The San Jose Earthquakes continued their mastery at BMO Field on Saturday afternoon, winning 3-0 to spoil Toronto FC's MLS home opener.
Chris Wondolowski scored twice and Shea Salinas added the third for the Earthquakes (2-1-0) in blustery, difficult and occasionally wet conditions before an announced crowd of 20,753 at Toronto's lakefront.
Wondolowski could have had the hat trick but hit the goalpost from close range in the 87th minute.
Toronto (0-2-0) has never beaten the Quakes at BMO Field, going 0-2-3.
Toronto showed flashes of style on offence, but did not have the clinical finish to take advantage. And it was let down by its defence, which proved to be an adventure in the absence of injured captain Tosten Frings.
Manager Aron Winter's team has now conceded six goals in two MLS games this season. Toronto lost its season opener 3-1 in Seattle and left the field Saturday to a few boos.
The opening goal came nine minutes in when former Toronto FC midfielder Sam Cronin found Wondolowski unmarked in the penalty box. The Quakes forward, whose six-game scoring streak was snapped last week against Houston, headed it past Milos Kocic with ease.
The goal followed a corner after Kocic parried a Salinas strike. San Jose pressed from the get-go.
Toronto began to put some passes together and Ryan Johnson had a chance in the 27th but couldn't get a clean shot at the ball as a defender harassed him in the box.
The wind played its part in the 30th as a routine Ramiro Corrales cross started moving like a balloon losing air, leaving Kocic pawing at the air. But a defender hacked it away before a San Jose attacker could get to it.
Toronto's attacking trio of Johnson, Joao Plata and Reggie Lambe, with help from midfielder Luis Silva, came on as the half progressed but couldn't find the right finish.
Winter looked to turn up the offence to open the second half with striker Danny Koevermans coming in for midfielder Terry Dunfield.
It took the big Dutchman less than a minute to start throwing himself around in the San Jose penalty box. And the Earthquakes found themselves on the back foot in the early going.
But the Earthquakes went ahead on the counter-attack in the 56th minute as Salinas, one of four onrushing Quake attackers available to Marvin Chavez, slotted a low shot past Kocic.
It was 3-0 in the 67th, with the Toronto defence undressed yet again. Rafael Baca broke in on the right and sent the ball across the box as Kocic rushed out. Wondolowski had all the time in the world to get control of the ball and bang it home.
It could have been 4-0 in the 77th but Kocic pushed a Steven Lenhart shot over the bar.
The day started with news that goalkeeper and vice-captain Stefan Frei would be out eight to 10 weeks after breaking his fibula in a freak training accident Friday. Frings, meanwhile, is out for four to six weeks with a strained hamstring.
The emergency backup goalie was Brian Rowe, a former UCLA second-team All-American who was a Chivas USA pick in the 2012 MLS supplemental draft. Rowe is an MLS pool goalie, available for just such circumstances.
The game was the first of five in 14 days for Toronto, which is combining MLS play with the CONCACAF Champions League. Next up in that competition is Mexico's Santos Laguna, which visits BMO Field on Wednesday to open the two-legged semifinal.
Perhaps with an eye to that competition, Winter did not start Koevermans or attacking midfielder Nick Soolsma.
Defence remains a concern. TFC gave up a league-worst 59 goals last season and has not posted a shutout in 10 MLS games while conceding 19 goals over that stretch.
