With a spot in the Open Cup quarterfinals on the line, two familiar foes squared off to see who would take that one step closer to the finale. If you did not see this match in any way, shape, or form stop reading here, and go watch that match. What an absolutely topsy-turvy closely fought affair from these two sides. It looked to be San Jose booking their spot, until a pair of goals from Luis Felipe and Sebastian Herrera came through in extra time to turn the tables and claim the win for Sacramento.

The San Jose Earthquakes have had a rough start to their season in the MLS. Bottom of the table in the Western Conference, managing 10 points from 14 games played. They came into this match on a 2 game slide, dropping games to the Portland Timbers and Orlando City. The player to watch on the Earthquakes will actually be coming off the bench in Cristian Espinoza. He leads the Earthquakes squad with 7 assists so far this season and will be someone San Jose can turn to if his talent is required. San Jose dispatched the Oakland Roots in the last round of the Open Cup.

Sacramento have still continued their unbeaten start to their USL season. They lead the Western Conference with 20 points earned from 10 matches played. The last match they had came two weeks ago with a tough away test against Rhode Island. Sacramento do have a rest advantage after having a bye week last week in the regular season. The last time these two sides met came in that miracle run in the Open Cup in 2022, with Sacramento coming away the winners thanks to Luis Felipe and Rodrigo Lopez. Sacramento got here after getting a decisive win over Monterey in the last round.

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(Photo courtesy of Sacramento Republic FC)