San Jose Earthquakes Playoff Tickets

San Jose Earthquakes Playoff History

The San Jose franchise is a founding member of Major League Soccer, and the team began play in the league’s inaugural 1996 season. The Earthquakes have one of the more interesting stories in MLS history, and their team history goes as far back as 1974 in the NASL. The Major League Soccer team played their first four seasons under the San Jose Clash moniker. One of the more unique stories of San Jose soccer history is despite being a founding MLS club, they have not played in all MLS seasons. San Jose suspended operations for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, but the club returned in 2008.

San Jose played and won the first match in MLS history, a 1-0 home victory over D.C. United. As the Clash, they qualified for the first MLS playoffs in that same season, but they lost in the quarterfinals. The Clash then failed to qualify for the next three playoffs. However, postseason success was on the horizon.

The franchise became the San Jose Earthquakes for the 2000 MLS season, but they still missed out on playoff action that year before quickly turning things around. San Jose signed Landon Donovan on loan from Bayern Leverkusen and jumpstarted a very successful MLS career. With Donovan starring, the Quakes improved from seven to thirteen wins and qualified for their second playoffs as a club.

This playoff campaign was much more successful than their last. They started fast and crushed the Columbus Crew 6-1 over two games. This result saw San Jose advance to their first-ever semifinals, facing the Miami Fusion. The Quakes proved to be too strong for the Fusion, and five different Earthquakes players scored to put them through to the MLS Cup Final. The 2001 MLS Cup Final went down in the MLS history books as one of the most exciting the league had seen. Dwayne de Rosario notched an unbelievable golden goal to immediately send the LA Galaxy packing. With the strike, San Jose completed their arc from bottom-dwelling MLS side to the best team in the league.

But the Quakes were not done there, and they qualified for the next four MLS Cup Playoffs to become a playoff regular. They fell out in the quarterfinals to the Columbus Crew in 2002, but the Landon Donavan-led team would be back for revenge in 2003. They beat their rivals again in the playoffs by outlasting the LA Galaxy 5-4 in the quarterfinals. The club then snuck by Kansas City 3-2 to reach the coveted MLS Cup Final. The Earthquakes controlled the match, and two goals from Landon Donovan secured the 4-2 victory, winning their second MLS Cup in three years.