San Jose closes in on the Shield

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2012 Power Rankings: September 24
 RK (LW)TEAMRECCOMMENT
San Jose1 (1)San Jose18-6-6A midweek draw with Portland had San Jose looking vulnerable, but gutsy 2-1 win at Seattle has the Quakes firmly in the Supporters' Shield driver's seat. Chris Wondolowski's three goals in the past week have sown up the Golden Boot race as well.
Chicago2 (2)Chicago16-8-5An early gaffe from goalkeeper Sean Johnson put Chicago in a hole against Columbus, but two brilliantly taken goals from Chris Rolfe enabled the Fire to claim a 2-1 victory, its seventh in eight games.
Kansas City3 (4)Kansas City16-7-7A gritty 0-0 draw on the road against Montreal combined with a midweek win at New York allowed SKC to maintain its tenuous hold on first place in the Eastern Conference. The result sets up nicely this Friday's titanic matchup with second-place Chicago.
Los Angeles4 (6)Los Angeles15-11-4Juninho continued his second-half resurgence, scoring two long-range goals in a 4-2 win over Toronto. Robbie Keane, another player who has picked it up over the latter half of the season, tallied twice as well.
Seattle Sounders FC5 (3)Seattle Sounders FC13-7-9Steve Zakuani's first goal since his horrific broken leg last year had the Sounders poised for a fairy-tale ending against San Jose, but an overall poor first-half effort was too much for the Seattle to overcome. Not the performance Sigi Schmid wanted.
New York Red Bulls6 (5)New York Red Bulls14-8-8After delivering a tepid performance in midweek at home to Kansas City, New York thought it had snatched a stoppage-time victory over New England, only to cough up a late equalizer. Now N.Y. is looking nervously over its shoulder at surging D.C.
DC United7 (10)DC United15-10-5For the third match in a row, manager Ben Olsen made an impact substitution that changed the game. Against Chivas USA it was Branko Boskovic scoring on a diving header eight minutes after coming on to claim a priceless 1-0 win.
Real Salt Lake8 (8)Real Salt Lake15-11-4With leading scorer Alvaro Saborio sidelined with a shoulder injury, Fabian Espindola and Javier Morales picked the perfect time to get back on the scoresheet. RSL made hard work of dispatching Portland thereafter.
Houston9 (7)Houston12-8-10Aside from Oscar Boniek Garcia's golazo, the Dynamo served up a stinker in a 3-1 loss to Philadelphia, and currently lead sixth-place Columbus by a point. The only saving grace for Houston is that its next three games are at home.
Columbus10 (9)Columbus13-11-6The Crew's 2-1 loss to Chicago was a case study in how possession can be a misleading stat. Columbus had a 62 percent, but the Fire was more clinical in front of goal, dealing the Crew a critical defeat in its bid to snag a playoff slot.
FC Dallas11 (11)FC Dallas9-12-9FCD had the weekend off, so all eyes were on fourth-place Vancouver as it hosted Colorado. The 2-2 draw wasn't the best result but it was enough to keep Dallas within touching distance of the fifth and final playoff spot.
Montreal Impact12 (12)Montreal Impact12-15-4The Impact gave a game effort in its bid to make the playoffs, but Saturday's 0-0 home draw to Kansas City was a big blow to its hopes. After stocking his roster with some aging veterans, will Jesse Marsch go younger in the offseason?
Portland Timbers13 (13)Portland Timbers7-15-8Even though they have nothing to play for, the Timbers are still playing hard. Portland snagged 2-2 midweek draw at San Jose, and had the crossbar been more kind, the Timbers might have gotten more than a narrow 2-1 defeat at RSL.
Philadelphia Union14 (14)Philadelphia Union8-14-6After squandering chances galore in a midweek loss to D.C., Philadelphia broke out for three goals against Houston, with Freddy Adu bagging two of them. Alas, a groin injury he sustained on a penalty attempt took the shine off the win.
Vancouver Whitecaps15 (15)Vancouver Whitecaps10-12-8Vancouver ended its five-game losing streak by tying Colorado 2-2. But yet another late goal conceded cost the Whitecaps precious points. At least Kenny Miller showed some flashes of DP form with a second-half goal.
Colorado16 (16)Colorado9-18-3The Rapids put in a hardworking shift in a 2-2 tie against Vancouver, and might have won the match if Omar Cummings had done better with a late chance. That, of course, is the story of Colorado's season.
New England17 (17)New England7-15-8The Revs managed to play the role of spoiler against New York, robbing the Red Bulls of two critical points thanks to Darrius Barnes' late equalizer. The goal also succeeded in glossing over comedic defending that led to Joel Lindpere's earlier tally.
Toronto FC18 (18)Toronto FC5-18-7The concept of putting defensive pressure on the ball was an afterthought for Toronto, which allowed L.A.'s midfield to operate at will for much of the night. A head injury to defender Richard Eckersley didn't help either. TFC is now winless in 10.
Chivas USA19 (19)Chivas USA7-15-7The Goats are winless in nine following twin 1-0 defeats to Columbus and D.C. United. With Chivas clearly going backward, Robin Fraser's position as manager is looking more tenuous by the day.