This will be one in a series of “Away Days” content, where I will join the away section and provide a firsthand account of the action. There’s nothing quite like traveling to another city to support your team in a different stadium. The away section acts as a collective, loud voice that the team hears when they need extra encouragement to go the extra mile.

My first “Away Days” trip was to San Jose, a city I am very familiar with. Since it was my dad’s birthday on Sunday, he decided to celebrate with my mom in Nevada, which meant my better half and I could join everyone in San Jose for the match. We were able to make the trip for the low low cost of almost nothing by using some Alaska miles and Marriott hotel points. We flew to San Jose on Saturday at 5:35 pm and landed about an hour later.

Since we had been to San Jose before, we like to visit our favorite spots. One of them is Taplands, a local pub close to Santa Clara University, and a few miles from the airport and PayPal Park. This place serves local beer favorites like Russian River, Hop Dogma, and Altamont. We ordered Pita Points with various dipping sauces, and I had one of their sandwiches called the “Cousin Vinny,” which is hot pastrami on top of roast beef, on a french roll covered with chipotle aioli and a slice of muenster cheese. It’s the perfect meal to have with a couple of IPAs.

The Pregame

The next day, yes, more drinks! I received our tickets through the Chant App, where I also saw that the SDFC supporters’ group was meeting at San Pedro Square Market, another place I knew well. San Pedro Square can be described as a small corner in downtown San Jose that has a bit of everything, from burgers and Neapolitan-style pizza to tacos and Banh Mi sandwiches. San Pedro Square might have better variety than Petco Park (sorry Petco). It’s the perfect place for pre-game drinks since it has a couple of bars. We got some beers and sat outside in the shade with a group of San Diego fans. I overheard some people who had flown in the night before, just like us, and I spoke with someone who had taken a bus from San Diego at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.

After finishing our beers, we went to O’Flaherty’s, a bar down the street from San Pedro Square, to join another group of fans. Since I was at an Irish pub, I thought a Guinness was appropriate, but my girlfriend, Monica, noticed Cellarmaker’s Coffee and Cigarettes, a smoked porter and one of my favorite beers. I decided to have both.

Now properly lubricated, it was time to head to the match. We were supposed to take a shuttle with the other San Diego fans, but the first two buses were full, so we had to wait for a third one. We got to the stadium at 4:00 p.m. due to the wait and traffic. The match was set to kick off at 4:10 p.m. with pre-game festivities already underway.

Welcome to PayPal Park

By the time we got our drinks and found our seats in the away section, we had missed about six minutes of the match. The San Diego fans were already in full swing with their chants. As the chants repeated, they became intoxicating, just like the beer I was drinking. Even the kids in the next section, who were likely rooting for San Jose, couldn’t help but clap along to the San Diego drums.

The away section in San Jose was a great place to be. It was a bright, sunny day, we were in the shade on the north side of the stadium, and a nice breeze was flowing through the section. We could also see the San Jose airport to our right.

There wasn’t much to cheer about in the first half. It wasn’t a very fluid game, and players were slipping all over the field. San Diego’s passing was not as crisp as it should have been. In the first half, San Jose had a slight advantage in passing, at 80% compared to San Diego’s 79%. San Jose also completed more long passes (15/31) than San Diego (9/24) and passed better in the final third, completing 44/61 to San Diego’s 22/37. San Jose was clearly the more attacking team, with nine total shots, two on target, and an xG of 0.81. San Diego, on the other hand, had two shots and an xG of 0.13. A concerning moment occurred before the half ended when Aiden Harangi left the match with a shoulder injury. Franco Negri came in to play left back, and Luca Bombino switched to the right.

At halftime, we went back to the concessions for more drinks, which did include water (drink responsibility folks!), and then returned to the away section. The second half had already started by the time we got back to our seats. I remember telling Monica it was a good thing San Diego started the match attacking toward the south end of the stadium. In the second half, the direction was now flipped the other way. If San Diego were to score, they would be pointing at us on the north side of the stadium.

The Second Half and Late Heroics

San Diego made a substitution at the start of the half, with Luca Del La Torre replacing Tomas Angel. Angel had been struggling as a starter, and with Chucky Lozano and Alex Mighten both out for the match, SDFC had limited options. It was difficult to see how San Diego would score with a front three of Onni Valakari, Anders Dreyer, and David Vazquez. Despite this, the cheering from the away section continued. The slipping and sliding on the pitch also continued, as Anders Dreyer had a great chance to score in the 51st minute but slipped as he was kicking the ball. This was probably San Diego’s best scoring opportunity all day.

Around the 64th minute, it was time to bring in more firepower for the lackluster attack. Mike Varas subbed in Marcus Ingvartsen for Anibal Godoy. Ingvartsen had been dealing with a couple of injuries this season and was entering a match for San Diego for only the seventh time this season. It only took Ingvartsen four minutes to get an opportunity to score. He was coming in to assist Dreyer on a fast break, but Dreyer’s pass was off the mark, and San Jose defender Daniel Munie was able to kick the ball away.

With a little over 20 minutes left, time was running out for both teams to make an impact. Then it happened: a goal for San Jose. Luca Bombino passed to Anders Dreyer at midfield, who then passed the ball back to Manu Duah. Duah passed it to CJ Dos Santos, who put a touch on the ball. While the ball was live, CJ put another touch on it, which left him about a yard away from the ball. San Jose’s Noel Buck then pressured CJ, deflecting the ball as CJ was kicking it away. The ball went to Josef Martinez, who went around a diving CJ Dos Santos and scored the first goal of the match. The San Jose fans went wild, as they should. Earthquakes are playing for a playoff spot, which doesn’t happen often for them. Beating the number-one team in the Western Conference would be the icing on the cake for the Quakes.

Based on my history in that stadium, I was not worried because I had seen late goals happen twice before at matches I had attended at Avaya Stadium. I wasn’t deterred, and neither were the away fans in the section. The singing and chanting only got louder. Mikey Varas made a couple more substitutions, bringing in Emmanuel Boateng for David Vazquez and Pedro Soma for Onni Valakari, in an attempt to get a point in San Jose.

Around the 81st minute, the action moved toward the San Jose side of the pitch. I tried to see as much as I could through all the flags in our section and saw DeJuan Jones on the near side by the corner flag kick the ball out of play. Jones prevented a corner kick but gave SDFC a throw-in. This felt like San Diego’s chance, so I crouched down to see Boateng throw the ball in to Franco Negri. Negri was able to kick the ball over a defender and deliver a left-footed cross into the penalty area. Marcus Ingvartsen was there and delivered a header toward the goal that left the goalkeeper, Daniel, standing still. The ball ended up in the back of the net, and Ingvartsen celebrated by pointing up at the away section as he ran back to midfield to get the ball back into play. The Frontera were jumping up and down, and it felt like we were the loudest people in the building. Beer flew up in the air, smearing our sunglasses.

San Diego could have settled for a point, but that’s not how they like to play. SDFC goes for wins on the road, and it didn’t take long for them to take the lead for the first time in the match. The ball was being kicked around like a pinball machine in San Diego’s half of the field until it ended up at Marcus Ingvartsen’s foot. Ingvartsen kicked the ball toward San Jose’s side, with Anders Dreyer chasing after it. Dreyer had one man to beat and gave it his all to gain control of the ball. As he entered the penalty area, the goalkeeper came out to try and get big. But Dreyer was too elusive with the ball and was able to kick it around the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. The Frontera went wild, and beer was flying everywhere, our second beer shower of the day. Our jumping around was causing the section to shake like an earthquake. I lost my mind completely. Monica recorded a video of me singing and dancing around in our row. Now it was Dreyer’s turn to acknowledge the fans, and he did so with a Messi-esque celebration, taking off his shirt and showing the back of his jersey to the stands. This was Dreyer’s 30th goal contribution (according to MLS Stats), which still leads the league, and his 13th goal of the year. The final score was 2-1 in favor of San Diego. After the final whistle, the whole team came out in front of the section to acknowledge the traveling away fans. Mikey Varas even came out, solo, to personally thank the fans, after the team had gone into the locker room.

Like I said, there is nothing like going to another team’s stadium and taking all three points. The match was a lot of fun, the team continues to play in an unbelievable fashion, and the Frontera San Diego crew made the atmosphere an unforgettable one. It’s not hard to follow this team wherever they go because SDFC plays so well on the road. Everyone should try to make it to an away match before the season ends. Maybe we’ll catch up and have a pint. After the shuttle took us back to San Pedro Square, we ended the day as we sometimes do, with some Neapolitan pizza from Pizza Bocca Lupo. That pizza has some of the softest crust that just melts in your melt. We also opted for some chicken wings at Gameday that were delicious. Just beware of the mango habanero.