a season-high -- but neither team could break through. Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch was credited with four saves.
• The Crew did find a way past Busch late in the match when substitute Steven Lenhart put the ball into the back of the net, but the flag was up for offside.
• Fire head coach Denis Hamlett made one change to the team that defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-1 on July 4. With Wilman Conde injured, C.J. Brown came back into central defense.
• Here's Hamlett's team (4-3-1-2): Jon Busch - Tim Ward, C.J. Brown, Bakary Soumare, Daniel Woolard - Marco Pappa (Calen Carr 85), Baggio Husidic (Patrick Nyarko 74), John Thorrington - Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Justin Mapp 79) - Chris Rolfe, Brian McBride. Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Dykstra, Peter Lowry, Dasan Robinson, Austin Washington
• "We don't worry about first place - we go out trying to win the game and sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn't. There were positives in the game - in the end of the game, we had five or six attacking guys on the field. We need to build on those positives, like getting a shutout at home, and keep moving forward," Hamlett said.
TEAM NEWS
• With the draw, the Fire now have a six-game winless streak (0-2-4) at home. Their last home win was in the first home game back on Apr. 5 at New York.
• "You guys worry about that," Hamlett said. "We go out there to win the game. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn't. We could have gotten three points but didn't. We've got to keep adding up points."
• The shutout at home was the first since that 1-0 win against New York in their first game at Toyota Park this season. However, the Fire have now not scored in their last three home games and have a 311-minute scoreless streak.
• "We took a step in the right direction not letting in any goals at home," defender Tim Ward said. "At the same time, we need to get three points." Said Fire forward Brian McBride: "There are always things we can do better, like put the ball in the back of the net."
• In the opening eight games of the season, the Fire allowed 11 games and kept just a single clean sheet. But in the eight since, they've conceded nine goals and recorded three shutouts.
• "For the first six games of the season, I played with a splint on," Busch said. "You just deal with it. I knew I had to be on the field to have a good start of the season. Was I 100 percent? No. But I did more good even in those first five or six games than I did damage."
• On Wednesday, the Fire advanced to the SuperLiga final with a 2-1 victory against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Brian McBride volleyed home a Cuauhtémoc Blanco cross in the 36th minute to give the Fire the lead, but Edgaras Jankauskas sent home a deflected shot in the 44th minute to pull the Revolution level. Yet in the 63rd minute, after McBride was fouled just outside the area, Blanco whipped the resulting free kick over the wall and into the goal for the match-winner.
• Here's Hamlett's team: Jon Busch, Daniel Woolard, C.J. Brown, Bakary Soumare, Tim Ward, Marco Pappa (Mike Banner 82), John Thorrington, Baggio Husidic, Chris Rolfe (Patrick Nyarko 70), Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Brian McBride
• "Tonight two big players stepped up and made big plays," Hamlett said. "Cuauhtemoc played a great ball to Brian, (and he) had a great finish and obviously the free kick goal. This is a tournament that we take very seriously and we're excited that we have the final in a couple weeks back at Toyota Park."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
The San Jose Earthquakes saw their brief two-game unbeaten run come to an end, falling 3-1 to Toronto FC on Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Earthquakes have 13 points from 15 matches on the year, still in eighth place in the Western Conference, 18 points behind MLS overall leaders Houston Dynamo.
LAST MATCH
• The Earthquakes were back home after a heartbreaking own goal in stoppage time left them in a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake the week before, while Toronto FC were returning to action after a weekend off, back-to-back wins against New York coming to an end with a loss at Real Salt Lake as well.
• It took the visitors just five minutes to open the scoring. Dwayne De Rosario collected a throw-in, held off a defender and hooked the ball over his head to Chad Barrett. Barrett then lashed a first-time drive inside the left post.
• The Earthquakes drew even in the 32nd minute. A long ball behind the TFC defense sent Ryan Johnson into the area, and after he held up and drew three defenders to him, he laid the ball back for Darren Huckerby to side-foot home unmarked for his second goal in four weeks.
• But the Reds took control of the game with two goals in 15 minutes. First, in the 54th minute, a free kick wasn't cleared and eventually sailed high into the air. Nana Attakora headed goalward to Pablo Vitti, and his backward flick sailed over Joe Cannon for his second goal in three weeks.
• Then Barrett completed his double. Running onto a long ball from De Rosario, Barrett was left to walk in all alone after San Jose defender Aaron Pitchkolan went down with an injury. Barrett rounded Cannon at the edge of the area and strolled in to touch the ball home for his fourth goal of the season, the goals his first since May 2.
• Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop made three changes to the team that played to a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake on July 3. With Ramiro Corrales and Bobby Convey injured in that game, Michael Zaher and Darren Huckerby returned to the lineup. Simon Elliott also came back into the team from international duty, in place of Antonio Ribeiro.
• Here's Yallop's team (4-4-2): Joe Cannon - Chris Leitch, Jason Hernandez, Aaron Pitchkolan (Shea Salinas 71), Michael Zaher - Arturo Alvarez, Simon Elliott, Brandon McDonald, Darren Huckerby - Pablo Campos (Cornell Glen 59), Ryan Johnson (Quincy Amarikwa 79). Substitutes Not Used: Antonio Ribeiro, Jamil Roberts, Andrew Weber, Chris Wondolowski
• "It was a poor performance by us," Yallop said. "We came out flat and nervous and not really ready to play, and it surprised me. We didn't seem to play all night."
TEAM NEWS
• The fifth-minute goal from Chad Barrett was the fifth the Earthquakes have allowed in the opening quarter-hour this season, tied for most in MLS with the Chicago Fire.
• "There's no reason why we came out like that," Yallop said. "We should be on our front foot, pushing them and tackling and fighting and scrapping but we didn't, and the guys we have in there aren't normally like that, and it surprised me. We were just very nervous as a group."
• While the second Barrett game killed off the match, the loss of Aaron Pitchkolan to a groin injury might have a more lasting effect. Pitchkolan had started four consecutive games in central defense.
• "The game was a microcosm of our season," goalkeeper Joe Cannon said. "The little things, set pieces, guys not marking, and then the third goal was absolutely ridiculous. Pitchkolan goes down and what do you do? That injury hurts probably as bad as the goal did."
• Yallop said after the performance, which he termed as likely San Jose's worst of the season, changes would be coming in the team.
• "I'm not going to pinpoint them now," Yallop said, "but we do need help and we're trying to address that now, as we speak. (General manager) John (Doyle) is speaking with a few clubs and players, and so we'll make some changes, we'll get some players, and hopefully that will help us. We also need to get some guys healthy. We missed Ramiro's leadership tonight, but again, I don't think that one player would have made the difference."
• The Earthquakes have now lost seven times in the last 11 games and have lost touch with FC Dallas ahead of them in the Western Conference.
• "You have to shake your head and wonder," goalkeeper Joe Cannon said. "It was a must-win game for us, and to come out so flat is just disheartening, frustrating. Especially after coming out so good last week and getting a decent result on the road, to come out at home and not take advantage of the points you can get, it's upsetting."
