So blinding has been the glare from the marvelous solo goal Jozy Altidore scored April 19 in a 1-1 tie with New England that much of his otherwise listless play has been overlooked. In several games, he's looked slow and not all that motivated. That changed in the second half of last Sunday's game.

For most of the first half against San Jose, in which he again lined up without Juan Pablo Angel, Altidore played sluggish and petulant. Any breath of contact that sent him to the ground and wasn't called a foul prompted anger and frustration.

"It was a really tough first half," said Altidore. "Nick Garcia and their defense are pretty aggressive and it definitely frustrated me a bit and it got to me and it wasn't something I liked but it's part of the game and I have to get used to that. It's not based on one guy's performance, it's based on the team's performance."

A more focused, sharper Altidore threatened several times in the second half before running onto a John Wolyniec through ball and dribbling into the box to draw a Ryan Cochrane foul.

Mike Magee converted the penalty kick, and in stoppage time another Woyniec feed provided Altidore the chance to tuck away his second goal of the season.

Said coach Juan Carlos Osorio, "I think that they tried to frustrate him and they were doing a good job at it. I said a couple things to him for the second half at the break and in the second half, he dominated the game. He got a penalty and a goal, so good for him."