Quakes take the Shield

Week:
  • Share
2012 Power Rankings: October 22
 RK (LW)TEAMRECCOMMENT
San Jose1 (1)San Jose19-6-8The Quakes clinched the Supporters' Shield on Saturday, broke ground on their long-awaited new stadium a day later, then played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with bitter rival L.A.
Kansas City2 (2)Kansas City17-7-9Kansas City was outpassed and outplayed by host New York but was still able to grind out a 0-0 tie with goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen coming to the rescue. That mentality will come in handy during the postseason.
DC United3 (4)DC United17-10-6Honor is due to manager Ben Olsen, who, despite losing attacking linchpin Dwayne De Rosario to injury last month, managed to rally the black-and-red to its first postseason appearance in five years thanks to Saturday's 3-2 win over Columbus.
Real Salt Lake4 (5)Real Salt Lake17-11-5After playing with a man advantage for roughly an hour against Seattle, RSL would normally rue walking away with a point. But the 0-0 tie against the Sounders did help Real stay in contention for second place in the West.
Seattle Sounders FC5 (6)Seattle Sounders FC15-7-11Ten-man Seattle did well to secure a scoreless tie against RSL, then dispatched Dallas 3-1 to move into second place in the Western Conference. Christian Tiffert, Mauro Rosales and Brad Evans showed more chemistry in midfield.
Chicago6 (3)Chicago17-11-5A road win at New York two weeks ago appeared to have the Fire on the right track, but a 1-0 loss at New England has Chicago in danger of getting sucked into the play-in game morass.
Los Angeles7 (7)Los Angeles15-12-6The Galaxy were all over San Jose in the first half, with Robbie Keane's movement giving the Quakes fits. But Los Angeles twice failed to hold a lead and was forced to settle for a 2-2 draw.
New York Red Bulls8 (8)New York Red Bulls15-9-9New York preferred to take the positives from its 0-0 home draw against conference leader Kansas City. Only problem is that come playoff time, that type of result likely will not be enough to progress.
Houston9 (9)Houston14-8-11The Dynamo clinched a trip to the postseason thanks to Boniek Garcia's third goal in four games, which paced Houston to a 3-1 win over Philadelphia. The Dynamo became the fourth team in MLS history to go unbeaten at home in the regular season.
Columbus10 (10)Columbus14-12-7The Crew's streak of four consecutive playoff appearances is over after they lost 3-2 to D.C. United. The Crew's rejuvenated attack gave it some hope the past several weeks, but it wasn't enough to compensate for a short-handed defense.
FC Dallas11 (11)FC Dallas9-13-11An MLS Cup finalist two years ago, Dallas finds itself out of the playoffs after falling to Seattle 3-1. And rather than recent results, a terrible start to the season meant the campaign was essentially lost early on.
Montreal Impact12 (12)Montreal Impact12-15-6The Impact played out a drab 0-0 tie with Toronto, a match that perked up when Marco Di Vaio directed a verbal barrage at teammate Justin Mapp. It was Di Vaio who ultimately was left to hang his head, though, squandering several late chances.
Philadelphia Union13 (13)Philadelphia Union10-16-6Jack McInerney continued his torrid scoring streak, notching his fourth goal in four games, but the Union were unable to play spoiler for another week in losing at Houston.
Vancouver Whitecaps14 (14)Vancouver Whitecaps11-13-9Talk about backing into the playoffs. Vancouver's loss to the Timbers left it 1-6-2 in its past nine matches with seven goals scored in that span. So the Caps have no shot in the playoffs against L.A., right? Crazier things have happened.
Portland Timbers15 (15)Portland Timbers8-16-9In a season that has been a crusher on so many levels, Portland had reason to smile, with Jack Jewsbury's searing drive giving the Timbers their first road win of the season and with it the Cascadia Cup.
Colorado16 (16)Colorado10-19-4Even after scoring in Colorado's 2-0 win over Chivas USA, Martin Rivero remains one of the league's best-kept secrets. It's now up to manager Oscar Pareja to put together a better team around the Argentine.
New England17 (17)New England8-17-8Manager Jay Heaps no doubt liked what he saw after watching his side's efficient 1-0 win over Chicago. Diego Fagundez grabbed the winning goal, but the defensive effort was just as critical.
Toronto FC18 (19)Toronto FC5-20-8Given TFC's lengthy injury list, a 0-0 home draw with Montreal -- Toronto's first clean sheet in 13 games -- was more than acceptable to Paul Mariner. Time for the reconstructive surgery to begin.
Chivas USA19 (18)Chivas USA7-18-8The Goats' fans can at last put this sad season to bed with Saturday's 2-0 loss to Colorado seeing Chivas conclude its home schedule with a 3-11-3 mark.