A strong second half effort at both ends of the field produced no tallies but did help the San Jose Earthquakes come away with a scoreless draw against the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park.
The Earthquakes were hoping to improve on their 2-5-1 road record, perhaps buoyed by the fact the Fire had a lousy 2-3-0 home record entering the game.
Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop had two familiar names to reinsert in his starting lineup, defender Nick Garcia who has playing his first game since May 31 because of a right MCL sprain; and forward Kei Kamara, who missed the last five games while playing in World cup qualifying with his native Sierra Leone.
The return of Kamara was key to the Earthquakes, who have lost the services of forward Peguero Jean Philippe and Gavin Glinton to injury issues.
They also lost forward Jovan Kirovski, recently acquired from Colorado, when he suffered a right foot injury in a practice collision and will be out for six weeks.
By game time, an afternoon rain storm had passed, but the wind was blowing at 24 miles per hour with gusts up to 36 mph.
There was no scoring in the first half but there was a lot of activity.
Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon had to face a shot in the first minute of the game when Fire midfielder Justin Mapp found forward Tomasz Frankowski in the 18-yard box for an open attempt. Cannon's dive to his right was the right move and he punched the ball away.
Forward Ryan Johnson had one of the Earthquakes two first-half shots on a header in the fifth minute. The second shot was by Kamara, another header in the 17th minute that went wide left.
In the 10th minute, Fire forward Andy Herron attempted a bicycle kick that went straight at Cannon, and Herron was injured on the play.
Fire defender Gonzalo Segares got into arguments with both Ramiro Corrales and Kamara and referee Andrew Chapin spent much of the first half handing out five yellow cards.
In the 52nd minute, Kamara was dragged to the ground by Fire defender Bakary Soumare after a misaimed header by Fire defender Brandon Prideaux set Kamara up just atop the penalty area. Corrales took the free kick but it glanced off the crossbar and out.
The Earthquakes began to push the attack from that point, and in the 57th minute Johnson had the ball outside the box left and sent a cross to Kamara. But the Earthquakes forward collided with Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch to end the play.
The Fire went close when a header by Segares from a free kick by Cuauhtemoc Blanco in the 60th minute went above the crossbar.
The Fire had a corner kick in the 71st minute, and the ball eventually popped out to Mapp on the left wing. His shot was punched up and over the goal by Cannon, one of his four saves on the night.
In the 83rd minute, a battle for the ball between Segares and Quakes striker John Cunliffe led to a free kick for the Earthquakes to the right of the box. John O'Brien's offering flew over the crowd and out of bounds.
In the 86th minute, the Earthquakes had their best chance to score, when Salinas found himself open on the right side wide of the box and fired a shot that glanced off the far post and back out to Kamara at the top of the box. Kamara dribbled for a clear shot but his attempt went wide left.
Ivan Guerrero had a clear run at Busch in the 88th minute but Fire defender Bakary Soumare made a slide tackle from Guerrero's right at the last moment that stopped the scoring attempt.
Kent McDill is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
