San Jose Earthquakes fall in shootout, fail to reach U.S. Open Cup semifinals

SAN JOSE The Earthquakes failed to protect one-goal leads and crew captain Christian Espinoza exited early with a gashed leg en way to their ouster from the U S Open Cup on Tuesday night Austin FC prevailed in penalty kicks to oust San Jose - in a heated quarterfinal before at a half-filled PayPal Park The Earthquakes had to finish without Espinoza a second-half substitute who hobbled off with a severe cut above his right knee when struck by a high kick from Mikkel Desler about four minutes into extra time That foul on him is a straight red card The officiating was comical San Jose coach Bruce Arena noted Instead Desler drew a yellow card Austin s fourth on the night from referee Brandon Stevis who then was confronted and berated by Espinoza once he got off the ground near midfield Officers declined to respond to postgame questions from a pool reporter Espinoza s wound required stitches according to a unit spokesman Arena announced he s unsure of Espinoza s availability for Saturday s meeting at Minnesota When Espinoza reached the Earthquakes bench he demonstrated his open wound to the sideline camera and retreated to the locker room for restoration San Jose failed to hold a - lead in regulation and a - cushion in the first of two -minute overtimes before prevailing in penalty kicks Both of Austin s tying goals came on penalty kicks before the shootout ultimately decided the three-hour affair in which tempers flared and yellow cards flew In the shootout San Jose s Chicho Arango and De Juan Jones had their shots blocked and Austin made its first three attempts by Diego Rubio Myrto Uzuni and Robert Taylor before Owen Wolff s clincher We should have advanced to the semifinals and failed Arena 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 Arena took umbrage not only with the on-field officiating but the video-assistant-referee system saying The VAR was useless in the current era There were a bunch of plays and they ignored everything Austin s semifinal appearance won t come for nearly two months on either Sept or at Minnesota United FC which advanced with a - win Tuesday night against Chicago If Minnesota wins it will host the U S Open Cup final Oct at Allianz Field Benji Kikanovi put the Earthquakes in position to win in overtime with a th-minute go-ahead goal It capped a bewildering -second four-shot sequence in the penalty box starting with Martinez s -yard shot off the crossbar Then came an Ian Harkes shot that appeared to ricochet off a defender s hand Another Martinez shot got blocked before Kikanovic collected the ball and blasted in his first goal of the season Kikanovi a San Jose native and Sacramento State product delivered his right-footed scoring strike in the first of two -minute overtime periods so the Earthquakes had to protect that one-goal cushion and they failed Austin countered with its second goal off a penalty kick this overtime one provided by Uzuni whose shot into the lower-right of the net mirrored the th-minute penalty kick by teammate Brendon Vazquez that tied the figure at Our crew played very well Austin was not at all dangerous in the attack the entire evening and we conceded two penalty kicks explained Arena who noted those penalties were awarded via poor plays on our part The Earthquakes went ahead - when Arango one-timed Ousseni Bouda s centering cross near the top of the penalty box Vazquez pulled Austin even at by converting a th-minute penalty kick following a foul in the box by Earthquakes defender Max Floriani Prior to Vazquez s shot into the lower-right side of the net goalkeeper Daniel drew a yellow card for dissent as he argued the foul call Vazquez left in the st minute on a stretcher with an apparent ankle injury Locked in a - draw coach Bruce Arena summoned two of his stalwarts off the bench in the th minute Espinoza second in MLS assists and Martinez second on the unit in goals Mark-Anthony Kaye was also out of the starting lineup but came on to replace Beau Leroux in the th minute and remain the only Earthquakes athlete to appear in every match this season In the st minute Espinoza unsuccessfully pleaded for a penalty kick after getting tangled near the end line with defender Zan Kolmanic A minute later Arango had two shots blocked toward a seemingly open goal Daniel kept it - with a close-range save just as leaders released eight minutes of extra time in regulation Unbeaten in of their previous games the Earthquakes previous loss came May at St Louis Austin - - in MLS action will return to PayPal Park for the regular-season finale Oct Arango entered Tuesday s competition with a team-high goals after appearing in games in his first season with the Earthquakes who acquired him in a January deal from Real Salt Lake San Jose Earthquakes' Cristian Arango celebrates his goal against Austin FC during the first half of a U S Open Cup quarterfinal match at PayPal Park in San Jose Calif on Tuesday July Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group A year after posting a - - record and minus- goal differential upstart San Jose is sixth in the MLS s Western Conference with a - - record On Saturday the Earthquakes rallied for a - tie in shorthanded fashion against the New York Red Bulls In May the Earthquakes broke from their MLS slate to open U S Open Cup action with home wins over Sacramento Republic FC - and the Portland Timbers - The Earthquakes had been dispatched from the U S Open Cup the past three years by lower-league foes from Sacramento and Monterey Bay San Jose previously reached the semifinals in and This was their th quarterfinal appearance Related Articles Quakes loan out former record signee Hern n L pez in return to Argentina San Jose Earthquakes use New York s own goal to keep unbeaten streak alive with - draw San Jose native Beau Leroux bends it like Beckham but Earthquakes tie Galaxy in Bruce Arena s first home Clasico Bruce Arena remembers greatest Cali Clasico matches as he readies for first home Clasico with Earthquakes San Jose Earthquakes use second-half goals to beat -man FC Dallas - NOTES A moment of silence was held pregame in honor of the casualties of last week s Texas floods that have claimed over lives Earlier Tuesday the Earthquakes stated they ve loaned midfielder Hern n L pez to Argentinos Juniors of Argentina s Primera Divisi n the childhood club of his great-uncle the legendary Diego Maradona It will be an -month loan with an option for Juniors to buy L pez s contract he was acquired last season for a club-record fee of nearly million L pez a -year-old attacking midfielder missed most of of March and all of April after undergoing shoulder surgery The other U S Open Cup semifinal matchup will be determined Wednesday when the New York Red Bulls host Philadelphia and Nashville visits D C United The Lamar Hunt U S Open Cup is in its th edition pitting professional and amateur teams affiliated with U S Soccer The winner advances to next year s Concacaf Champions Cup while also collecting a prize and the Dewar Challenge Trophy