2026 US Open Cup Round of 16: San Jose Earthquakes goal surge completes comeback vs. Minnesota United

The San Jose Earthquakes defeated Minnesota United 4-2 at PayPal Park on Tuesday night to advance to the 2026 US Open Cup Quarterfinals. 

San Jose continued their hot start to the season on all fronts, led by a brace from midfielder Beau Leroux and a goal and an assist from substitute Jack Skahan. Niko Tsakiris sealed the deal on a late breakaway, assisted by Ousseni Bouda to clinch the home win.

Skahan’s tally was his fourth career goal in Open Cup play, tying Chris Wondolowski and Ronald Cerritos with the most goals all-time in the competition for the club.

“ played very well, the ball to Leroux for the third goal was outstanding” San Jose head coach Bruce Arena said. “He gave us a good physical effort, because I thought Minnesota was first on a lot of plays tonight. I think when Jack came in, and Marie, they gave us more energy where we were a lot more competitive as a team.” 

Both Arena and Minnesota coach Cam Knowles elected to run out first-choice squads despite the schedule congestion, the exception being recently-injured James Rodriguez starting on Minnesota’s bench.

The visitors fired the first warning shot three minutes in, as Nectarios Triantis’ quick turn only resulted in a weak attempt right at goalkeeper Daniel. The Loons had the better of the opening exchanges, while Timo Werner’s counter-attacking speed down the right wing kept their defense engaged.

The Earthquakes took the lead slightly against the run of play in the 15th minute. Beau Leroux beat Owen Gene to the ball at the top of the box, rounded the defender with a savvy box touch, and smashed it into the top right corner for his second goal in all competitions this year.

“I was actually questioning whether I should shoot it or not, because it got a little far from me, but it’s good to have long legs I guess,” Leroux said with a chuckle. 

The crowd at PayPal Park began to grow into the game, and Minnesota was forced to stifle a flurry of Earthquakes chances in the middle of the first half – however, this merely foreshadowed what was to come in the final quarter of the match.

In the 31st minute, Minnesota had the ball in the back of the net for the supposed equalizer. Triantis served in an acrobatic volley that Nicolas Romero slid home, but it was called offside. Moments later, Werner went down clutching his leg on a fast break the other way, and was forced to be replaced by Skahan.

Arena decided to make another change at the half with his side up 1-0, replacing striker Preston Judd with winger Paul Marie. 

This change appeared conservative, aimed at keeping the Earthquakes’ lead, although it didn’t have the desired effect. Minnesota began the second half with a 20 minute onslaught, and overturned the deficit in a matter of minutes.

Joaquin Pereyra hit the post in the 51st minute to embolden the visiting fans, just minutes after Rodriguez jogged down the touchline to warm up. After sustained pressure, the Loons equalized on an own goal created by Triantis in the 59th minute. The Greek winger drove half the field and put a dangerous ball in the direction of Anthony Markanich, and Earthquakes captain Ronaldo Vieira reached out to intercept the ball but went off his foot and into his own net.

After a frantic goal-line clearance from centerback Daniel Munie in the 62nd minute, Thomas Chancalay gave Minnesota the lead with a dizzying solo run just moments later.

Minnesota seemed poised to run away with the match with 30 minutes to go. However, for the third game in a row, the Earthquakes responded to deficits with multiple goes of their own. In this case, credit was due to Arena’s substitutes.

BIG MOOD pic.twitter.com/N5LZ81fQXG

— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) April 29, 2026

Skahan scored his record-tying goal on a deflected shot to equalize 2-2 in the 68th minute. Just moments later, Skahan set up Leroux for the 3-2 lead. Leroux arrived late in the box, received the square ball from Skahan, and bent it into the top corner for his second of the game. This finally sparked Knowles to substitute Rodriguez on to a raucous reception.

The entrance of the 2014 World Cup top scorer from Colombia couldn’t turn the match around for the visitors. 

Just moments after Leroux’s second, Minnesota had numbers forward in an attempt to equalize. A long Earthquakes clearance found Bouda one-on-one with Gene. The Burkina Faso international won the duel and squared it calmly to Tsakiris to double the lead and put the game out of reach.

With the win, the Earthquakes advance to the Quarterfinals for the 11th time in club history. That pulls them into a tie for 9th most Quarterfinal appearances in the tournament’s history (1913-present). They are now level with five-time champion Bethlehem Steel FC (Bethlehem, PA), and fellow MLS teams Red Bull New York and the four-time champion Seattle Sounders FC.

The win also extends San Jose’s home unbeaten streak in the tournament to 11 games, a run that began in 2017. (NOTE: Games decided by a PK shootout are officially listed as draws). It ranks as the 7th longest streak in the Modern Era (1995-present).

With 16 goals in the last four games and a lead atop the MLS table, the Earthquakes enter Thursday’s Quarterfinal draw as one of the favorites to lift the Open Cup for the first time in club history.