San Jose Earthquakes fall in shootout, fail to reach U.S. Open Cup semifinals

SAN JOSE — The Earthquakes’ inability to protect one-goal leads and convert penalty kicks ultimately led to their ouster from the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night.

Austin FC prevailed in penalty kicks to oust San Jose 3-2 in a heated quarterfinal before 10,754 at a half-filled PayPal Park.

The Earthquakes had to finish without captain Christian Espinoza, a second-half substitute who hobbled off with a gash near his right knee when struck by a controversial high kick from Mikkel Desler about four minutes into extra time.