Three wins. Three losses. In the end, all that mattered was three points, which the Quakes (3-3-0) earned with a 1-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps (4-2-1) at Avaya Stadium.

The Quakes were knocking on the door throughout the match for their first goal. Perhaps the two most promising looks were Adam Jahn’s disallowed goal on an offsides call at 8′ and Clarence Goodson’s shot that went just wide at 69′.

The door swung open at 75′. In a flurry of shots by Cato, Salinas, and Nyassi, the Quakes scored the only goal of the match with Nyassi’s far-post blast past Caps ‘keeper Ousted. It was Nyassi’s first of the season, and first as a Quake. It was the only goal needed to secure the victory.

The Caps had been riding a five game undefeated streak (4-0-1) prior to tonight’s match, but San Jose derailed that train with tonight’s convincing win. The Quakes led in almost every major category, including shots (12-5), shots on goal (4-0), passes (459-356), pass efficiency (77%-69%), crosses (15-4), corners (7-1), duels won (55-49), possession (58.6%-41.4%), and most importantly goals (1-0).

The most impressive stat for me? The Caps, who have one of the most efficient offenses in MLS, had ZERO shots on goal. That is almost unheard of, and a testament to our defense which has given up just two shots on goal in two games. I knew our defense was good, and I had a suspicion we would win, but tonight’s defensive performance shows how potent we can be when we’re healthy, despite this match being the first shut-out of the year.

My “Man of the Match” is the entire team. Last week we played like individuals and lost. This week we played as a team and won. No one player did it alone, it was a collective effort, and a team victory.

Next match: April 17 at New York Red Bulls.

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