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 fell 3-0 to the high-flying Gold in Sacramento on April 16. The victory for Sacramento evens the season series between the two Golden Gate Conference teams at 1-1. RSJ won the first match to open the season. The final match, scheduled for June 25, will be at PAL Stadium.

“Hat’s off to Ruben Mora and his boys tonight. They came out firing on all cylinders and were rewarded,” said RSJ manager Nick Arellano.

The Gold has run-off three straight wins since losing at home to RSJ on March 19. San Jose takes a 1 W 1T 2L record for another road match this weekend in Portland Oregon.

There’s an old saying in soccer, “Players win games, coaches lose games, and referees ruin games.” Unfortunately, for Real San Jose it was the referees that took center stage during the clubs’ home opener on April 2. A nice crowd was on hand to see an exciting match until referee Victor Rivas increasingly took over leading up to a game-altering decision to show RSJ midfielder Sami Sreis a straight red card in first-half extra time. East Bay FC Stompers took full advantage and scored twice in the second half as RSJ lost for the first time in their new stadium and the 2016 season.

“Obviously were disappointed in the result and how it transpired. That said, we were still tied and did not do very well in meeting the challenge of being short-handed in the second half,” said RSJ manager Nick Arellano. “On the positive side, we had a nice crowd and PAL is a great place to experience a soccer game. We will bounce back. It’s soccer. “

RSJ aren’t going to wait long to get that bounce back chance as they return to PAL Stadium to host the defending Golden Gate Conference Champions Sonoma Sol next Saturday on April 9. Kickoff is at 7:00 pm.

Real San Jose opened the 2016 National Premier League season with a 1-0 victory at Sacramento by combining total team defense with a smooth finish from Heriberto Guerro. RSJ goalkeeper Jonathan Arellano was named “Man of the Match” and he was the first to comment on the total team effort.

“Everyone just did what they had to do at that moment, and we just fought. It was a huge team effort, and everyone did their part,” said Arellano.

Juan Carlos Leal nearly put RSJ on top in the second minute when Noah Pederson played a low ball from right to left. Leal’s shot was pushed out for a corner by Sacramento goalkeeper Andres Olmedo.

The match developed into a fast paced contest with both teams choosing the direct approach to goal more often than not. Leal had another clear chance go wide in the 17th minute. Sacramento came closest to goal when Jose Martinez put the ball on the post, and a pair of goal-bound efforts were well saved by Arellano. First was an excellent reflex save denying Manolo Pina, and the other was a diving save stopping a blast heading for the inside of the back post.

The second half saw the teams work more towards ball control until the 69th minute when Daniel Galvan sent a defense splitting pass at midfield to Guerro. Guerro, making his first appearance since a season-ending injury ended his 2015 after just two games, went free with plenty of time and space to steer the ball around Olmedo and into the net.

Sacramento responded to the setback by pushing numbers forward in search of getting even. It took two spectacular defensive plays to keep RSJ in the lead. Giovanni Troini cleared a shot from Chimdum Mez off the goal line and in the 81st minute; Arellano made a double save by blocking a blast at goal from Piña and quickly recover to stop a follow-up shot from Mez’s.

“Our goalkeeper had our backs a couple of times, and we had his,” said Troini.

Real San Jose travels to Oakland next Saturday to face CD Aguiluchos in the rescheduling of the rained out match on March 12. On April 2, RSJ plays their first home match of 2016 when they play host to East Bay Stompers at PAL Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.