The 2015 Dragons roster features a smattering of Quakes Academy players
As the San Jose Earthquakes have increased their footprint across Northern California with the expansion of their youth academy program, the club has also added a vital link to it professional team with the advent of its U-23 affiliate, the Burlingame Dragons FC.
Located up to the Peninsula from San Jose, Burlingame is a city that is considered a hotbed for soccer in the Bay Area. The Dragons, a business venture between former Zappos.com founder Nick Swinmurn and former Facebook and Genentech CFO David Ebersman, handles all the off-field activities, while the on-field product is the responsibility of the Earthquakes organization. The team is coached by Cal State Stanislaus head coach Dana Taylor, who coached the Quakes' U-23 team when it was located in Turlock last season.
The Dragons played a number of exhibitions during the offseason as a way to identify players for its roster. Leading into the weekend prior to the start of the 2015 PDL season, the team was welcoming in guys that were just finishing up the college year as well. Ahead of its first competitive match, a first-round U.S. Open Cup meeting with the Sonoma County Sol, Taylor had whittled the candidates down to less than 40 players. The Dragons scored first against the Sol, but Sonoma equalized at the end of regulation and won the game in overtime to advance to the next round to face Sacramento Republic FC.
Burlingame opens up its PDL season with a pair of road games -- the first an impressive 1-0 victory over the Fresno Fuego -- before returning to the Bay Area for its home debut on May 23 at Burlingame High School. The Dragons have surpassed 1,500 in season ticket sales for the 8-game 2015 home schedule -- an amazing sales figure for an amateur club, but one that reflects the community's interest in soccer -- and hope a successful season will lead them to the postseason and a berth in next year's U.S. Open Cup.
The 2015 Burlingame Dragons FC player roster
Number
Position
Player
College/Previous Club
12
Chad Bartolomè
Sacramento Republic FC
9
F
Marquis Brooks
San Diego Flash
4
D
Kyle Cadigan
Cal State Stanislaus
26
Luis Cardona
York Region Shooters
13
Julio Castillo
Chula Vista FC
14
Manny Cazares
Chivas USA U-23
30
Julio Cervantes
San Jose Earthquakes U-23
27
Bryce Clark
San Jose Earthquakes Academy
1
GK
Josh Cohen
U.C. San Diego/Santa Clara Sporting
11
F
Jamael Cox
Seattle Sounders U-23
15
Rajaee Delane
De Anza Force Academy
37
Sam Ebstein
U.C. Berkeley/SV Memmelsdorf
0
Evan Finney
Penn State University/San Jose Earthquakes U-23
16
M
Armando Garcia
San Jose Earthquakes U-23
17
Jose C. Garcia
U.C. Berkeley
19
Daniel Giron
University of Vermont/Academia Guatemala
32
Jonathan Gonzalez
Iron FC
18
Josh Goss
University of New Mexico
38
Glenn Gomez Gutierrez
28
Nathan Kouamou
Houston Dynamo U-23
33
Oscar Ledesma
Notre Dame de Namur
31
William C Lewis
Santa Cruz Breakers Academy
20
Nick Lima
U.C. Berkeley
21
GK
Kendall McIntosh
Santa Clara University/San Jose Earthquakes Academy
6
M
Jose Mendoza
UNLV/Kitsap Pumas
29
Roberto Mendoza
De Anza College/San Jose Earthquakes U-19
34
Daniel Moreno
Los Angeles Pateadores
7
D
Josh Morton
U.C. Berkeley/San Jose Earthquakes Academy
22
Kevin Partida
UNLV/Las Vegas Mobsters
35
Shaun Preddie
Chipstead FC
10
F
Freddy Razo
Northwest Nazarene University
5
D
Luke Salmon
University of Vermont/Wallsend Boys Club
8
M
Gabe Silveira
Sacramento State University/San Jose Earthquakes U-23
36
Aravind Sivakumar
U.C. Berkeley
3
D
Josh Smith
University of San Francisco/San Jose Earthquakes U-23
2
D
Ugo Uche
University of New Hampshire/San Francisco Stompers
24
Kristof Urbanyi
Academy of Art University/FC Papa
23
Alfonso Verde
Torre Levante
25
Nile Walwyn
University of Vermont/Dixie Soccer Club