By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Jose Earthquakes shut out the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps FC, but failed to score themselves, shutting down Buck Shaw Stadium with a 0-0 tie in the final MLS game played on Santa Clara University’s campus in front of a sellout crowd of 10,525.

“Historically, we made it tough for other teams to play here,” said Quakes defender Jason Hernandez, a member of the Quakes since the first game at Buck Shaw, also a 0-0 draw in May 2008 against FC Dallas. “I’m glad we could at least finish on that note.”

While the Quakes (6-15-12, 30 points) couldn’t end a now-14 game winless streak along their residency of Buck Shaw, interim coach Ian Russell picked up his first point as a bench boss. Russell took over for Mark Watson, who was dismissed earlier in the week after it was revealed that current Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear would take over coaching responsibilities for the Earthquakes next season after a disappointing campaign this year.

“We’re all playing for jobs right now,” said starting goalkeeper Jon Busch. “Dom’s going to come in next week and you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The men in San Jose jerseys were desperate to earn job security, but Vancouver (11-8-14, 47 points)entered the contest needing points locked with the Portland Timbers in a tie for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with two games left to play. With that in mind, Russell and the Quakes made some tweaks to their usual formation to try to counter Vancouver’s high octane offense.

“We knew we wanted to finish off Buck Shaw the right way,” said Busch. “You could see it with the way Ian set the team up tonight. We were high-pressing them, trying to get turnovers.”

The result was a success, though not quite an overwhelming one, with the Quakes managing their first clean sheet since August 2^nd at Levi’s Stadium against the Seattle Sounders but nothing on the scoreboard offensively.

“The whole back four was fabulous,” said Russell of his defenders. “I think it started with the first line with (Wondolowski), then the midfield five putting pressure on all the time. Then the back four really stood up.”

While there weren’t any Goonies-type shenanigans, San Jose isn’t despondent about the farewell for Buck Shaw, their home for the last seven seasons.

“In my five years, there have been so many come backs, late game heroics,” said Busch. “I honestly think it was written in the script to end 0-0 tonight. It wasn’t a lack of effort on the offensive side, we just couldn’t get one.”

“I played the first game here and the last game here,” added Hernandez. “Full circle. I’m very honored to be a part of this club for that long, leave this stadium with so many memories.”

Memories, however, aren’t enough to damper excitement for the Quakes shiny new stadium, with construction set to conclude in December on the 18,000 seat state-of-the-art field.

“We’re kind of glad to be out of this stadium,” said Russell. “We’ve had some good memories here, but when you have the nice big one down the street, I think we’re ready to go.”

With one more game left on the schedule, a match against last-place Chivas USA next Sunday, one last piece of business must be resolved.

Could the Quakes be opening Earthquakes Stadium with a special ceremony recognizing a club record being broken? Jon Busch needs only two more saves to tie the club benchmark of 137 in a single season set by Joe Cannon in 2000.

“For me it’s not about individual records,” said Busch. “If it happens next week, it happens. I don’t play this game for individual records, I play to win games and have chances at individual trophies. The team results are much more important than any individual accomplishments.”