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The energy was electric with FC Dallas on Saturday, and Samuel Sarver savored every single second of it.
For the third time in four matches, the 23-year-old American forward delivered an instant spark off the bench, netting a goal that this time sealed all three points in a 3–2 away victory over the San Jose Earthquakes — a side that had entered the evening level at the summit of the Western Conference.
For his celebration, Sarver first gathered his teammates and perched on the advertising hoardings, leaning back and pinching their noses to mimic a scuba diver plunging into the water. As he rose to his feet, he welcomed a beer shower from San Jose supporters, before grabbing a can, piercing it with his thumb, and chugging it in front of the cameras while drenching himself in the drink.
SAM SARVER IS BOX OFFICE!
A potential game-winner and a plethora of celebrations to match. 🍻 pic.twitter.com/LHchMZDzGL
"My coach at Indiana, Todd Yeagley, told me about a player from long before my time there who used to pull off that scuba celebration, and he'd get on him for it because he was worried about injuries. And I thought, 'It'd be hilarious if we did that,'" Sarver said after the match. "After we did it, they started tossing beers onto the pitch, so I figured I'd down one."
The 2025 MLS Next Pro player of the year now boasts three goals in 183 MLS minutes this season, and is establishing himself as a key impact substitute for Dallas, who climbed to fifth place in the Western Conference.
Not the First to Do It
While celebratory drinks in the locker room are nothing new and cups have been hurled at players by rival fans before, it rarely ever spills onto the pitch during play. Still, Sarver isn't the first to enjoy a cold one mid-game — nor is he the first to bust out the scuba celebration.
Back in 1979, Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder and Scotland international Willie Johnston took a swig from a fan in the stands, before whipping in a pinpoint corner kick that led to a goal in a 2–1 victory over those same San Jose Earthquakes — though in the league that predated MLS's founding in 1996.
"I remember going to take the corner, and this wee lad shouted," Johnston recalled to AFTN in 2014. "He was a Scottish boy, and he said, 'Do you want a drink, Willie?' I said, 'Oh aye, I'd love one,' and I took it — it was warm — and I went ooof, and handed it back. Then I took the corner, Peter Daniel scored, and that was that.
"But I wasn't thinking straight. Everyone was calling for me to take the corner, but I was busy with the bottle of beer first. It was warm outside, but the beer was even warmer! I had no idea it was going to be like that."
Meanwhile, Roger Levesque famously pulled off the scuba celebration with the Seattle Sounders against the Portland Timbers back in 2009. As for the beer moment? Clancy Loranger of the Vancouver Province dubbed it the "San Jose Sip" — though no one has yet coined a nickname for Sarver's latest post-goal antics.