Four days after trouncing previously undefeated Dallas, 57-28, the Soul met the reeling Cleveland Gladiators last night at the Quicken Loans Arena.

A letdown figured. It happened. With just one practice after the victory over the Desperados, the Soul lost, 67-55, in front of 13,721 fans.

The defeat dropped them to 9-1, snapping an 11-game regular-season winning streak dating back to last season. The Gladiators, who had lost four of five, improved to 5-4.

The Soul's depth at quarterback - they have two of the AFL's best in righthander Matt D'Orazio and lefty Tony Graziani - was key to keeping them in the game.

D'Orazio, making his sixth start in place of the injured Graziani (left knee), threw three touchdowns before limping off with a sprained left ankle and the Soul trailing by 41-34 early in the third quarter.

It looked grim, especially after Graziani's first pass was intercepted. But less than two minutes later, the Soul recovered a Gladiators fumble and Graziani connected with Darius Watts for a touchdown that tied it, 41-41.

D'Orazio exited after hitting 16 of 21 passes for 141 yards and three touchdowns.

The Soul had a shot at winning it late. The Gladiators took a 61-55 lead with 3 minutes, 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Graziani was driving for the winning touchdown but fumbled an exchange from center.

"I pulled out from under [center] too soon," said Graziani, who was 15 of 23 for 150 yards and three touchdowns in relief.

Cleveland quarterback Raymond Philyaw and running back Marlon Jackson were a load for the Soul to handle. Philyaw threw for 290 yards and five touchdowns, four to wide receiver Otis Amey. Jackson ran for 50 yards and four touchdowns.

Soul coach Bret Munsey bemoaned the short practice week.

"The bottom line is that they were the better team tonight," he said.

The Soul looked good early on. They were ahead by two touchdowns before the Gladiators ran a play from scrimmage.

The Gladiators did not cave in, bouncing back to trail by a touchdown, 34-27, at the half.

The Soul's Chris Jackson reached an AFL milestone in the first half by scoring the 300th touchdown of his career. He became the third AFL player to do so.

The Soul were without two key defenders. Defensive backs Brian Mance (ankle) and Mike Brown (hamstring) were injured in Monday's victory over Dallas. Replacing Mance and Brown on the active roster were Rob Keefe and Jeremy LeSueur.