San Jose Earthquakes forward Cade Cowell battles for the ball against FC Dallas midfielder Facundo Quignon at Toyota Stadium on Saturday OCT 7, 2023. (MLS)

by Marko Ukalovic

It’s going to take Decision Day 2023 to determine the two final playoff spots in the Western Conference.

The San Jose Earthquakes battled FC Dallas to a 1-1 draw on the second to last game of the season on Saturday evening at Toyota Stadium.

With the draw, San Jose stayed one point ahead of FC Dallas for the eighth spot in the Western Conference with 43 points. Two points separates five teams from eight to 11th place with Portland and San Jose tied with 43, FC Dallas with 42 and Sporting KC and Minnesota United both with 41 points.

FC Dallas has a game in hand as their game on Wednesday against the Colorado Rapids was postponed due to rain and has been rescheduled for October 14th at Toyota Stadium.

“The point is important. The point allows us to still have an edge. Now it’s very clear, we’re disappointed. We were winning and we didn’t close that out in a way to qualify tonight. So that’s disappointing. I thought we had a fantastic first half, getting pressure on the ball, attacking sequences, and defensive organization. The point is still going to give us some type of advantage with those other teams,” ‘Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez said.

The Earthquakes will advance to the playoffs with a win in two weeks on Decision Day against Austin FC, who were eliminated from playoff contention earlier in the day. A draw or loss might move them out of the eight-ninth play-in game to determine the eighth and final seed of the Western Conference Playoffs.

“Look, I’ve been around long enough to know that Decision Day is crazy. We can still finish seventh or maybe even higher. Games in hand have to be won, they’re not automatic three points. We will see how the other teams do and be ready to push for the highest position possible on the last day,” ‘Quakes forward Jeremy Ebobisse said.

San Jose (10-10-13) drew first blood in the third minute. Cristian Espinoza found captain Jackson Yueill along the right wing. Yueill centered a pass into the middle where Ebobisse slid feet first to punch the ball past FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes for his 10th goal of the season.

Ebobisse became third ‘Quakes to score 10 plus goals in back-to-back seasons joining Chris Wondolowski and Ronald Cerritos.

“When we came into the game from the beginning, we wanted to go for three [points]. We wanted to clinch playoffs tonight. We started off quite well in that. I think that [FC Dallas] were naturally going to get some chances and build some momentum at home as any home team would. We did a pretty good job of repelling those with guys making some plays. Ultimately that dam broke a little bit. You have to manage each situation. The point is still very valuable,” Ebobisse said.

FC Dallas (10-10-12) scored the equalizer in the 57th minute. Jesus Ferreira glided a pass up the middle of the pitch. Jader Obrian raced out and got in front of Tanner Beason before depositing the ball over ‘Quakes goalkeeper Daniel for his fifth goal of the season.

Daniel finished four saves on five shots on target. Paes made two saves on three shots on target from San Jose to earn the draw.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with two corner kicks. FC Dallas had three.

The Quakes now hold a 29-21-22 record against FC Dallas, including a 12-13-10 record on the road. They have only lost once to Dallas in their last 13 MLS regular season matches (4-1-8)

Yueill’s fifth assist of the season was also his 17th of his MLS career.

Espinoza tallied his 13th assist of the season, furthering his own all-time club assist record to 57.

UP NEXT: San Jose concludes the regular season when they host Austin FC on Saturday 10/21 at 6:00pm at Pay Pal Park.