SANTA CLARA — Earthquakes star Chris Wondolowski trotted off the field on a warm Saturday evening feeling the brunt of an eight-month season that ended just short of the MLS Cup playoffs.

Despite a 2-1 victory over FC Dallas in front of a sell-out crowd of 10,525 at Buck Shaw Stadium, the quixotic dream of scoring 13 goals proved too big an obstacle to overcome.

But they tried — just like their scoring leader.

Wondolowski scored his 11th goal of the season, a far cry from his MLS-tying record of 27 goals last year. It also was well below his 16 and 17 goals that he scored in 2010 and ’11.

But it might have been Wondolowski’s greatest performance because he played much of the year with a broken right foot. Wondolowski had not disclosed the injury until asked about it Saturday by this newspaper. He expects to have surgery in the offseason but also wants to be ready to play for the U.S. national team.

The man they call Wondo scored 13 goals in all for San Jose, and added six more for the United States.

“A lot of players probably wouldn’t have played,” interim coach Mark Watson said. “He just got on with it.”

Wondolowski’s resilience highlighted a team that proved to be one of the league’s best in the past two months, a team that went unbeaten over nine games in all competition since a 3-0 defeat to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Aug. 31.

How did the Danville striker persevere while often wearing a cast?

“A lot of adrenaline,” Wondolowski said. “I get fired up out there. Pain is the last thing on my mind.”

The pain he felt Saturday was the sting of missing the playoffs a year after the Quakes won the Supporters’ Shield title with a team-record 72 goals. San Jose (14-9-11) needed to score at least 13 goals to be in position to win a tiebreaker in case Colorado loses Sunday in a shutout.

But at least the team gave Ramiro Corrales a fond farewell in his last Major League Soccer game. The Salinas native played in San Jose for 12 seasons and is the last active player from MLS’ inaugural season in 1996.

Watson started him to pay tribute to a stellar career. Corrales rode off on the shoulders of Victor Bernardez and Steven Lenhart in the 71th minute when protege Rafael Baca replaced him.

“I’ve never seen that before,” Watson said the piggyback ride.

The Earthquakes’ Walter Martinez scored in the 27th minute for the only goal of the first half.

The Earthquakes now ride into a busy offseason with the primary objective of hiring a coach. Watson, who replaced Frank Yallop in June, posted the best record in the second half of the season. He is considered a strong candidate to take interim off his title.

“I really believe they have a good one in Mark Watson,” said Schellas Hyndman, who coached his final game for Dallas after six seasons.

Once they hire a coach the Quakes can get to the business of roster changes. The absence of midfielder Marvin Chavez on the 18-man roster Saturday could signal the end of his Earthquakes’ tenure. Chavez played a small role the past two months as the Earthquakes got rolling.

His last start was Aug. 31 in Carson, his last appearance came as a 71th-minute substitute Sept. 29 against Chivas USA.