SAN JOSE — The Earthquakes failed to protect one-goal leads and team captain Cristian Espinoza exited early with a gashed leg en route to their ouster from the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night.
Austin FC prevailed in penalty kicks to oust San Jose 3-2 in a heated quarterfinal before 10,754 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 said.
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.
Officials declined to respond to postgame questions from a pool reporter.
Espinoza’s wound required 10 stitches, according to a team spokesman. Arena said he’s unsure of Espinoza’s availability for Saturday’s game at Minnesota. When Espinoza reached the Earthquakes’ bench, he showed his open wound to the sideline camera and retreated to the locker room for treatment.
“There were a lot of emotions going on seeing your captain go down with a gash on your leg,” San Jose defender Jamar Ricketts said. “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 hold a 1-0 lead in regulation and a 2-1 cushion in the first of two 15-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 today. There were a bunch of plays and they ignored everything.”
Austin’s semifinal appearance won’t come for nearly two months, on either Sept. 16 or 17, at Minnesota United FC, which advanced with a 3-1 win Tuesday night against Chicago. If Minnesota wins, it will host the U.S. Open Cup final Oct. 1 at Allianz Field.
Benji Kikanović put the Earthquakes in position to win in overtime with a 99th-minute, go-ahead goal. It capped a bewildering, 13-second, four-shot sequence in the penalty box, starting with Martinez’s 12-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.
Kikanović, a San Jose native and Sacramento State product, delivered his right-footed scoring strike in the first of two 15-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 65th-minute penalty kick by teammate Brendon Vazquez that tied the score 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,” said Arena, who noted those penalties were awarded via “poor plays on our part.”
The Earthquakes went ahead 1-0 when Arango one-timed Ousseni Bouda’s centering cross near the top of the penalty box.
Vazquez pulled Austin even at 1 by converting a 65th-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 71st minute on a stretcher with an apparent ankle injury.
Locked in a 1-1 draw, coach Bruce Arena summoned two of his stalwarts off the bench in the 76th minute: Espinoza (second in MLS assists) and Martinez (second on the team in goals). Mark-Anthony Kaye was also out of the starting lineup but came on to replace Beau Leroux in the 59th minute and remain the only Earthquakes player to appear in every game this season.
In the 81st 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 1-1 with a close-range save just as officials announced eight minutes of extra time in regulation.
Unbeaten in 12 of their previous 13 games, the Earthquakes’ previous loss came May 31 at St. Louis.
Austin (7-5-8 in MLS action) will return to PayPal Park for the regular-season finale Oct. 18.
Arango entered Tuesday’s game with a team-high 10 goals, after appearing in 17 games in his first season with the Earthquakes, who acquired him in a January trade from Real Salt Lake.
A year after posting a 6-25-3 record and minus-37 goal differential, upstart San Jose is sixth in the MLS’s Western Conference with a 7-7-7 record. On Saturday, the Earthquakes rallied for a 1-1 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 (2-1) and the Portland Timbers (1-0). The Earthquakes had been dispatched from the U.S. Open Cup the past three years by lower-league foes from Sacramento (2022, 2024) and Monterey Bay (2023).
San Jose previously reached the semifinals in 2004 and 2017. This was their 10th quarterfinal appearance.
NOTES: A moment of silence was held pregame in honor of the victims of last week’s Texas floods that have claimed over 100 lives. … Earlier Tuesday, the Earthquakes announced they’ve loaned midfielder Hernán López to Argentinos Juniors of Argentina’s Primera División, the childhood club of his great-uncle, the legendary Diego Maradona. It will be an 18-month loan with an option for Juniors to buy López’s contract; he was acquired last season for a club-record fee of nearly $6 million. López, a 24-year-old attacking midfielder, missed most 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 110th 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 $600,000 prize and the Dewar Challenge Trophy.