SAN JOSE — The Earthquakes failed to guard one-goal leads and crew captain Cristian Espinoza exited early with a gashed leg en path to their ouster from the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday evening.
Austin FC prevailed in penalty kicks to oust San Jose 3-2 in a heated quarterfinal earlier than 10,754 at a half-filled PayPal Park.
The Earthquakes needed to end with out Espinoza, a second-half substitute who hobbled off with a extreme minimize above his proper knee when struck by a excessive kick from Mikkel Desler, about 4 minutes into further time.
“That foul on him is a straight red card. The officiating was comical,” San Jose coach Bruce Enviornment mentioned.
As a substitute, Desler drew a yellow card — Austin’s fourth on the evening — from referee Brandon Stevis, who then was confronted and berated by Espinoza as soon as he bought off the bottom close to midfield.
Officers declined to answer postgame questions from a pool reporter.
Espinoza’s wound required 10 stitches, based on a crew spokesman. Enviornment mentioned he’s uncertain of Espinoza’s availability for Saturday’s recreation at Minnesota. When Espinoza reached the Earthquakes’ bench, he confirmed his open wound to the sideline digicam and retreated to the locker room for therapy.
“There were a lot of emotions going on seeing your captain go down with a gash on your leg,” San Jose defender Jamar Ricketts mentioned. “The ref was saying there wasn’t enough contact or it was ‘Too soft.’ That’s what had everyone riled up. If it was too soft, there wouldn’t be a 2-inch gash on our captain’s leg.”
San Jose failed to carry a 1-0 lead in regulation and a 2-1 cushion within the first of two 15-minute overtimes earlier than prevailing in penalty kicks. Each of Austin’s tying objectives got here on penalty kicks earlier than the shootout finally determined the three-hour affair during which tempers flared and yellow playing cards flew.
Within the shootout, San Jose’s Chicho Arango and De Juan Jones had their pictures blocked, and Austin made its first three makes an attempt – by Diego Rubio Myrto Uzuni, and Robert Taylor – earlier than Owen Wolff’s clincher.
“We should have advanced to the semifinals and failed,” Enviornment added. “I’m disappointed in the officiating tonight but our guys gave a good effort and we should have walked off the field advancing in this tournament.”
Enviornment took umbrage not solely with the on-field officiating however the video-assistant-referee system, saying: “The VAR was useless today. There were a bunch of plays and they ignored everything.”
Austin’s semifinal look gained’t come for practically two months, on both Sept. 16 or 17, at Minnesota United FC, which superior with a 3-1 win Tuesday evening in opposition to Chicago. If Minnesota wins, it should host the U.S. Open Cup last Oct. 1 at Allianz Subject.
Benji Kikanović put the Earthquakes in place to win in extra time with a 99th-minute, go-ahead objective. It capped a bewildering, 13-second, four-shot sequence within the penalty field, beginning with Martinez’s 12-yard shot off the crossbar. Then got here an Ian Harkes shot that appeared to ricochet off a defender’s hand. One other Martinez shot bought blocked earlier than Kikanovic collected the ball and blasted in his first objective of the season.
Kikanović, a San Jose native and Sacramento State product, delivered his right-footed scoring strike within the first of two 15-minute extra time intervals, so the Earthquakes needed to defend that one-goal cushion, they usually failed.
Austin countered with its second objective off a penalty kick, this extra time one supplied by Uzuni, whose shot into the lower-right of the web mirrored the Sixty fifth-minute penalty kick by teammate Brendon Vazquez that tied the rating at 1.
“Our team played very well. Austin was not at all dangerous in the attack the entire evening and we conceded two penalty kicks,” mentioned Enviornment, who famous these penalties have been awarded by way of “poor plays on our part.”
The Earthquakes went forward 1-0 when Arango one-timed Ousseni Bouda’s centering cross close to the highest of the penalty field.
Vazquez pulled Austin even at 1 by changing a Sixty fifth-minute penalty kick, following a foul within the field by Earthquakes defender Max Floriani. Previous to Vazquez’s shot into the lower-right facet of the web, goalkeeper Daniel drew a yellow card for dissent as he argued the foul name.
Vazquez left within the 71st minute on a stretcher with an obvious ankle damage.
Locked in a 1-1 draw, coach Bruce Enviornment summoned two of his stalwarts off the bench within the 76th minute: Espinoza (second in MLS assists) and Martinez (second on the crew in objectives). Mark-Anthony Kaye was additionally out of the beginning lineup however got here on to switch Beau Leroux within the 59th minute and stay the one Earthquakes participant to seem in each recreation this season.
Within the 81st minute, Espinoza unsuccessfully pleaded for a penalty kick after getting tangled close to the tip line with defender Zan Kolmanic. A minute later, Arango had two pictures blocked towards a seemingly open objective. Daniel saved it 1-1 with a close-range save simply as officers introduced eight minutes of additional time in regulation.
Unbeaten in 12 of their earlier 13 video games, the Earthquakes’ earlier loss got here Might 31 at St. Louis.
Austin (7-5-8 in MLS motion) will return to PayPal Park for the regular-season finale Oct. 18.
Arango entered Tuesday’s recreation with a team-high 10 objectives, after showing in 17 video games in his first season with the Earthquakes, who acquired him in a January commerce from Actual Salt Lake.
San Jose Earthquakes’ Cristian Arango (9) celebrates his objective in opposition to Austin FC through the first half of a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Space Information Group)
A yr after posting a 6-25-3 file and minus-37 objective differential, upstart San Jose is sixth within the MLS’s Western Convention with a 7-7-7 file. On Saturday, the Earthquakes rallied for a 1-1 tie in shorthanded trend in opposition to the New York Purple Bulls.
In Might, the Earthquakes broke from their MLS slate to open U.S. Open Cup motion with residence wins over Sacramento Republic FC (2-1) and the Portland Timbers (1-0). The Earthquakes had been dispatched from the U.S. Open Cup the previous three years by lower-league foes from Sacramento (2022, 2024) and Monterey Bay (2023).
San Jose beforehand reached the semifinals in 2004 and 2017. This was their tenth quarterfinal look.
NOTES: A second of silence was held pregame in honor of the victims of final week’s Texas floods which have claimed over 100 lives. … Earlier Tuesday, the Earthquakes introduced they’ve loaned midfielder Hernán López to Argentinos Juniors of Argentina’s Primera División, the childhood membership of his great-uncle, the legendary Diego Maradona. It is going to be an 18-month mortgage with an choice for Juniors to purchase López’s contract; he was acquired final season for a club-record payment of practically $6 million. López, a 24-year-old attacking midfielder, missed most of March and all of April after present process shoulder surgical procedure. … The opposite U.S. Open Cup semifinal matchup shall be decided Wednesday when the New York Purple Bulls host Philadelphia and Nashville visits D.C. United. The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is in its a hundred and tenth version pitting skilled and novice groups affiliated with U.S. Soccer. The winner advances to subsequent yr’s Concacaf Champions Cup whereas additionally gathering a $600,000 prize and the Dewar Problem Trophy.
Initially Revealed: July 8, 2025 at 10:33 PM PDT
