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HOUSTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 29: Jamar Ricketts #2 of the San Jose Earthquakes reacts during the second half against the Houston Dynamo FC at Shell Energy Stadium on August 29, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Maria Lysaker\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The San Jose Earthquakes<\/a> are looking to snap a seven-game winless streak this weekend when they finish their Texas road trip with a stop in Austin.<\/p>\n Despite a dominant 5-1 victory in the Earthquakes\u2019 last matchup against Austin FC back in April, defender Jamar Ricketts made it clear<\/a> that they\u2019re not going to get ahead of themselves when he met with the media on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Work Ethic is Key for Ricketts<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to keep going out and working hard,\u201d Ricketts said. \u201cEverything is tough, especially in this league and in this conference. The message is we need to win, we need to keep gaining points. We need to be focused at every moment of the game because all it takes is one slip-up and we could concede. I think as long as everybody\u2019s in it together, especially playing away and in a hotter climate, we\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n The Earthquakes had one of the best starts imaginable this season, as they began the season by going 8-1-1 in their first ten matches and were fighting for the top spot in the Western Conference. Now, they\u2019re sitting in fourth place in the conference and if they don\u2019t get results in their next two games, they could drop entirely out of a playoff spot.<\/p>\n Looking forward, the Quakes know what they need to do to get things back on track. \u201cWe based most of our success in the beginning part of the year on our work ethic, being dogs, and being in everybody\u2019s face,\u201d Ricketts said. \u201cThen I think we were kind of getting away from that, and that was the thing we were reiterating. Being able to get back to that starts in practice, so I think that\u2019s been the constant message.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking Back to Move Forward<\/p>\n Although there are relatively few positives to take away from a 0-0 draw, the Earthquakes picked up a point this past weekend against the Houston Dynamo to break a four-game losing streak.<\/p>\n \u201cTeams go through slumps,\u201d Ricketts said. \u201cIt\u2019s not always forward progress. Sometimes you\u2019ve got to take a step back to move forward. Being able to take a step back, see what\u2019s not working, and then adjust with everybody buying into that, I think that\u2019s what gave us the confidence in the last game to go out and take the game.\u201d<\/p>\n One key area of improvement in the Earthquakes\u2019 last outing was the defense in front of goalkeeper Angus Gunn. The Quakes held the Dynamo, the second place team in the Western Conference, without a shot<\/a> to help the Scottish international pick up his first clean sheet.<\/p>\n \u201d I think the result that we got on the road is what\u2019s driving us and helping everybody band together,\u201d Ricketts went on to add.<\/p>\n According to SofaScore, Ricketts\u2019 performance against the Dynamo was his best individual showing<\/a> since May as he earned his first rating of 7.0 or higher since May 16, when the Quakes faced Dallas FC.<\/p>\n San Jose\u2019s game against Austin will kick off at 5:30 PM (PT) on Apple TV. Heading into the match, one thing is certain for the Earthquakes: they need a result.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tWilliam Espy<\/a> William Espy is an accredited writer who has been credentialed by the San Jose Sharks, San Jose Earthquakes, Stockton Kings, San Francisco Giants, and multiple other sports organizations throughout California. He currently covers the MLB with a focus on the San Francisco Giants, the NBA with a focus on the Sacramento Kings, the MLS and the NHL for Heavy Sports.\u00a0 More about William Espy<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty HOUSTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 29: Jamar Ricketts #2 of the San Jose Earthquakes reacts during the second…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":["post-451895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","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\/451895","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=451895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}