By Matthew Harrington

Desperate for a road victory to keep theirs playoff hopes alive and well, the San Jose Earthquakes instead settled for a 3-3tie with the Portland Timbers FC Sunday afternoon at Providence Park. Chris Wondolowski appeared to have the game winner on an 85^th minute marker, his second goal of the day, but Portland’s Kalif Alhassan answered back with a goal of his own one minute later. It was the second blown lead Sunday for the Earthquakes after coughing up a 2-0 advantage earlier in the match.

For the second week in a row the Quakes (6-10-9) struck first, courtesy of tallies from Chris Wondolowski and Cordell Cato, but faltered with the advantage to draw Portland. San Jose also wound up with a 1-1 result against Real Salt Lake after taking a quick 1-0 lead August 30^th at Buck Shaw Stadium.

San Jose opened the first meeting of the season with the Timbers eight points behind Portland (8-8-11) for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Both teams desperately needed a win and three points with less than two months of soccer remaining to legitimize postseason hopes. The Earthquakes were seeking only their second win of the season on the road.

The Timbers controlled the run of play handedly over the first 20 minutes, battering Quakes keeper Jon Busch with chance after chance, but failed to convert on any early attempts. San Jose wrested momentum away from its hosts after Chris Wondolowski found the back of the net in the 21^st minute for a 1-0 lead.

Shea Salinas initially skipped a ball from the left side at Portland goalie Donovan Ricketts that was turned aside, but Wondolowski crashed the netmouth to try to chip in the rebound off the far post. A Timbers defender managed to move Wondolowski off the play before he could get his foot on the ball inside the box, but Salinas followed his initial chance and ripped a shot to that bounced off the left post. Again Ricketts made a diving stop but Wondolowski recovered in time to settle the ball and tap it into the open net for his team-leading 10^th strike of the season.

In a reversal of first-half fortunes, San Jose opened the second 45 minutes on the attack. Cordell Cato took advantage of a lax Portland backline to tally his third goal of the season in 48^th minute, putting the Earthquakes up 2-0. The San Jose midfielder booted the ball cross crease into the left corner after a pair of Portland defenders allowed him to walk into the box unfettered.

Portland needed 21 attempts at the goal before finally beating Busch in the 54^th minute. Diego Valeri floated a pass to Alvas Powell. Powell scorched a liner to pull the Timbers within one.

Tempers flared just two minutes later after Portland’s Will Johnson believed officials missed a handball on Jason Hernandez. Johnson became very animated, arguing with officials before ultimately ending up in a shoving match with Wondolowski. Johnson received a yellow card once the hostilities subsided.

15 minutes from the end of regulation, Portland found the equalizer. Diego Valeri picked up his second assist of the day after feeding Liam Ridgewell for the goal. The Timbers once again controlled the strength of play, finishing the day with 32 attempts on goal to San Jose’s 12.

San Jose continues the search for road win number two in in the Northwest Wednesday night. The Quakes will meet the Whitecaps FC, currently one point back of Portland for the final playoff spot, in Vancouver.