eliminated in the first round by the Galaxy. The team then missed the playoffs in the following five seasons, including four with losing records and finishing last in the league twice and second-to-last three times. The Earthquakes finished last in the league during the 2000 season with only seven wins and declined to renew the contract of head coach Lothar Osiander. Despite rumors that the team would fold, the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League took over business operations from the Kraft Sports Group in January 2001. Former D.C. United assistant coach Frank Yallop was hired as San Jose's head coach days before the 2001 draft, where he began a series of player moves alongside assistant coach Dominic Kinnear. During the first week of Yallop's tenure, the Earthquakes acquired defender Jeff Agoos from D.C. United, Manny Lagos from the Tampa Bay Mutiny, and defender Zak Ibsen from the Los Angeles Galaxy. Yallop also used the league's allocation system to sign U.S. forward Landon Donovan from Bayer Leverkusen in March and Canadian forward Dwayne De Rosario from the Richmond Kickers of the second-division A-League. By the end of their preseason preparations in April, the team had also traded with the MetroStars for defender Ramiro Corrales and signed Danish midfielder Ronnie Ekelund. The Earthquakes opened their regular season with a 3–2 win in the California Clásico over the Los Angeles Galaxy, but lost their next two matches to Dallas and Miami. The team then went on twelve-match unbeaten streak from late April to early July, winning seven matches and drawing in five, taking a lead in the Western Division standings ahead of Los Angeles. Yallop relied on a strong central core, consisting of Agoos and Troy Dayak in defense alongside Ekelund and Richard Mulrooney in the midfield to support the team's rotating attackers. Six players from the Earthquakes were named to the league's Western Division roster at the 2001 MLS All-Star Game, which was hosted at San Jose's Spartan Stadium. In the last months of the season, the Earthquakes were defeated in several matches and lost their first-place spot to the Galaxy only to regain it on several occasions. San Jose clinched a playoff spot and second place in the Western Division with 45 points after losing to the Kansas City Wizards prior to the cancellation of the two remaining matches against the Galaxy. The Earthquakes finished the season with