Shrader's Spin: Quakes battle to finish
San Jose closes season with back-to-back matches against Chivas USA, Galaxy
Related
- Highlights: SJ 1, TOR 1
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- Glen scores late equalizer
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- See Quakes schedule
If you're going to tie, it's better to have one that feels like a win than one that feels like a loss. The Quakes certainly know what it feels like to give up the late goal, snatching a tie from the claws of victory. And now Toronto knows it, too.
Cornell Glen's stoppage-time strike in BMO Field Saturday gave the Quakes a 1-1 tie with Toronto FC, and may have knocked TFC right out of the playoff picture.
I asked goalkeeper Joe Cannon what the Quakes - who had been eliminated from playoff contention last week - have to play for in the final weeks of the season.
"Our fans, ourselves and our jobs, that never changes," he said. "And for Frank Yallop. With a guy like Frank players are always going to play for him, no matter what the situation is."
Yallop appreciated the effort by his depleted corps.
"For me it was a great workman-like performance," he said. "We didn't play great, but we played pretty well."
They did so without a half-dozen of their regulars, some out with injury and others on international duty. And, to add to the list, defender Jason Hernandez suffered a broken bone in his ankle during the game and now he's out for the final two weeks.
After going 20 straight on the road without a victory, the Quakes now have a win and two draws in their last three away from home. The Quakes season closes with back-to-back trips to LA, first to see Chivas USA and then to finish the season with the Galaxy.
"Two tough teams, Chivas and LA," Yallop said. Both teams have qualified for the playoffs. "But this league is very even," Yallop said. "We've been close in games. It's not like we're getting beat 5-0 every game. I believe we can go anywhere and play anybody home and away and win."
Even after their miserable start this season, the Quakes can still finish with a better record than 2008, but it would require at least a win and a tie.
"It's been a rough year," Cannon said. "But hopefully we can take this positive result in Toronto, go to LA and get good results."
No playoffs for the men in black and blue, but messing with their Southern California neighbors heading to the playoffs would be of some consolation.
"The confidence is there now with the team," Yallop said. "The guys have done a terrific job of not quitting."
A growing list of playoff hopefuls-Colorado, DC United and Toronto among them-are finding that out first hand.
