By Pearl Allison Lo

~ In an important Decision Day match, San Jose was unable to hold on to their lead against FC Dallas, in a 2-1 defeat Sunday.

The Quakes have now missed the playoffs for three straight years, but were the closest to making that portion of the season this year. San Jose ended up four points under the red line, behind the Seattle Sounders FC, LA Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City, who finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively with 51 points apiece.

The Quakes’ website now reads “Thank You, Quakes Fans. SJ 74” on top of a video, which when clicked, says “Thank you, Quakes Fans, for an unforgettable 2015 season.” It featured gratitude from Chris Wondolowski, Jean Baptiste Pierraci, Bryan Meredith, David Bingham, Marvell Wynne, Marc Pelosi, Shaun Francis, Paulo Renato, Shea Salinas and moer.

San Jose’s Quincy Amarikwa first had an attempt on goal in the 11th minute.

Two minutes later, he did not miss. Fatai Alashe used some footwork to get the ball to Amarikwa who just had one person in front of him. There might have been a shove as the defender tumbled to the ground. Matt Hedges raced to help and both he and Amarikwa bumped into each other. Amarikwa then switched directions and worked his way around Hedges. After taking a few more steps, Amarikwa shot the ball past a sliding Hedges and just underneath goalie Jesse Gonzalez. It was Amarikwa’s sixth goal.

The Quakes’ lead held until Fabian Castillo got the ball along the endlines against Wynne, past a diving, Bingham past two defenders and FC Dallas’s Mauro Diaz. Diaz was able to get the ball out eventually and into the net in the 38th minute.

In the first half, only players for San Jose had multiple shots on goal. Those shots belonged to Wondolowski and Amarikwa. The Quakes outshot FC Dallas 7-3.

Things then got bad in the 67th minute when San Jose went a man down. Matias Perez Garcia and Diaz ran into each other and then collided again when Perez Garcia raised a hand to Diaz. Protests afterwards by the Quakes ran about two minutes. Perez Garcia received a red card and Diaz a yellow after he motioned Perez Garcia to the locker room. That was the only card FC Dallas received during the game. San Jose received two more yellow cards later on in the match.

Things got worse when the Quakes’ Clarence Goodson’s second attempt at a clearance hit Victor Ulloa, who gave it to Castillo. Castillo gave it back to Ulloa at the edge of the box and Ulloa scored against Bingham, who came out to meet him. It was Ulloa’s second goal of the year.

Game notes: San Jose’s Victor Bernardez, who returned due to yellow card accumulation, got another in the 27th minute. The New York Red Bulls ended up winning the Supporters’ Shield over Dallas. The Quakes remained winless in three meetings this season versus FC Dallas. Salinas reached over 10,000 career minutes with San Jose. Wondolowski led all with five shots on goal, the next set of people with two shots.