Written by: Abram Heredia
On Wednesday, May 3rd of 2023, an Instagram post by FC Bay Area Surf was posted with a caption that read “A huge congratulations to one of our very own Edwyn Mendoza for signing a homegrown contract with the San Jose Earthquakes!…”.
The now-deleted social media post has sparked many conversations within the Quakes community regarding the accuracy of the post because it raised the question of why there was still no word on fellow academy player Oscar Verhoeven.
The pair were called up alongside current homegrown Cruz Medina in the U-17 USMYNT tournament earlier this year. Since Mendoza was all but confirmed to follow in Medina’s footsteps, many wondered “Why not complete the trio with Verhoeven?”.
Less than a week later, journalist Tom Bogert (@tombogert) released a tweet.
“Sources: San Jose Earthquakes sign USYNT midfielder Edwyn Mendoza (just turned 17) & fullback Oscar Verhoeven (16) — to homegrown deals.” Thus virtually confirming that Mendoza will sign as a homegrown player and Oscar Verhoeven will join him, though there have been no statements on the subject from the club directly.
Additionally, Bogert wrote “Quakes also in advanced talks to sign Mexico/USYNT forward Chance Cowell (15), brother of Cade Cowell.”
Though there is much excitement surrounding the new acquisitions, many wonder how the players perform. To provide insight into how the youngsters have done when selected for Quakes II, I’ve dug into their stats and provided an in-depth analysis of the limited time they’ve had on the field.
Homegrown Highlights
Oscar Verhoeven
Best described as an all-action fullback with the strength, size, and speed to be a threat on both ends of the ball. A strong quality of Verhoeven’s game is his intensity and ruthlessness in his endeavor to win the ball off of his attacker. It’s not uncommon to see him attacking the ball at full speed and putting in a strong but efficient tackle. Though Quakes II utilized other options at right-back earlier this season, Verhoeven locked down the position since making his debut against LAFC2, with Dan DeGeer giving the 16-year-old all 90 minutes in both of his appearances.
In two appearances, Verhoeven has managed a 75% duel success rate which is over 25% more than previous right-back Israel Carrillo who has appeared in the same position four times this season. Verhoeven also has a higher success rate on aerial duels and has more clearances and interceptions per game.
Though primarily a defender, Verhoeven is more than adept when attacking. Verhoeven possesses enough skill on the ball to beat a defender and has a decent cross on him as well. A vast majority of his passes are forward facing though he will need to work on his accuracy as only 50% of his passes in the opposing half have been accurate.
Edwyn Mendoza
A left-footed, central defensive midfielder with a soft touch and an unphased demeanor on the ball. Stylistically, Mendoza is a player who I’d compare to Kyle Beckerman or Jackson Yueill. Though he is the oldest of the two, Mendoza has a much smaller sample size of play-time to analyze than Verhoeven.
During his 56 minutes of action, what impressed me was his intelligence and awareness. Constantly scanning over his shoulder, Mendoza was rarely caught off guard and always put himself in a position to help delay the opposing attack.
In his debut and sole appearance thus far, Mendoza managed to cut out the pass of his opponent four times, which equates to one interception every 14 minutes. In comparison, Cam Cilley has made 11 interceptions this season in 530 minutes, equating to one interception every 48 minutes.
On the ball, Mendoza has a pass accuracy rating of 85%, almost 7% more than Cam Cilley despite having an almost identical number of passes per 90. Where Mendoza shines the most is in his half where he has a 96.6% accuracy when building out from the back which is more than first-team players, Jackson Yueill and Carlos Gruezo.
Looking Forward
While the current statistics within this small sample size may not be a perfect representation of these players’ abilities, it’s important to keep a watchful eye on these young stars as they continue to develop and showcase their potential. For anyone interested in following the path of these young players, Oscar Verhoeven and Edwyn Mendoza will both be making appearances for Quakes II this season in MLSNextPro where they will continue to develop and hope to break into the first team in the near future.
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