McSorley has 2 goals, 1 assist in first MLS start, St. Louis beats Earthquakes 3-1

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Brendan McSorley had two goals and an assist — the 22-year-old’s first goal contributions in MLS — and Roman Bürki had nine saves, to help St. Louis City beat the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 on Saturday night.

St. Louis City (6-17-8) has won back-to-back games overall and is 6-0-0 in its three MLS seasons against the Earthquakes.

San Jose (9-13-9) has 36 points, tied with Houston for 10th in the Western Conference, and fell behind Dallas (37 points) for the final playoff spot.

McSorley, who made his first career start, put away a volley from the top of the 6-yard box to open the scoring in the 10th minute. Chris Durkin played a long arcing ball-in from well outside the area to the back post and João Klauss flicked a header to McSorley for the finish.

Marcel Hartel, with his right foot, gently stopped a header from McSorley, turned a fired a left-foot shot from inside the penalty arc to make it 2-0 in the 19th and played a perfectly-placed ball-in to McSorley for a header that gave St. Louis a 3-1 lead in the 45th minute.

Cristian Arango converted from the penalty spot in the 31th for the Earthquakes.

McSorley and Klauss are the only players in club history with at least two goals and one assists in single game.

San Jose had 56% possession and 23 shots, 11 on target.

McSorley, at the goal line, blocked a shot by Arango from the center of the area in the 61st.

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