SAN JOSE — The San Jose Earthquakes were one of Major League Soccer’s stingiest teams over the first two months of the season when they allowed just four goals in their first nine league matches.
That’s no longer the case.
With some younger players now taking the place of a few injured veterans, and coach Bruce Arena’s team perhaps feeling the effects of a compressed pre-World Cup schedule, the Quakes have been giving up goals at the most inopportune times, including on Saturday when they allowed a 93rd-minute goal to Sam Sarver in a frustrating 3-2 loss to FC Dallas at PayPal Park.
It marked the second time in as many games that San Jose has allowed three goals — and left a point on the table in the waning moments — as they also conceded a go-ahead goal in the 89th minute in a 3-2 loss to Seattle on May 13.
“We’re at the end of both games where we have a point. We lock it down, and we walk off the field with a point in both games,” Arena said. “That’s how a good, experienced team deals with both of these games, and we failed to do that.”
The Earthquakes (9-2-3) enter this week still tied for first place in the Western Conference with the Vancouver Whitecaps with 29 points, but they’ve now given up 10 goals in their last five MLS matches and are on a four-game winless skid (0-2-2).
Some of that might have to do with the absences of injured starters Timo Werner and Niko Tsakiris. While there is a chance for Werner (lower body) to return for the Quakes’ game in Portland next Saturday, Tsakiris, a Saratoga native, is expected to miss the next three or four months after he had groin surgery last week.
San Jose Earthquakes’ Beau Leroux (34) kicks the ball against Dallas FC in the first half PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
With the injuries, the Quakes have hit some speed bumps, earning draws with Toronto and Vancouver before the loss to the Sounders snapped a 10-game unbeaten streak.
Against Dallas, a turnover by Beau Leroux deep in San Jose’s end in the opening minute led to a Patrickson Delgado goal, and in the 49th minute, Quakes defender Reid Roberts could not stop FC Dallas forward Petar Musa from taking a pass in the box and beating goalkeeper Daniel for his 12th goal of the season.
The 22-year-old Leroux, a San Jose native, was playing in his 37th career MLS game as he scored his second goal of the season in the 18th minute. But he also failed to convert a penalty kick late in the first half.
Roberts, also 22, scored his first career MLS goal in his 27th game.
“We’ve obviously made some mistakes along the way,” Arena said of his suddenly leaky defense. “We’re going to, at times, pay the price for having some young, inexperienced players, and hopefully they learn from some of these mistakes.
Stone Cold Sam Sarver 🍻 pic.twitter.com/df5uhg1EPt
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) May 17, 2026
“Beau had, I thought, a good night tonight. But he gave away the ball for the first goal and misses a penalty kick, but he’ll learn from that, and he’ll be better for it. He’s been a very good player for us, so I’m not being critical of him at all.”
Arena did, though, air grievances about inconsistent VAR use and MLS’s busy schedule ahead of the World Cup break.
Arena wondered why referee Chris Penso and the other officials would spend several minutes using the VAR system to review defender Benji Kikanovic’s yellow card in the 85th minute of Saturday night’s game against FC Dallas, but not on the play that decided the match?
Seconds before Sarver’s breakaway goal — followed by his chugging of an opened can of beer that someone threw onto the field — forward Logan Farrington knocked down Quakes midfielder Ronaldo Vieira near the center line as both chased after a loose ball.
While Vieira remained down, midfielder Kaick Da Silva Ferreira fed Sarver, who was onside, barely, to set up the winning goal.
“It’s amazing to me that they would spend all that time on (Kikanovic’s) foul and not spend time on the play that led to the third goal, or the handball in the penalty area previous to that, so I am completely confused by it,” Arena said. “They gave no reason, really. I mean, what can you say?”
Asked if he had a conversation with Penso, Vieira said, “I tried, but he just waved me away.”
Including their U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match against the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday, and Saturday’s MLS game against Portland, the Quakes will play five times in two weeks while traveling to three time zones.
“I think the scheduling is not good in the league, where (before the break) we load up these games,” Arena said. “Teams are tired with the midweek games and travel. We don’t have the rosters in this league to do that. It’s difficult, so the quality goes down.”
Dallas FC’s Kaick (55) and San Jose Earthquakes’ Beau Leroux (34) kick the ball in the second half at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)