San Francisco — There are days in soccer when everything clicks… and then there are days when you run into El Farolito.

Real San Jose made the trip north to face the reigning National Amateur Club of the Year and, for one long evening in Boxer Stadium, found themselves on the wrong end of a 12–0 scoreline. Yes, twelve. As in, by the time you finish reading this sentence, they might have scored again.

But here’s the thing — this wasn’t a team that packed it in.

From the opening whistle, RSJ showed up ready to fight. For stretches, they battled, defended, and tried to impose themselves against a side that has made a habit of turning good teams into cautionary tales. And while the scoreboard kept ticking in a direction nobody in red, white, and black wanted to see, the effort never dipped.

No heads dropped. No walking. No “let’s just get out of here.” Just a group that kept lining up, taking the next kickoff, and going again.

Because that’s the part you don’t always see in a scoreline like this.

You see “12–0” and think collapse. But inside it, there’s something else — guys who kept running, kept competing, and kept showing up for each other even when the result was long gone.

Against a powerhouse like El Farolito, that matters.

Real San Jose will take the lesson, take the hit, and keep moving. That’s how this club has lasted 20 seasons. Not by avoiding results like this — but by surviving them.

And if you’ve been around RSJ long enough, you already know how this story goes next.

They’ll be back. Starting this friday when the Oakland Stompers come to PAL Stadium for a 7:45PM kickoff.

Real San Jose played a solid 90 minutes in defeating Oakland Pamperos by the score of 2-0 on October 7 at Raimondi Park in Oakland. Lorenzo Vasquez did all the scoring in the first 30 minutes of the first half.

The match marked the return of striker Fernando Lares and Gio Troini to the the RSJ roster. Both players put in a solid night’s work. RSJ featured a reworked back four with Troini, Alejandro Gonzalez, and newly signed Raymundo Mora making their first appearances in the 2017 back line.

“It was good to see a total team effort. Our defense and midfield worked extremely well shutting down our opponent and the forwards pressed hard and were rewarded with two goals,” said RSJ coach Frank Quintero.

Real San Jose has taken other step forward toward the UPSL Northwest Playoffs by defeating FC Sacramento by the score of 6-1 on June 10 at PAL Stadium. Jose Mendoza and Lorenzo Vasquez each scored three goals. Alberto Garcia-Escamilla assisted three times and Jose Avalos assisted twice. Jorge Curiel drew a penalty kick that led to a goal.

For the second week in a row RSJ came storming out of the gate and led 3-0 before fifteen minutes had passed. Only on this night, RSJ would have a 5-0 lead at halftime.

Sacramento, playing their second game after a change of ownership, pulled a goal back early in the second half. But that was all they would get as San Jose answered back with a 6th and final goal on the evening.

Notes:

1. After a slow start to the season RSJ has now won seven of the last nine games and may wrap-up a playoff spot as early as next week when they travel to play CD Pamperos 6:00pm on June 17 at Riamondi Park in Oakland.

2. Real San Jose is now selling official game jerseys at all home games This is the first time supporters can purchase a team jersey. They sell for $40 and are only available at a home game.

Real San Jose scored three times in the first fifteen minutes, withstood a IFX late first half push and then dominated the second half to earn a 5-1 victory and tie for the final UPSL Northwest playoff spot on June 6 at PAL Stadium. RSJ is now in a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot with Magic Valley FC from Idaho and four points behind Western Nevada with two less game played. RSJ hosts Sacramento FC this Saturday, 7:00 pm, at PAL Stadium.

The RSJ striker tandem of Lorenzo Vasquez and Jose Avalos proved to be too much for the IFX defense as they combined for three of the five goals. Avalos setup Vasquez to score in the second minute. Jorge Curiel fired in a loose ball in the fifth minute and Alberto Garcia-Escamilla assisted on a second Vasquez goal in the 15th minute. IFX hit with a goal and had their best chance to get closer blocked by RSJ goalkeeper Jonathan Arellano before halftime.

The second half belonged to Avalos-Vasquez combination and each setup the other to score in the second half.

Notes:

Lorenzo Vasquez: Today’s game was a great game. Coach Marcus (Kothner) demanded that we try and touch the ball more and keep control of the game and that’s what we did. Being able to go up 3-0 in the first 15 minutes was what the coach and team needed. The team was just amazing today.

Jonathan Arellano: The guys were ready to put our last game behind us and came out firing. I think we scored the fastest goal in our club’s history. We jump on IFX early and they didn’t know what hit them.