The Supporters' Shield winners nearly wrote another chapter in their comeback saga against the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference Semifinal, presented by Kaiser Permanente.
San Jose lost the match 3-1 off of Robbie Keane's 21st and 34th minute goals and Mike Magee's 39th minute goal. Alan Gordon netted the lone strike for the Quakes in the 82nd minute to cap the scoring. San Jose lost the playoff series on an aggregate score of 3-2. Quakes players and coaches offered their insight on Wednesday night's match.
Question: What were your initial thoughts on the match?
Shea Salinas: We tried to make something happen. I thought we had our chances. We had an awesome season and we should be proud of the season but it wasn’t the way we wanted it to end. We had our chances and they had theirs. They put their chances away. I couldn’t be more blessed to be on such a great team. It just didn’t end our way tonight.
Chris Wondolowski: Robbie Keane had two great finishes. They got that third goal which was a bit of a dagger.
Frank Yallop: We didn’t play particularly well for us. We had plenty of chances but we didn’t play very well. I think Chris [Wondolowski] would like his chance back when the Galaxy were up 1-0. Ike [Opara] had another great chance. In terms of football, we didn’t really start playing well until the last 20 to 25 minutes of the match. It was a weird night. We were surprised that we didn’t play our game. I thought we had plenty of effort but that we didn’t play well.
Rafael Baca: I think it was the flow of the game. They had to come to up to our house and press us because they obviously had to win. Like I said, it was unbelievable.
Question: How did the team react to the early injury loss of Victor Bernardez?
Jon Busch: Vic is a key part of our team. Jason [Hernandez] has been absolutely tremendous again this year. He has been the glue that has kept this team together. Justin [Morrow] has been tremendous. Ike [Opara] did great again tonight when he came in. It is very disappointing. When it’s all said and done, we have a great team here and a great group. We have to be proud of what we did here this year. It is hard to beat the same team five times in one season. We did it three times, tied one, and lost one. Unfortunately, we lost the one that matters the most. It stings. They are the defending champions and have a lot of experience. They just got away with it tonight. It hurts but we have to learn from it.
CW: He has been a huge part of our defense and a huge part of our team. He organizes our team.
FY: It was very tough losing him early in the match. I thought the LA Galaxy played very well offensively tonight but when you lose arguably your best defender it is very tough. When you lose someone of that stature, it doesn’t help.
Question: Was it difficult to play the postseason not at full strength?
FY: Kind of. Alan [Gordon] was hobbled and struggled from injuries. Victor [Bernardez] came out. Those are key guys. In the run up to the playoffs, it is tough to lose them. I think Alan is close to one of our best players to be honest. We really missed him. Our performance wasn’t good enough. It was a good performance on Sunday but not a good one to finish the season.
CW: I wish we had everyone at a 100%. I wish we had everyone healthy but it is part of the game. You got to make do with what you have. It’s no excuse.
Question: How did the frequent come backs characterize this team?
FY: I wouldn’t say that it is luck. We have had some great battles against LA. The story has been us going down and then coming back but that is what we do. We keep going. I think that to go three down is a big mountain to climb. If it had just been two down, we would have equalized.
