an early goal by Tsakiris off a turnover outside the SDFC penalty box. He added his second on a penalty kick after Manu Duah was shown a red card for a foul inside the box, and Judd scored just before halftime to make it 3–0. Despite being down to 10 men, SDFC dominated possession (56% to 44%) and completed 547 passes compared to San Jose’s 370.
SDFC will next return to Snapdragon Stadium to host Minnesota United FC on Community Night, presented by California Bank & Trust, on Saturday April 11 at 7:30 PT. Tickets for the match are available at www.SanDiegoFC.com/Tickets.
Goal Scoring Plays:
SJ – 1-0 – Niko Tsakiris (Preston Judd), 13th minute: Tsakiris buried a left-footed shot into the upper left corner from the left side of the penalty area after an SDFC turnover. Judd carried the ball upfield after receiving it from Lewis Morgan and set up Tsakiris for the finish. SJ – 2-0 – Niko Tsakiris (Penalty Kick), 34th minute: Tsakiris converted from the spot with a left-footed strike. Duran Ferree guessed correctly and got a hand to the attempt, but the ball deflected into the side netting for his second goal of the night. SJ – 3-0 – Preston Judd (Beau Leroux), 45+3: Judd finished from close range, tapping in a right-footed shot near the center of the box after beating his marker to Leroux’s cross from the left.
Postgame Notes:
- With tonight’s 3-0 loss against San Jose Earthquakes, SDFC suffered its first defeat in the 2026 MLS Regular Season.
- SDFC now has a 3-1-2 record with 11 points.
- Despite tonight’s loss, SDFC has outscored opponents 12-8 in its first five matches of the regular season.
- The loss also snapped SDFC ‘s streak of 12 straight MLS Regular Season unbeaten matches on the road, including matches from last season. SDFC went 10-0-2 over that span. The streak began with a 4-2 win against Minnesota United on June 14, 2025 at Allianz Field. SDFC’s last loss away from Snapdragon Stadium came on May 25, 2025 (0-1 at SEA).
- SDFC starting defensive lineup tonight: Verhoeven, Osvald Søe, Man Duah and Luca Bombino; is the first group of defensive starters in MLS history with an average age under 20 years old.
- SDFC had previously started a group younger than 21-years-old twice (July 25, 2025 vs. Nashville and July 19, 2025 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps).
- SDFC is 19-8-6 all-time against Western Conference teams in the regular season.
- SDFC now holds a 22-10-8 all-time regular season record.
- SDFC is now 1-2-0 all-time against San Jose.
- SDFC is 1-1-1 on the road this MLS Regular Season.
- SDFC is 13-5-2 all-time on the road in MLS Regular Season play.
- SDFC had 547 passes completed compared to San Jose’s 370 tonight.
- SDFC had 56 percent possession compared to San Jose’s 44 percent.
- SDFC remains at 99 goals across all competitions (MLS, Leagues Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup).
- SDFC is now 5-3-2 in 2026 across all competitions (MLS Regular Season 3-1-2, Concacaf Champions Cup 2-2).
- SDFC has outscored opponents 20-15 across all competitions in 2026 (13-8 in MLS).
- SDFC didn’t score a goal on the road in MLS play for the first time this season.
- SDFC has now gone three-straight MLS matches without a win.
- SDFC allowed a goal in the first 15 minutes of an MLS Regular Season match for the first time this season.
- SDFC was held without a goal in MLS play for the first time since Sept. 27, 2025, a 1-0 loss to San Jose Earthquakes at Snapdragon Stadium.
- Onni Valakari and Anders Dreyer are the only players to play in all 40 of SDFC’s regular season and five post-season matches for a total of 45 MLS career appearances each.
- Forward David Vazquez made his third start of the 2026 MLS Regular Season and his fifth MLS career start.
- Goalkeeper Duran Ferree made his fifth MLS start tonight.
- Defender Wilson Eisner made his second-straight MLS appearance tonight when he came on as a substitute for David Vazquez in the 41st minute. Eisner made his MLS debut against Real Salt Lake on March 22 when he came on as a substitute in the 63rd minute for Oscar Verhoeven.
- Forward Lewis Morgan made his first MLS start for SDFC tonight. He also made his third MLS appearance with the club.
- Morgan made his international debut for the Club on March 18 against Deportivo Toluca F.C. in the Concacaf Champions Cup (CCC). He made his debut for SDFC on March 11, also against Toluca in the CCC.
- Newcomer Osvald Søe made his first career MLS start and his first with SDFC. He also made his third consecutive MLS Regular Season appearance. He has played in SDFC’s last five matches, including two consecutive appearances in the CCC.
- 18-year-old forward Bryan Zamblé made his third appearance with SDFC, coming on as a substitute for Lewis Morgan in the 57th minute.
- Defender Willy made his 2026 MLS Regular Season debut tonight when he came on as a substitute for Oscar Verhoeven in the 78th minute.
- Defender Christopher McVey missed tonight’s match while serving a red card suspension.
- Defender Mamu Duah will mis the next match after being shown a red card tonight.
- SDFC has had five red cards in its last five matches across all competitions (two red cards vs. Toluca on March 11, one at Toluca on March 18, one vs. Real Salt Lake on March 22 and one at San Jose on April 4).
Match Information
2026 MLS Regular Season
San Diego FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes
Saturday, April 4, 2026 – PayPal Park (San Jose, Calif.)
Scoring Summary: SJ (1-0) – Niko Tsakiris (Preston Judd) 13’ SJ (2-0) – Niko Tsakiris (Penalty Kick), 34’ SJ (3-0) – Preston Judd (Beau Leroux), 45+3
Misconduct Summary:
SJ – Ousseni Bouda (caution, 11’) SD – Manu Duah (ejection, 28’) SD – Osvald Søe (caution, 52')
SD – Jeppe Tverskov (caution, 59’)
SJ – Jonathan Gonzalez (caution, 77’)
Lineups:
SAN DIEGO FC: GK Duran Ferree; D Osvald Søe, D Luca Bombino, D Oscar Verhoeven (Willy, 78’), D Manu Duah; M Onni Valakari (Alex Mighten, 78’), M Jeppe Tverskov –C–, M David Vaquez (Wilson Eisner, 41’); F Anders Dreyer, F Marcus Ingvartsen (Aníbal Godoy, 59’), F Lewis Morgan (Bryan Zamblé, 57’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK CJ Dos Santos, M Pedro Soma, M Bryce Duke, F Anisse Saidi,
TOTAL SHOTS: 6; SHOTS ON GOAL: 1; FOULS: 13; OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES; 7
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: GK Daniel Britto; D Jamar Ricketts (Dave Romney, 69’), D Daniel Munie, D Reid Roberts, D Benji Kikanovic; M Niko Tsakiris, M Ronaldo Vieira –C– (Ian Harkes, 86’), M Beau Leroux (Jonthan Gonzalez, 69’), M Ousseni Buoda (Nick Fernandez, 70’), M Jack Skahan (Paul Marie, 57’); F Preston Judd
Substitutes Not Used: GK Earl Edwards Jr., M Jack Jasinski, M Noel Buck, D Max Floriani
TOTAL SHOTS: 24; SHOTS ON GOAL: 10; FOULS: 17; OFFSIDES 1; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 1
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Kathryn Nesbitt, Chris Wattan Fourth Official: Rosendo Mendoza
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez
AVAR: Robert Schaap Weather: 69-degrees, Partly Cloudy Attendance: 17,410 All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
SDFC HEAD COACH MIKEY VARAS
On what the team can take from tonight to move forward:
“No silver linings, we started the game really poorly with individual errors that lead to two goals conceded and a red card. At the end of the day, I don't agree with the referee's call, but we also put ourselves in this situation. Too many guys not executing the way they should be, executing the way they have and too many young guys who are playing a little bit naive right now, we have to Improve from there.”
