The San Jose Earthquakes turned Grateful Dead Night into another clean result.Wearing the new Grateful Dead-inspired “Dead Kit” for the first time, San Jose beat Atlanta United 2-0 at PayPal Park to open the season 2-0-0 with back-to-back shutouts — the first time in club history the Quakes have started a season with two clean-sheet wins.
It also marked the long-awaited beginning of the Timo Werner era in MLS. The Earthquakes’ new Designated Player made his debut off the bench and immediately left his stamp, assisting on the second goal to put the match away.
San Jose struck first in the 24th minute after Jamar Ricketts jumped a pass from Atlanta goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos, drove forward, and whipped in a cross that Preston Judd finished with a header for his second goal in two games.
The Quakes carried that 1-0 edge into halftime, then kept pressing for a killer second goal rather than sitting on the lead — a clear theme through two games under Bruce Arena’s new-look group.
Werner checked in during the 61st minute to a loud reaction, and the impact arrived quickly.
In the 79th, the second-half subs linked up on the counter: Jack Skahan found Werner down the right wing, and Werner slid a low ball across for Ousseni Bouda to tap home for the 2-0 final.
MLS noted it took Werner less than 20 minutes to register his first Quakes assist, with Werner saying the crowd’s energy made him feel even more confident that coming to San Jose was the right move.
Saturday was also the club’s official Grateful Dead Night, with San Jose debuting “The Dead Kit,” which the team described as a psychedelic homage tied to the 60th anniversary of the Dead’s earliest performance under that name in downtown San Jose.
The atmosphere matched the moment: 16,159 were in the building as the Quakes improved to 5-0 on goal differential through two matches, while also staying tied near the top early in the Western Conference picture. San Jose now hits the road for its first away trip of 2026, traveling to face the Philadelphia Union on March 7 at Subaru Park\
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