Rookie defender Jack Jasinski subbed in and scored in the last minute of second-half stoppage time after Real Salt Lake took a late lead, giving the San Jose Earthquakes a dramatic 1-1 draw in Sandy, Utah on Wednesday night.

Jasinski entered in the 59th minute before scoring unassisted in the fifth minute of stoppage time for his second goal in his first 16 MLS appearances.

“In that situation, we’re down a goal. It’s at the end of the game, and there’s nothing to lose,” said Jasinski, a second-round pick from Princeton in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft. “I was playing right back and got myself in the box. And when you’re in the box, you know anything can happen. Fortunately, the ball came and bounced pretty high out to me. I hit it and it fortunately went in.”

Jasinski’s goal extended the Earthquakes’ unbeaten streak to eight league matches. Fourth-place San Jose (13-8-8) needed a win and some help to clinch a playoff spot in the Western Conference on Wednesday.

Real Salt Lake defender Luc de Fougerolles used assists from defender Juan Manuel Sanabria and 19-year-old Aiden Hezarkhani to score his first goal in his second MLS appearance, giving RSL a 1-0 lead in the 79th minute. It was the eighth assist for Sanabria in his first season.

RSL (9-14-6) was a minute away from notching just its second win in its last 11 MLS matches when San Jose extended its road magic and put together the game-tying score .

San Jose’s Preston Judd curled a ball toward the box that Sanabria deflected in the air. Jasinski, perfectly positioned on the right side at the edge of the six-yard box, volleyed it past Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Rafael Cabral to equalize late and steal a point for the Quakes..

San Jose, which entered with the second-most points on the road this season with  25 — two less than Inter Miami, improved to 7-4-5 away from home and has gone 4-0-4 during its unbeaten run.

Real Salt Lake, meanwhile has gone 1-5-2 since the start of September but is 9-4-3 overall at home.

After a first half devoid of strong scoring chances, both teams nearly scored with around 20 minutes to play.

In the 72nd minute, the Quakes won a corner and Timo Werner picked out Reid Roberts, but his glancing header floated over the crossbar. In minute 76, RSL’s Aiden Hezarkhani took a pass in the box, turned and fired, but Quakes defender Ian Harkes got just enough of the shot to redirect it wide of the far post.

Angus Gunn totaled six saves in his 12th career start for the Quakes.

Up next

San Jose’s next shot at clinching its first playoff  berth since 2023 comes Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts Nashville SC (20-3-6) at PayPal Park. Nashville is in first place in the Eastern Conference with an MLS-best 66 points, 14 more than Miami CF and West leader Vancouver, which each have the league’s second-highest point total.