San Jose Gains Ground on Dallas by Defeating Burn in Shootout

Goalkeeper Tom Liner got a piece of Mark Santel’s shot in the final shootout round and time expired before the ball crossed the goal line, allowing the San Jose Clash to take a 1-0 victory over the Dallas Burn Thursday night in a Major League Soccer game at San Jose.

Liner registered his third shutout of the season for the Clash (12-13) and gave San Jose its second shootout victory. The Clash improved to 8-4 at home.

Despite the loss, Dallas (15-10) remained in third place in the Western Conference, five points ahead of the Clash and two behind the second-place Los Angeles Galaxy.

Eric Wynalda opened the shootout with a goal for the Clash and Brian Haynes countered for Dallas. Jeff Baicher scored for San Jose and Liner denied Lawrence Lozzano before Ben Iroha scored to give the Clash a 3-1 advantage. Chad Ashton hit the post on the Burn’s third attempt and Richard Farrer scored on the fourth before Liner’s save on Santel clinched it.