San Jose Earthquakes spoil Austin FC's home opener with scoreless draw

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:06 am

James Marcinkowski turned away six shots to record his first clean sheet of the season as the visiting San Jose Earthquakes earned a workmanlike point with Austin FC via a scoreless draw on Saturday, spoiling the first-ever home match for the expansion side.

Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver matched Marcinkowski with his own shutout, making nine stops including several in the final minutes to preserve the draw. It was Stuver's third clean sheet of the season

The match is the first in a run that will see Austin FC play six of its next eight contests at its new home, Q2 Stadium. But San Jose spoiled the party; the game was played before a capacity and raucous crowd.

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Austin FC has recorded three consecutive draws and are winless in five matches since May 1 in Minnesota.

The Earthquakes had perhaps the best chance to break the deadlock late in the game when Carlos Fierro ripped a shot on goal in the 83rd minute that Stuver deflected away.

San Jose was playing its first match since May 29 and snapped a four-match losing streak, Over their five-game winless streak, the Earthquakes have been outscored 7-1.

The match was virtually even statistically. San Jose earned advantages on possession percentage (50.8 percent to 49.2 percent), shots on goal (9-6) and total passes (404-380) while Austin had the edge in total shots (19-14), corners, (9-7), blocked shots (8-1) and passing accuracy (86 percent to 83.7 percent).