Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose Earthquakes took on Sacramento Republic FC in the fourth round of the US Open Cup at Avaya Stadium on Tuesday night.

San Jose reportedly will treat the US Open Cup as a major trophy.

Quakes forward Chris Wondolowski told SJEarthquakes.com: “To be honest, it could be a preseason game … against anyone, we want to go out and win it … That’s our mentality right now. We want to win the Open Cup. We know it’s five games to win it. We feel that this tournament tests your depth and, even today, it shows where our depth is right now. We are one of the deepest teams I’ve been on.”

Well, it didn’t take long for the first goal of the match. Sam Werner opened the scoring in the second minute to give Sacramento a 1-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for San Jose to tie the match as Magnus Eriksson scored the game-tying goal in the 10th minute.

But San Jose’s lead turned out to be short-lived as Villyan Bijev scored the go-ahead goal to help Sacramento to a 2-1 lead in the 14th minute.

The scary moment happened in the 30th minute when Charalampos Chantzopoulos went down for a brief moment. Fortunately, Chantzopoulos was able to get up on his own and Sacramento got themselves a corner.

There was no fear in San Jose, who bounced back to tie the game once again. Cristian Espinoza leveled it from the spot for a 2-1 lead in the 38th minute. Espinoza capitalized on a penalty kick awarded to the Quakes.

The first half was quite eventful and the two teams went to halftime 2-2.

San Jose made their first substitution of the match in the 55th minute. Vako replaced Florian Jungwirth.

San Jose nearly got a goal in the 62nd minute, but Tommy Thompson’s rocket was unable to get into the net. Sacramento goalkeeper Josh Cohen made a noteworthy save to prevent a potential goal.

San Jose made their second substitution of the match in the 69th minute. Cade Cowell replaced Siam Haji.

Quakes fans breathed a sigh of relief when Stefano Bonomo’s kick went just wide of the net in the 71st minute. Still, Sacramento apparently bragged about their goalkeeper, which was a mind-boggler as San Jose grabbed a 3-2 lead in the 78th minute. Chris Wondolowski’s deflected shot hit the back of the net and Vako capitalized for the better.

San Jose made their third substitution of the match in the 81st minute. Jimmy Ockford replaced Eric Calvillo.

Vako earned his brace in stoppage time. Vako made it 4-2 San Jose in the 91st minute. However, Sacramento made it a one-goal game as Drew Skundrich scored in the 93rd minute, but they were unable to tie the game to force overtime.

The Quakes won 4-3. With the win, San Jose made it to the Round of 16.

Notes
Quakes’ starting lineup 

Up Next
The Quakes host the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday, June 26 at 7:30 pm.