SANTA CLARA, Calif. Kevin Johnson Jersey . -- A stalemate left both the Vancouver Whitecaps and the San Jose Earthquakes on the outside looking in on the Western Conference playoff race. Neither the Whitecaps nor the Earthquakes could find the back of the net in a scoreless draw that kept both teams tied on points in seventh place, and five points out of the final playoff spot. "It was a hard fought match and exciting game," said Vancouver coach Martin Rennie. "Both teams were fully committed to getting the win and putting everything into it. It was like a playoff game." The Whitecaps (10-10-8) out-possessed the Earthquakes (10-11-8) on the night, but the forward duo of Kenny Miller and Camilo Sanvezzo were held without a goal for the fifth straight game. "It was a fair result," said Miller. "We came here looking to get three points, but we didnt get the win, so the result is disappointing." Vancouver had hoped to make a move up the table with a win against struggling San Jose, but they instead needed to ward off 22 shots by the home side. An injury to defender Brad Rusin midway through the first half forced Rennie to bring in Jay DeMerit on defence, but the change did not disrupt the solid display put on by the Whitecaps. "It was a good battle," said DeMerit. "We knew coming in it wouldnt be easy and we would need to stick together. To come away with a point in a hard place to play and to keep a clean sheet was a step in the right direction for us." With six games remaining in their season and the last playoff spot currently held by the Portland Timbers, any result against San Jose was going to be valuable. "Its important that we play like that now through the end of the season," said Rennie, "and if we do that we are in with a great chance to finish where we want to finish." With only one win in their last eight matches, against the Earthquakes back on Aug. 10, the Whitecaps were desperate to start off strong in San Jose. In the 16th minute Young-Pyo Lee, a constant threat down the right side of the field early in the match, cut a cross toward the far post that an overlapping Jordan Harvey narrowly missed. It would be the last good scoring chance for the Whitecaps of the first half. The Earthquakes pinned Vancouver back in its own end of the better part of a quarter hour, but the visitors persevered at every turn. A corner kick by San Jose in the 19th minute was headed on target by Alan Gordon, forcing a smart save from goalkeeper David Ousted whose rebound was clumsily blasted over the crossbar by Clarence Goodson. The constant attack by the Earthquakes took its toll on the Whitecaps defence as Rusin, making his first start since collecting a sprained ankle at Portland on August 3, exited the match in the 31st minute. DeMerit, himself just back after a long recovery from an Achilles tendon injury suffered on opening day, stepped in for Rusin. A strong individual effort from Miller in the 45th minute nearly made up for a timid first half by Vancouver. Taking the ball away from Victor Bernardez along the left sideline, Miller drove the endline before unleashing a low shot that goalkeeper Jon Busch was able to get a touch on. The rebound bounced back to Miller, but his awkward follow-up volley flew wide of the target. The halftime whistle from referee Jair Marrufo came a minute later, and the Whitecaps retreated to the locker-room fortunate to have the game still scoreless. Despite an advantage in possession of 57 per cent, Vancouver was outshot 10-6 by San Jose in the first half. The Whitecaps, with two shots on goal in the opening half, nearly made their third a charm in the 58th minute off a corner-kick opportunity. After Camilos delivery pinged through the area, Harvey pounced on a loose ball and fired it on target, but Cordell Cato made a big stop in front of his goalkeeper to deny the Vancouver defender his fifth goal of the season. Vancouver was on the defensive for much of the second half as San Jose tried again and again to find a weakness in the Whitecaps defence. As the match drifted into four minutes of stoppage time, Vancouver had two close opportunities to steal all three points from the hosts. In the 91st minute, second-half substitute Darren Mattocks created a clear shot from the top of the area, but he sent it wide. Jun Marques Davidson followed suit a minute later, as the midfielder collected a pass from Miller and sent a low shot wide of the far post. San Jose threw everything they had forward in the dying moments of the match, but the resilient Whitecaps, with every man behind the ball on defence, preserved the scoreless draw. With the result, Vancouver stayed level with San Jose on 38 points, but the visitors have a game in hand on the Earthquakes. The Whitecaps next travel to Montreal to face the playoff-bound Impact next Saturday. Phoenix Suns Jerseys . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (5) - Simply put, Lundqvist was brilliant. Elfrid Payton Jersey . The 90-plus minutes of play are about trends and approach.The Winnipeg Goldeyes have assured themselves a winning record on this behemoth 10-game road trip to start the season. A clutch seventh inning pushed the Goldeyes (6-3) past the Lincoln Saltdogs (4-5) 7-4 Saturday night at Haymarket Park in Lincoln before 4,222 spectators. After the two sides exchanged a pair of runs in the second inning, Lincoln grabbed a 4-2 lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Goldeyes quickly struck back in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game once again, as left fielder Ray Sadler scored on a ground out by third baseman Josh Mazzola and right fielder Donnie Webb belted the next pitch out of the park for his first home run of the season. For the second straight night, Winnipeg found the winning run in the seventh inning. With Sadler on third and centre fielder Reggie Abercrombie on second, Mazzola singled to score both base runners. "Youre just trying to get the ball in play and find a hole out there," Goldeyes pitching coach Jamie Vermilyea said on the Jewel 101 post-game game show of Mazzolas at-bat. "He battled up there and fouled off a couple tough pitches before he got one he could handle. It was a big AB."Mazzola then stole second – his league-leading siixth stolen base of the season – and scored on a single by Webb. Shaquille ONeal Jersey. "Anytime you can take advantage of that and steal that extra base is big," Vermilyea said. "Thats part of our thing this year. Were going to be aggressive on the base paths." After starter Nick Hernandez went five innings for Winnipeg, the Goldeyes bullpen was spectacular in the second half of the game. Southpaw Gabe Aguilar struck out five Saltdogs in 2 2/3 innings of middle relief work. Fellow lefty Brendan Lafferty got the final out of the eighth inning and Chris Kissock pitched the ninth for his second consecutive save in as many nights. The pitching staff combined for a season-high 12 strikeouts. Aguilar picked up the win, while Lincoln reliever Jake Meiers, who was on the hook for the three runs in the seventh inning, suffered the loss. Four Goldeyes had multi-hit nights, while Mazzola had three RBI. The two sides will meet in the series finale Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Lefty Chris Salamida will look for his first win of the season against Nick Green, who will make his first start of the season for Lincoln. 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