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 unit captain Cristian Espinoza exited early with a gashed leg en direction to their ouster from the U S Open Cup on Tuesday night Austin FC prevailed in penalty kicks to beat 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 revealed 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 Executives declined to respond to postgame questions from a pool reporter Espinoza s wound required stitches according to a unit spokesman Arena reported he s unsure of Espinoza s availability for Saturday s championship at Minnesota When Espinoza reached the Earthquakes bench he exhibited his open wound to the sideline camera and retreated to the locker room for recovery There were a lot of emotions going on seeing your captain go down with a gash on your leg San Jose defender Jamar Ricketts stated 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 -inch gash on our captain s leg 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 the present day 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 total at Our company 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 crew 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 participant to appear in every contest 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 officers broadcasted 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 battle with a team-high goals after appearing in games in his first season with the Earthquakes who acquired him in a January agreement 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 San Jose Earthquakes' Ousseni Bouda passes the ball for a goal scored by San Jose Earthquakes' Cristian Arango 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 San Jose Earthquakes' Ousseni Bouda and San Jose Earthquakes' Cristian Arango celebrate a goal scored Arango 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 Austin's Mikkel Desler fouls San Jose Earthquakes' Cristian Espinoza on his right knee during the second 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 Austin's Mikkel Desler fouls San Jose Earthquakes' Cristian Espinoza on his right knee during the second 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 San Jose Earthquakes' Benjamin Kikanovic and his teammates celebrate his goal against Austin FC in the first half of overtime in a U S Open Cup quarterfinal match at PayPal Park in San Jose Calif on Tuesday July Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Austin's Zan Kolmanic grabs the jersey of San Jose Earthquakes' Cristian Espinoza inside the box during the second 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 San Jose Earthquakes' Cristian Espinoza loses his balance after Austin's Zan Kolmanic grabbed his jersey inside the box during the second 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 San Jose Earthquakes' Reid Roberts and San Jose Earthquakes' Preston Judd go up for header against Austin's Oleksandr Svatok during the second 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 Austin's Myrto Uzuni scores the penalty kick against the San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel in the second half of overtime in a U S Open Cup quarterfinal match at PayPal Park in San Jose Calif on Tuesday July Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group San Jose Earthquakes' Josef Mart nez goes up for header against Austin's Oleksandr Svatok and Austin's Guilherme Biro during the second 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 Show Caption of 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 Expand 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 released 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 the greater part 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 Austin's Owen Wolff scores the winning goal in penalty kicks against the San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel in a U S Open Cup quarterfinal match at PayPal Park in San Jose Calif on Tuesday July Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group