A second straight penalty shootout ended in heartbreak for the U.S. Men’s National Team this time as they came up short in their bid to return to the Concacaf Gold Cup final in a shootout loss to Panama on Wednesday.

After playing 120 minutes just three days earlier, the U.S. went the distance again and faced back-to-back penalty shootouts for the first time in team history.

Both goals came late in the contest.

Jesús Ferreria scored his tournament-leading seventh goal of the competition to even the score at 1-1 six minutes after Panama took the lead through an Ivan Anderson goal in the 99th minute.

After tallying the equalizer, Ferreira’s first effort was saved by Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera. Matt Turner - the hero in the shootout against Canada - managed to stop Cristian Martínez’s try, but a saved kick from substitute Cristian Roldan opened the door for a Panama win – which Adalberto Carrasquilla sealed with a well-placed strike in the shootout’s sixth round.    

The exit for the U.S. also marks the end of former Eastern Pennsylvania ODP coach BJ Callaghan’s tenure as interim head coach. Callaghan, who in addition to coaching ODP coached at his alma mater Ursinus, St. Joe’s and Villanova before joining the Philadelphia Union, was officially unbeaten in his seven games at the helm.

Callaghan, a U.S. assistant who left the Union for U.S. Soccer in 2019, oversaw four wins and three draws and guided the U.S. to the Concacaf Nations League title and Gold Cup semifinal.

Gregg Berhalter is set to return to the role of head coach after he was re-hired last month. He coached the team from 2018 through the 2022 FIFA World Cup.