Toluca, Mexico (SportsNetwork.com) - The San Jose Earthquakes were ousted from CONCACAF Champions League play in disappointing fashion, falling to Mexican side Toluca in penalties on Wednesday.
The two sides played to a 1-1 draw in the first leg, but San Jose made a bright start to the return match when Ty Harden opened the scoring in the 56th minute.
Isaac Brizuela drew Toluca level in the 69th minute, and with neither side managing to find a winning goal for the remainder of regulation and the subsequent periods of extra time, the tie was left to be decided on penalties.
The requisite five penalties apiece were not enough to separate the two clubs, so a sudden death series of spot-kicks followed. With Toluca leading 5-4, Shea Salinas approached the spot with the chance to level the score for San Jose, but the 'Quakes midfielder rattled the crossbar with his attempt to send Toluca through to the semifinals.
Sporting Kansas City was unable to keep MLS alive in the competition as it suffered a 5-1 drubbing at Cruz Azul on Wednesday to bow out of the competition by a 5-2 aggregate score.
Cruz Azul had suffered a narrow defeat in the first leg but was in the driver's seat within the opening 23 minutes of the return match thanks to a brace from Mariano Pavone.
Benny Feilhaber managed to bag a crucial away goal two minutes before halftime, but the Mexican club rallied after the break to advance with ease. Pavone completed his hat trick in the 55th minute while goals from Mauro Formica and Christian Gimenez finished off the rout.
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