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.
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