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San Jose Earthquakes defender Troy Dayak celebrates after scoring the first goal in Saturday’s game against the New England Revolution. Dayak has scored five of his six career goals against the Revolution. David Royal / Daily Staff [Click to enlarge]

During the final minutes of the second half, Yallop watched his team give up a 3-0 lead in the waning minutes of Saturday’s game at Spartan Stadium as the Revolution scored two goals in two minutes and threatened to steal the game.

The Earthquakes (2-2-1) defeated the Revolution (0-5-0) 3-2 Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 8,137.

Despite winning, Yallop was clearly displeased with his team’s performance and said the Earthquakes gave up a cushy lead by letting their guard down.

“I was really, really disappointed with the last 10 minutes of our game,” Yallop said. “I’m disappointed with the overall end to the game but real real happy with three points and a good home win for us.”

The Revolution mounted its comeback in the 88th minute off a Mauricio Wright score.

Wright, who was traded from the Earthquakes in 2000, scored off Revolution forward Marco Antonio Cate a corner kick to bring the Revolution within two points.

Two minutes later, the Earthquakes scored on their own net, accidentally cutting the lead to 3-2.

The play was set up on a free kick by the Revolution’s Johnny Torres. Torres’ kick was deflected by Earthquake goalie Joe Cannon, and the ball came loose.

Almost instantaneously, Wade Barrett, an Earthquake defender, ran near the post to try and protect the empty net, but he accidentally knocked it past the line and deep into the net.

The early 3-0 lead the Earthquakes had fought for vanished.

San Jose got ahead quickly when defender Troy Dayak scored in the 28th minute. Earthquake defender Jeff Agoos hit a lofty pass downfield toward the penalty box where Dayak fired the ball past Revolution goalie Juergen Sommer.

During the game, the Earthquakes controlled the pace and had many scoring opportunities. San Jose outshot the Revolution, 19-13.

In the second half, Dwayne DeRosario scored in the 72nd minute, boosting the Earthquakes lead to 2-0.

DeRosario, an Earthquake forward, took a shot at Sommer when he bobbled the ball and collided with Revolution defender Rusty Pierce inside the penalty box. Once the ball came loose, DeRosario came across and knocked it into the right corner for the 2-0 lead.

San Jose’s last score came from Zak Ibsen.

Ibsen approached the net from the right side and shot it toward Sommer, only to have it deflected back to him. Ibsen pounced on the rebound and cashed in his first goal.

Yallop said the Earthquakes should have held on to their lead.

“We got three up, and it should be game over, you know?” Yallop said. “Maybe a goal I could live with late in the game. To me, it shows that we’re not quite a team yet. A good team sees that out. It sees it out 3-0 — at the very worst 3-1.

“In the end, my heart was pumping, let’s put it that way,” Yallop said.

With eight minutes left in the game, Yallop began to substitute his players, but didn’t attribute the loss toward the second team. Instead, Yallop said it was more of a letdown from the Earthquakes’ play.

He made his feelings known to the team in the locker room. DeRosario said Yallop was unhappy with the last five minutes and that he couldn’t believe the play that was happening on the field.

“We gave up too many chances,” DeRosario said. “We worked so hard to keep a clean sheet.”

However, DeRosario said he had confidence in his teammates and knew that the Earthquakes’ defense would hold on for the win.

“When a team builds up momentum you have to keep your head up,” DeRosario said. “You can’t keep your head down.”

Joe Cannon, the Earthquakes’ goalie, said he saw the team unravel at the ends. “When you’re at home and you’re up 3-0, you should never, ever, ever let a team come back at home and let them think they have a chance of coming back,” Cannon said.

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