Earthquakes face Montreal, need late run to avoid Wooden Spoon

The team that finishes with the most points in Major League Soccer's regular season receives the Supporters' Shield.

The team with the fewest?

Well, there's no official award for that, but it's generally known as the Wooden Spoon.

And the San Jose Earthquakes, who travel to CF Montreal for a match Saturday, have pretty much locked that up.

The Earthquakes (5-22-3, 18 points) are 10 points behind the next-worst team in the league, New England, with four matches remaining. Should San Jose finish last, it would be the fifth time in franchise history, breaking a tie with D.C. United for the most in MLS.

"Everything is a disaster, frankly," said Earthquakes forward Jeremy Ebobisse, who is second on the team with five goals, behind Amahl Pellegrino (seven). "We can't talk about next year because I don't know if I'm going to be here next year. I don't know if some of the guys in the locker room will be here."

The Earthquakes, who are winless in their past four matches (0-3-1), have conceded a league-high 69 goals, with Montreal tied for second-worst with 61.

But Montreal (8-12-10, 34 points) remains in the Eastern Conference playoff race, two points behind Philadelphia for the ninth and final berth.

Montreal is 2-0-1 over its past three matches, including a 2-0 victory against the visiting Chicago Fire last weekend as former Golden Boot award winner Josef Martinez scored midway through the first half and Caden Clark clinched the match with a goal in the 74th minute.

"We're in a good place after picking up seven points out of nine in one week. It's a confidence booster and, not just the results, but the performances have been good," Montreal defender Tom Pearce said. "We have the belief that if we keep playing our way, then fingers crossed, we will make the playoffs."

This will be the first meeting between the clubs since 2019. Montreal holds a 5-1-2 edge in all-time MLS meetings.

--Field Level Media