It\u2019s\u00a0that time again!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Black and Blue versus Navy and Gold. North against\u00a0South. The skydivers\u00a0soaring\u00a0down onto the field with \u201cBEAT LA\u201d emblazoned on the flag. The pageantry and parade of American heroes being saluted on the pitch. And of course, the Bay Area\u2019s largest fireworks show illuminating the night after the final whistle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Northern California natives know: The California Clasico is finally upon us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Saturday night, the San Jose Earthquakes and LA Galaxy will take the field for the 13th\u202ftime at Stanford Stadium and the 105th edition overall of the timeless interstate derby.\u202fIt\u2019s\u202fa battle like no other in Major League Soccer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s edition is marked by a Quakes renaissance. Despite dropping their last game against Orlando City SC on Wednesday, San Jose\u00a0remains\u00a0tied on points for first place in the Western Conference for the first time since 2012\u2014the\u00a0initial\u00a0season that the annual summer\u202fclash at Stanford became an MLS tradition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Quakes are 5-3-2 against the Galaxy at The Farm, with four of those\u00a0wins coming in dramatic come-from-behind\u00a0fashion. San Jose also captured the season series in 2025, winning 1-0 in Carson and drawing 1-1 at Stanford.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To understand the significance of this\u202fmatchup, allow us to take you back in time\u202fto revisit five\u00a0memorable\u00a0games in chronological order.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
July 20, 2012:\u202fQuakes 4, Galaxy 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
In front of 50,391 fans, the Earthquakes took the Stanford Stadium field for the first time in the Clasico.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just two months earlier, Steven Lenhart invoked the \u201cNever say die\u201d mantra when San Jose scored three unanswered goals in the last 14 minutes to shock the Galaxy in Carson, 3-2.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This time Lenhart again would be a protagonist by opening the scoring, but the cheers soon turned to despair as the Quakes found themselves trailing 3-1 in minute 41.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u00a0transpired\u00a0next was emblematic of the \u201cGoonies\u201d who would go on to win the Supporters\u2019 Shield that year. First, Victor Bernardez responded with a goal before intermission. Then on the other end of the break, Sam Cronin broke free in behind the back line and equalized for\u202fthe Quakes, who now had\u202falmost an\u202fentire half to grab the winning goal. It took them less\u202fthan 15 minutes as Chris Wondolowski\u202fstruck from a set piece in minute 61\u202fto deliver what would end up being the deciding goal.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
The chaos was far from over, however.\u202fLate in stoppage time, Galaxy midfielder David Beckham drop-kicked a ball at Cronin while he was on the ground, igniting\u202fa brawl now infamously known for the English\u00a0legend\u00a0squaring up at Quakes mascot Q and taking this rivalry to another level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
June 29,\u00a02013:\u202fQuakes 3, Galaxy 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sequel to the Stanford opener\u00a0did not disappoint\u00a0as\u00a0it\u202fprovided one of the most iconic moments in\u00a0Earthquakes\u00a0history.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
In minute 68,\u00a0the Black and Blue\u00a0found themselves once again\u202ftrailing by\u202ftwo goals against the Galaxy.\u202fThis time\u00a0Alan Gordon\u00a0etched his name in Cali Clasico lore and\u00a0came up with\u00a0a brilliant header to make it\u00a02-1. Another comeback looked to be within reach, but a Bernardez red card in minute 77\u202fexacerbated\u00a0the Quakes\u2019 problems.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite being down a man, San Jose continued to push forward, and\u202fafter a long throw-in broke loose in the box, Shea Salinas pounced\u00a0on it\u00a0to level the game in stoppage time. Most\u00a0teams would have been content with\u00a0securing a point\u00a0while down a man, but the Quakes wanted more.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just one minute later, Cronin gathered the ball at the top of\u202fthe box and sent a perfect ball to Gordon at the back post to dunk home his second goal of the night and the game-winning goal.\u202fEuphoria set in at Stanford as he\u00a0ripped off his shirt and\u00a0celebrated with his teammates and the Ultras behind the goal. The Goonies had done\u00a0it again\u00a0on The Farm.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
July 1,\u00a02017:\u202fQuakes 2, Galaxy 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 2017 edition of\u00a0the Clasico\u00a0was no different.\u202fThe Galaxy struck first early on,\u00a0but by this time, the crowd had seen this movie before and waited for the second-half hijinks to ensue. Sure enough, in minute 75, Earthquakes goalkeeper David Bingham sent a long ball\u202fto\u00a0Wondolowski, who\u00a0took one touch inside and curled the ball with his left foot into the far corner\u00a0to tie it 1-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once again,\u00a0San Jose\u00a0had the final say\u00a0in the third minute of stoppage time\u00a0as Shea\u00a0Salinas\u00a0buried the game-winning goal and ripped his\u00a0kit\u00a0off to run across the field\u00a0amid a sea of\u00a0Black and Blue supporters losing their minds.\u00a0Later Salinas would tell reporters he had a prescient moment before the match and told his wife if he\u00a0scored\u00a0he would do just that. The\u00a0subsequent\u00a0yellow card was well worth it as the moment was immortalized years later in a Shea Salinas shirtless bobblehead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
June 30,\u00a02018:\u202fQuakes 3, Galaxy 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zlatan Ibrahimovi\u0107 added his own brand of flair to the rivalry when he\u00a0took the field for\u202fLA\u00a0and scored two early goals as the Galaxy jumped out to a 3-1 lead. However,\u00a0not even Zlatan himself could stop the inevitable: a Quakes resurgence at Stanford.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vako\u00a0netted to pull one back for San Jose before intermission and Wondolowski\u00a0converted from the penalty spot in minute 69 to salvage a 3-3 draw and send their SoCal rivals home without three points yet again.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
July 1, 2023: Quakes 2, Galaxy 2\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This epic encounter was\u00a0absolute\u00a0cinema. The Earthquakes fought back from an early deficit to tie it 1-1 with a Jack Skahan goal. But\u00a0LA would\u00a0surge ahead shortly after halftime thanks to future Quakes star forward Preston Judd\u2014one of a handful of players to feature for both teams during their careers. With time running out, the Stanford magic\u00a0emerged\u00a0to LA\u2019s dismay once more as Cristian Espinoza found the back of the net in the final 10 minutes to steal a point in a 2-2 draw.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
July 25, 2026: The Future is Now\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can the Quakes get back on track Saturday?\u00a0After so many games on the opposite sideline, Bruce Arena now\u00a0mans\u00a0the San Jose bench and has led the team to their best start in club history.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he has a new challenge\u00a0on\u00a0his hands.\u00a0Due to an accumulation of yellow cards, Judd\u00a0(who currently leads all domestic players in MLS with 11 goals)\u00a0and\u00a0defensive midfielder\/team captain\u00a0Ronaldo Vieira will miss the match.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Galaxy are struggling this season\u00a0in 10th, one spot off the playoff positions. German star Marco Reus and Ghanaian winger Joseph Paintsil will be the focal points in attack with striker Joao Klauss out with injury and Gabriel Pec recently transferred to Brazilian side Cruzeiro.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the Quakes\u00a0appear to be\u00a0favored on paper, throw the records out the window when it comes to the California Clasico, where no lead is safe, new heroes are made each time and the fireworks are prevalent on and off the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s\u00a0that time again!\u00a0\u00a0 Black and Blue versus Navy and Gold. North against\u00a0South. The skydivers\u00a0soaring\u00a0down onto the field with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[161725,86446,88,90,89],"class_list":["post-411893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-california-clasico","tag-la-galaxy","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}