The San Jose Earthquakes Starting XI posed for a pic before their showdown with the Portland Timbers in the Round of 16 match of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at PayPal Park on Tuesday MAY 20, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Jack Skahan scored in the 116th minute as the San Jose Earthquakes defeated the Portland Timbers 1-0 in the Round of 16 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday evening at PayPal Park.

San Jose advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup where they will find out their opponent on Thursday morning when officials from the U.S Open Cup will perform a draw for the remaining eight teams. Portland bowed out of the tournament after one win.

Preston Judd connected with Mark-Anthony Kaye along the left wing. Kaye made one touched before firing the ball on net that pinballed off of a Timbers defender and then off of Skahan into the back of the net past Timbers goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau for his first goal of the tournament.

San Jose started the match with two free kicks from just outside the box in the first six minutes of the contest. They weren’t able to capitalize on either chance as Portland’s defense cleared out both attempts.

The Earthquakes nearly got on the scoreboard in the 20th minute. Cristian Espinoza corralled a long ball and made a back pass into the middle of the box. Ousseni Bouda deked out one defender before depositing the ball high into the stands with his shot attempt.

Portland’s best scoring chance of the opening 45 minutes came in the 30th minute off of an Earthquakes turnover. Arie Lassiter’s left footed shot from 15-yards out was gobbled up with a diving save by Quakes goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr.

San Jose head coach Bruce Arena made one change to the lineup at halftime when he substituted in Judd for Hernan Lopez, who made his first start since coming off of his shoulder injury. Lopez also received a yellow card in the 40th minute for a bad foul.

The Timbers had a chance to breakthrough in the 50th minute when Andrew Guerra got behind the Quakes defense on a long ball. However, Edwards Jr. aggressively came out and made a sliding tackle to keep the ball out of harm’s way.

Crepeau was busy in the first 10 minutes of the second half when San Jose had shot attempts on target, including making a fingertip save on a shot by Beau Leroux in the 56th minute that went out for a corner kick.

In the 86th minute Kamal Miller dragged down Espinoza just outside the box. Miller was animated on the call that came late after the play and was issued a yellow card for arguing with the officials. Espinoza’s ensuing free kick was knocked away by Crepeau.

San Jose had a golden opportunity in the 111th minute to break the seal when Benji Kikanovic fed a long ball out to Jack Skahan along the left wing. Skahan dribbled in all alone on Crepeau, but his chip shot attempt was saved by Crepeau.

Edwards Jr stopped all five shots on target to earn his first clean slate of the tournament. Crepeau made eight saves on nine shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with 12 corner kicks. Portland had two.

San Jose is now 3-2 against Portland in U.S Open Cup play.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns to MLS action when they host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday May 24th at 7:30pm at PayPal Park.