By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–

Saturday night was something out of a nightmare for the San Jose Earthquakes as they were absolutely dominated by FC Dallas in a 5-0 shutout. Star rookie, Tesho Akindele, stole the show for Dallas recording his first career hat trick. Fabian Castillo was also a major factor for Dallas as he contributed two goals and an assist.

The nightmare began in the 11^th minute for San Jose, when defender, Shaun Francis pulled up short due to an apparent hamstring injury. He would walk off the field for a few moments to get a breather before deciding to go back into play. He would play for just over a minute, but was too injured to continue, as Earthquakes’ coach, Mark Watson, had to burn his first substitution in the 13^th minute. Brandon Barklage came in for the injured Francis.

The Earthquakes had some chances early in the first half, forcing Dallas goalkeeper, Raul Fernandez, to earn his shutout. In the 29^th minute, Sam Cronin, hit a skipping shot from the right side just outside of the box, forcing Fernandez to make the diving save to his right.  Fernandez had five saves in the win. Just a minute later, Castillo found his first of the evening with a great individual effort, making Jason Hernandez look silly along the way to give Dallas the 1-0 lead.

In the 43^rd minute Dallas would take a 2-0 advantage when Akindele got his first of three when a shot from outside the box took a tricky bounce off of an Earthquakes’ defender before it made its way past Jon Busch.

The Earthquakes best chance came in the 45^th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick. Matias Perez Garcia was taken down in the penalty box to give Chris Wondolowski a chance. Wondolowski fired a bullet that just missed the top left corner to end the half.

FC Dallas tacked on three more goals in the second half to propel them to victory. Castillo’s two goals on Saturday night gives him the team lead with eight on the season. “We couldn’t handle him, he has a ton of pace and incredible individual effort,” commented Watson. “He caused a lot of problems with his pace,” added Busch.

Akindele’s three goals now gives him seven on the season, making him the honor of being the highest scoring rookie in FC Dallas history. Aleksey Korol previously held the honor for his five tallies he scored in 2000.

FC Dallas extends their unbeaten streak to nine with the victory. It also marks the first time that Dallas coach, Oscar Pareja, has beaten San Jose in his ninth attempt.

San Jose had their unbeaten streak snapped at four games with the loss. “There was a good feeling about the team. We finally got something going, and then this loss. It’s really deflating,” commented Watson.

The Earthquakes will try to recover on Wednesday when they host division leading, Seattle.