Quakes lose to Toronto

"I thought we were flat. I can’t put a finger on it really,” said San Jose head coach Frank Yallop. "The energy wasn’t good I thought, for whatever reason. It just wasn’t our night.”

Toronto FC came into the match near the top of the eastern conference standings – marking a two-game stretch where the Quakes will face off against the cream of the eastern crop. And while San Jose didn’t play too poorly and fell behind on two fluke-style goals, they cannot afford to come out like that again against Columbus Wednesday night.

After possessing the ball for the majority of the first half, Mother Nature did the Quakes in the 31st minute. It was a beautiful night in Santa Clara, but the positioning of the sun gave the San Jose defense fits in the first half and led to a miscommunication in the back on a long, high ball to Toronto’s Chad Barrett. Joe Cannon was out of position, charging toward the ball near his 18 and collided with Barrett who somehow managed to tip the ball forward and over the goal line for the 1-0 lead.

"I just couldn’t see anything,” Cannon said. "I’m trying to assess the situation in a split second moment but it’s kind of like having blinders on. Last year I don’t think I ever had to deal with a full half of that sun in my face and I think everyone struggled with it.”

On the offensive the Quakes could muster very little despite their possession. Down 1-0 at the half, the task of coming back doubled in the 66th minute on goal by Toronto’s Dwayne De Rosario. A long pass from Toronto’s defensive third found De Rosario, who appeared to be offside, but with the flag down, De Rosario was able to tip the ball past Cannon was the 2-0 advantage.

The goal awakened the Quakes, who were in full offensive mode from that moment on. Wave after wave of San Jose attacks made their way toward the Toronto goal and in the 76th minute the Earthquakes finally broke through.

Bobby Convey tallied his sixth assist of the season on a corner kick that found the head of Ramiro Corrales for his first goal of 2010.

San Jose kept knocking on the door, applying constant pressure on the Toronto defense to try and get the equalizer but it wasn’t to be.

De Rosario got his second goal of the night on an empty netter as Cannon had come up on a late indirect kick to give the Quakes an extra player on the offensive. But the gamble backfired and De Rosario was able to track down a clearance by his defense and tap the ball into the San Jose net for Toronto’s third goal of the night.

San Jose will try to rebound Wednesday night when they face the Columbus Crew, the top team in the eastern conference.