Snapdragon Stadium turned into a party on Sunday night.
San Diego FC ensured that with a 2-1 victory over the Portland Timbers in their Round One Best-of-3 Series opener, buoyed by first-half goals from Onni Valakari and Anders Dreyer.
The Timbers pulled one back just before halftime through Kristoffer Velde, but the hosts had created enough cushion to win Game 1 in their Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs journey.
“I thought it was a really good performance,” head coach Mikey Varas told MLS Season Pass post-game.
“It’s a playoff match, so it’s never going to be easy. That’s a good team, well-coached, really good players. So, you’ve got to be ready moment for moment.”
Team to beat
SDFC earned this year's Western Conference No. 1 seed, courtesy of expansion-club records for points (63) and wins (19) during the regular season.
That’s given them home-field advantage through at least the Western Conference Final, and potentially in MLS Cup presented by Audi on Dec. 6, depending on the Eastern Conference portion of the bracket.
On Sunday, the sell-out crowd of 32,500 saw exactly what’s made this team so special during their debut campaign.
“We decided who we wanted to be early on in the season and we stuck to it,” said Varas. “From day one, these guys have gotten after it.”
Lozano return?
San Diego will look to sweep Portland in Game 2 on Saturday at Providence Park (9:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV). And they could get a boost, with Chucky Lozano poised to rejoin the squad.
The Mexican superstar has missed the club’s last two matches due to a reported disciplinary issue, though he was in attendance Sunday at Snapdragon Stadium. He was absent from San Diego's 4-0 Decision Day rout at Portland.
“We’ve been taking it week by week,” Varas said. “But speaking with Hirving, we’ve seen what we need to see. As long as there’s no setbacks this week, he should be back with us.”
During the regular season, Lozano tallied the second-most goal contributions (19) for San Diego. He trailed Dreyer (38), his fellow Designated Player who's a Newcomer of the Year and Landon Donovan MLS MVP finalist.
"I'm so happy for the team," Dreyer said. "It's the first win and now we go for the second in Portland."
