San Jose Earthquakes Rout Austin FC 5-1, First Post-Shootout-Era MLS Team to Win 8 of First 9

At halftime on Wednesday night, Austin FC were winning at PayPal Park and Brad Stuver looked like he had borrowed a few extra arms. Forty-five minutes later the scoreboard read like a typo, and the San Jose Earthquakes had written another line into the record book.

San Jose beat Austin FC 5-1, scoring five unanswered goals after the break to become the first MLS team in the post-shootout era (since 2000) to win eight of their first nine games to begin a season, per the club and MLSsoccer.com. Joseph Rosales had given Austin a ninth-minute lead. Then the second half happened, and substitute Paul Marie set up three goals in 5 minutes and 28 seconds, which San Jose's notes call a new MLS record for the fastest trio of assists.

A Lead, a Wall and a Lot of Shots

Austin's opener came from a San Jose mistake. Rosales picked off a loose pass in the attacking third and hit a left-footed shot from the center of the box that goalkeeper Daniel touched but could not keep out. It was Rosales' first goal for the club, per Austin's match report.

After that, it was a one-way street with a toll booth at the end. Timo Werner forced Stuver into saves in the 11th, 14th and 34th minutes. Jack Jasinski's header was pushed away in the 25th. Niko Tsakiris and Beau Leroux missed the frame from good spots. Austin also lost left back Guilherme Biro to an injury in the 38th minute, with Zan Kolmanic coming on, and still reached the break ahead after six added minutes.

San Jose's notes say it was only the third time all season the Quakes had trailed at any point.

The Second-Half Avalanche

The equalizer took 13 minutes of the second half and two attempts from the same player. Jasinski, a rookie making his first MLS start, headed a Bouda cross off the right post in the 57th minute. On the corner that followed, he met Tsakiris' delivery from close range and buried it in the top right corner for his first MLS goal.

Leroux rattled the right post in the 61st, and Austin were now clearing everything in sight. Austin made 46 clearances on the night, and at some point it stopped being defending and started being survival.

The dam broke for good in the 77th minute. Nicolás Dubersarsky fouled Jamar Ricketts in the box, and Werner rolled the penalty into the bottom left corner a minute later for a 2-1 lead.

Then Marie, who had replaced Jasinski in the 74th minute, turned the last stretch into a highlight package. In the 83rd he teed up Preston Judd, who finished low into the bottom right corner. Two minutes later he found Ousseni Bouda on the break, and Bouda slotted a left-footed shot into the bottom left. In the 88th he served one more for Judd, who headed in from point-blank range. Three goals, three assists, one substitute. Even FIFA on beginner mode does not usually go this smoothly.

The fourth official then announced 14 minutes of added time, and somehow nothing else went in, mostly because Stuver kept saving things.

Who Ran the Show

Paul Marie played from the 74th minute and finished with three assists. That is not a cameo. That is a hostile takeover.

Preston Judd scored twice on eight shots, four of them on target. The club says those were his fourth and fifth goals of the league season, tying Bouda for the team lead.

Timo Werner was relentless: eight shots, five on target and the go-ahead penalty. Bruce Arena said Werner "from the opening minute was terrific on the night, and gave the players a lot of confidence."

Jack Jasinski was named the club's man of the match after his first MLS start produced a post, a goal and a yellow card. "Best feeling in the world, obviously," he said of the goal.

Brad Stuver made 11 saves for Austin and still conceded five. Goalkeeping is a cruel job.

Turning Point: Jasinski Gets a Second Chance

The post in the 57th minute could have been one of those nights where nothing goes in. Instead, San Jose went straight back to the corner flag and Jasinski won the next ball. One minute later, the game was tied, PayPal Park found its voice, and Austin's legs looked heavier on every restart.

Jasinski captured the room after the game. "This team never gives up," he said. "The way that we play, I think other teams get tired."

Stats That Matter

• Shots: San Jose 37, Austin 5. On target it was 16 to 2.
• Possession: San Jose held the ball 69.1 percent of the time and completed 527 passes to Austin's 195.
• Corners: 14 to 1 in San Jose's favor, and one of them produced the equalizer.
• Saves: Stuver made 11, Daniel made one.
• Cards: San Jose were booked four times to Austin's once, and still won by four.

What It Means

San Jose are 8-0-1 with 24 points. The club's recap says the win put the Quakes in sole possession of first place in the Western Conference for the first time in 14 years, and MLSsoccer.com noted they sit ahead of Vancouver on the Supporters' Shield table with one more game played. It was their fifth straight league win, one short of the club record of six set in 2005, per the club. They have conceded four goals in nine games, and the club says a five-goal half had happened only once before in its history, in 1996.

Arena also picked up his 281st regular-season win, which the club notes is a record among MLS head coaches. He is not getting carried away. "I think winning games is a starting point. We won nine games last year. We have eight now," he told MLSsoccer.com.

Austin are 1-4-4 with seven points, 13th in the West according to San Jose's notes. By our count, this was their seventh straight league match without a win, a run that started after a 1-0 win over D.C. United on March 1. Next up is a home game against Houston on Saturday, while San Jose visit St. Louis the same day.

The Closing Take

This felt like the scene in every heist movie where the crew stops pretending and the music kicks in. Austin had the plan, the early goal and a goalkeeper on a heater. San Jose had a bench that could change the soundtrack. Arena keeps preaching patience, and maybe he is right to. "We've got to be prepared for not only the good days, but some of the days that aren't so good," he said. Right now, every day in San Jose looks like a good one.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and club notes as reported by SJEarthquakes.com and MLSSoccer.com; additional details from AustinFC.com.