Tag: US Open Cup

Skahan’s extra time heroics propel Earthquakes to 1-0 win over Timbers, advance to quarterfinals

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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.

Earthquakes take down Republic 2-1 in Round of 32 of U.S. Open Cup

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San Jose Earthquakes striker Amahl Pellegrino celebrates his first half goal teammate Preston Judd during the Earthquakes 2-1 win over the Sacramento Republic at Pay Pal Park on Wednesday MAY 7, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Earthquakes scored two goals in the first half and hung on to defeat the Sacramento Republic 2-1 in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose snapped their two-match losing streak against Sacramento and advanced to the round of 16 to take on the Portland Timbers on either May 20th or 21st. Sacramento bows out of the tournament after just one match.

“We made a 4-0 game into a 2-1 game. That part is disappointing, but it was positive to see the number of players on the field tonight that we haven’t given a whole lot of minutes and try to make some assessment of where they are.” Quakes head coach Bruce Arena said.

The Earthquakes drew first blood in the second minute of the match. Preston Judd crossed the ball into the middle where unmarked Amahl Pellegrino drilled a right footed shot past Republic goalkeeper Jared Mazzola for his first goal of the tournament.

San Jose doubled its lead in the 44th minute. Nick Lima sent a ball into the middle of the box. Niko Tsakiris made a touch pass off of his knee up over to Judd who beat Mazzola with a low shot for his first goal of the tournament.

“Any time out there I want to play as much as I can, so I don’t want to put myself in a position where I have to go out. … but getting the W is the main thing, and we’re happy about that the most, so now we’re looking forward to the game Saturday,” Judd said.

Sacramento didn’t record its first shot on net until the 68th minute.

Tsakiris played one of his best matches in an Earthquakes kit, creating numerous scoring chances for his teammates throughout the match.

“Tonight, there were moments and opportunities that I felt were open for me and moments where I felt like I could have done better. That’s all part of it. Getting these minutes were valuable for me and for this year. [I’m] just looking to take this and move forward with it,” Tsakiris said.

Jamar Ricketts was given a red card and an automatic ejection in the 83rd minute when he made a dangerous tackle against a Republic midfielder.

The Republic scored in the fifth minute of stoppage when Trevor Aman scored in the final minute of stoppage time when he curled around Quakes goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. for his first goal of the tournament.

GAME NOTES: The Earthquakes now hold a 22-19 all-time record in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play and 19-6 against non-MLS clubs.

The Quakes and Republic have now met six times in the U.S. Open Cup, with the home side winning all six contests. Host San Jose defeated Sacramento in 2014 (2-1), 2015 (2-2 regulation; 6-5 PKs) and 2019 (4-3), while the Republic won in 2022 (2-0) and 2024 (4-3 after extra time).

Hernán López made his first appearance since the second game of the MLS docket on March 1. The midfielder underwent right shoulder surgery March 14. He entered the match in the 66th minute.

Benji Kikanović made his 2025 debut in the 79th minute after undergoing knee surgery in January. The forward was born in San Jose but grew up in the Sacramento area, featuring collegiately for Sacramento State University (2018-19) and scoring nine goals in 34 games.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns to MLS action as they take on the Colorado Rapids on Saturday May 9th at 6:30pm at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Republic storms back in extra time to upset Earthquakes 4-3 in U.S. Open Cup

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Sacramento Republic FC forward Luis Felipe was the catalyst in his team’s 4-3 comeback win over the San Jose Earthquakes at Heart Health Park on Tuesday MAY 21, 2024.

by Marko Ukalovic

Never count out the Sacramento Republic.

Luis Felipe and Jean Sebastian Herrera scores a minute apart in the second half of extra to give their team a 4-3 come from behind upset victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in the Round of 16 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday evening at Heart Health Park.

This will go down as one of the worse defeats in U.S. Open Cup history for San Jose as they had a 3-2 lead at the end of the first half of extra time when Hernan Lopez scores in the 100th minute to give the Earthquakes a late lead in the match.

Sacramento advances to the quarterfinals for the second time in three years as they took down San Jose in similar fashion two years ago, also in the Round of 16.

San Jose drew first blood in 11th minute when Benji Kikanovic raced down the left sideline from midfield before crossing the ball of the Preston Judd who one-timed the ball pass Republic goalkeeper Daniel Vitiello.

The Republic struck back six minutes later when Luis Felipe Rodrigues crossed the ball into the middle of the box and Keiran Phillips header beat ‘Quakes goalkeeper Jacob Jackson for Phillips’s first goal of the goal in the 17th minute.

Phillips completed his brace 21 minutes later in when Jack Gurr centered a ball into the middle of the box. Phillips right footed strike beat Jackson to the bottom right corner of the goal to give Sacramento a 2-1 lead in the 38th minute.

Earthquakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez made three changes to his lineup to start the second half as he brought in Cristian Espinoza. Bruno Wilson and Jackson Yueill to jumpstart the offense that lagged off toward the end of the first half.

Niko Tsakiris won a free kick from 25 yards out to the right hash. Espinoza took full advantage when he lasered in the free kick inside the right post for the equalizer in the 80th minute, his first goal of the contest.

Lopez regained the lead for San Jose 10 minutes into the first half of stoppage time thanks to a pretty give and go with Judd who feathered a pass back to Lopez who beat his man off the dribble and beat Vitiello with a sliding shot that went into the far corner of the net.

Sacramento regained its composure immediately as the second half of stoppage time began as the possessed the ball and put pressure on the ‘Quakes back line. Rafael Jauregui centered the ball from the right over to Luis Felipe who beat Jackson with a right footed shot to tie the game at 3-3 in the 105th minute.

Then a minute later the Republic gained possession inside the ‘Quakes zone. Luis Felipe fed a pass over to Cristian Parano who was camped out on the right wing. Parano centered the ball into the middle of the box where Herrera one-timed the ball past Jackson for the game winning goal.

San Jose failed to get the equalizer to send the match to penalty kicks in the final 13 minutes as Sacramento held their ground in their defensive zone to come away with the victory.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns to MLS action on Saturday 5/25 at they host Austin FC at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

Bouda’s late goal propels in Earthquakes 1-0 shutout win over Roots in U.S. Open Cup

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San Jose Earthquakes forwards Ousseni Bouda (#17) and Benji Kinkanovic (#28) celebrate Bouda’s game winning goal over the Oakland Roots during the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 match at Pay Pal Park on Tuesday MAY 7, 2024. (San Jose Earthquakes)

SAN JOSE — Ousseni Bouda scored the game’s only goal as the San Jose Earthquakes defeated the Oakland Roots in 1-0 shutout win in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose advanced to the Round of 16 and will play the Sacramento Republic FC, who beat Monterey Bay FC 2-0 later in the evening, on either May 21st or 22nd. Oakland bowed out of the tournament as they return to USL Championship play.

Niko Tsakaris found Bouda along the right wing inside the Roots zone. Bouda made a move inside and rifled a right footed shot that pinballed off the far post into the back of the net for the eventual game winning goal.

‘Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez starting XI consisted mainly of his bench players. 2024 Super Draft first round pick Jamar Ricketts earned his first start of the season at left back and played impressive throughout the opening 45 minutes. Hernan Lopez also made his first start in a ‘Quakes kit, in his second appearance for San Jose. Also, Emi Ochoa made his debut for the first team with his first start in goal.

San Jose played a sluggish first half as they didn’t manage many quality shots on target. Oakland played aggressive in the first half and made a surge late thanks to the Earthquakes lackadaisical play in their own end.

A give and go between Bryan Tamacas and Jeciel Cedeno resulted in a shot inside the right of the box that ‘Quakes goalkeeper Emi Ochoa had to make a save in the 41st minute. Then in the 44th minute Edwin Rodriguez’ shot attempt deflected off a ‘Quakes defender that went wide left barely missing the back of the net.

Ochoa came up with a huge save to start the second half. A header into the box went high up near the crossbar, Ochoa leaped high into the air with one hand and hit the ball off of the crossbar and cleared the ball out of danger.

Jack Skahan chance in the 63rd minute cruised across the middle of the box his shot was saved by Roots goalkeeper Paul Blanchette.

Ouesseni Bouda scored a goal with a rifle of a right footed shot pinballed off the far post into the back of the net for his first goal of the tournament in the 77th minute.

Rodriguez received a red card and automatic ejection from the match in the 82nd minute when he elbowed Bouda in the head while the ball was in the air and Bouda heading it down.

Ochoa finished the match with his first clean slate of his pro career and the first one for San Jose this season.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns to MLS action on Saturday 5/11 against the Colorado Rapids at 6:30pm at Dick’s Sporting Good Park.