By Town Crier Staff Report

Goalkeeper Joe Cannon of Los Altos Hills recorded his second-consecutive shutout as the San Jose Earthquakes last week won a team-record fifth game in a row.

The 2-0 win over the Dallas Burn on May 23 put the Quakes five points ahead of their nearest challenger for Major League Soccer’s Western Division title.

St. Francis High graduate Cannon made five saves and has not allowed a goal in 218 minutes. However, he doesn’t seem consumed by the streak,

“That is just a statistic,” Cannon said. “I am happy that we are winning games. That is the key to everything. Shutouts come from strong team play and that is what we are getting.”

Cannon got some offensive support from Ronald Cerritos and Dwayne DeRosario, who each scored a goal for the Quakes (5-2-1)

Leading 1-0 with nine minutes left, Cannon kept the shutout intact with a stellar save.

Dallas forward Ariel Graziani got free on the left wing and swung a cross to the back post. Jason Kreis one-timed a volley headed toward the goal, but Cannon dove across the goal to block the shot and preserve the Quakes’ one-goal lead.

“Dallas is a good side and they have lot of dangerous attacking players,” San Jose coach Frank Yallop said. “Troy Dayak and Jeff Agoos did an excellent job slowing down their forwards and Joe Cannon made some big saves. I always preach to the team in the pre-game talk that we should be thinking about a clean sheet. I think that the message is getting through to them. We are not allowing any soft goals.”

The Quakes played at the Chicago Fire last Saturday, after the Town Crier went to press.

San Jose continues its road trip next Saturday with a 6 p.m. contest at Colorado. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net.