Preston Judd brace gets Earthquakes back on track | OneFootball

By Alex Calabrese

The San Jose Earthquakes are back to winning ways, entering the 2026 FIFA World Cup break on a high.

As has often been the case this season, Preston Judd was at the heart of their success. 

“That’s always the goal, to score goals,” Judd said after scoring twice in a 3-1 road win over the Portland Timbers on Walmart Saturday Showdown. “If you had told me I was going to score two consecutive goals early in the game, I would be okay with it.

“I’m just happy to help the team in this game; it’s an important one to put us in a positive mindset before the break.”

Grit Reaper

San Jose are off to a historic start to the season in year two under legendary head coach Bruce Arena. However, they hit a recent rough patch, going winless over five games across all competitions. 

That all changed with Judd's man-of-the-match performance that also gave the club their first-ever victory at Providence Park.

“The striker just wants to score goals every game,” said Judd. “Whenever I don’t score a goal, it upsets me. I knew this was my last chance before a long break, so I needed to do whatever I could to get the ball in the back of the net.”

Amid injuries to superstar Designated Player Timo Werner and homegrown Niko Tsakiris, Judd has a club-best 13 goal contributions behind a career-best 11g/2a.

He's now just two goals behind Chicago Fire FC striker Hugo Cuypers (13 goals) for the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi lead.

“I wouldn’t say it’s his constant work-rate, I’d say it’s his scoring,” Arena said post-game of Judd.

“We’re gonna work with him to work a little bit harder, but today he has 11 goals. That’s very impressive.”

Back in the groove

The Earthquakes enter the World Cup pause in second place in the Western Conference, level on points (32) with first-place Vancouver Whitecaps FC, who have a game in hand. 

“If any team needs a break and deserves a break, it’s us,” said Arena. “We’re pretty busted up. We’ve had a loaded schedule in the month of May, and we managed to survive.

"We barely kept our heads above water, but I couldn’t be more proud of the group at this point in the season.”

Despite this recent adversity, the Quakes are looking like legit contenders after barely missing the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs.

"As I told the team, the second half of the season is going to be much harder than the first half," said Arena. "So we have a ways to go.

"But it’s just been a fantastic effort from our guys in the first 15 games.”

WATCH: Grit Reaper! Preston Judd powers San Jose ahead of World Cup break