Thunderous blue fireworks signaled the kickoff of the battle between No. 10 San Diego FC and now-No. 11 Portland Timbers, but the hometown team fell short in stoppage time, marking their fifth consecutive loss at 2-1.
The last time the pair faced off at Snapdragon, SDFC locked in a decisive 4-0 win to advance to the 2025 Western Conference Semis. This year’s match was a different story: San Diego came into the match four points ahead of Portland, and ended it only one point ahead.
“Right now we’re in a tough moment, but you have to know how to suffer in these moments,” said head coach Mikey Vargas. “And the way you do that is you do it together, and your commitment rises more to doing things you got to do from a preparation standpoint.”
San Diego was the first to cause a scare, with midfielder Onni Valakari and forward Marcus Ingvarsten both putting up shots at the 9’ mark. San Diego had two more chances from left and right wings David Vasquez (12’) and Anders Dreyer (22’), but neither made it in.
The Timbers were first to find the back of the net. Portland forward Kevin Kelsey’s 26’ breakaway let him slip the ball in the bottom right of the net, leaving SDFC keeper Duran Ferree chasing.
At 32’, the San Diego offense sent a kick into Portland defender Brandon Bye’s hand. The handball in the box granted SDFC a penalty kick—and a golden opportunity to even the score.
None other than SDFC star Dreyer lined up for the PK, and the right wing hit the bottom right corner of the net with an immediate explosion of blue fireworks and deafening cheers, tying the match.
“I think especially the first half was good; I think we were dangerous,” Dreyer said. “We played through the lines, we played one touch, we tried different things.”
Indeed, at the end of the first 45, San Diego had controlled 65% of the possession and racked up six shots and five corners compared to just two shots and one corner for the Timbers. The SDFC keeper had also put up a miraculous save at 41’, getting his left glove on a shot by Portland left wing Alexander Aravena to keep the scoreboard at 1-1.
Unfortunately, that control seemed to slip away in the second half. Less than a minute into the half, Ingvartsen steered the ball into the goal off a free kick, but the goal was overturned after VAR found the forward was offside.
“The second half was shaky, was pretty inconsistent,” Vargas said. “When that happens — you know, we lost a little bit control of the game — then it becomes a bit of a coin toss of what could happen against a team that has good players.”
Three times in the first half, sheer luck prevented San Diego from conceding another goal. At 54’, Aravena’s collision with Ferree left the goal wide open for the ball, but it was ruled no goal thanks to the foul.
At 82’, Timbers’ Antony eliminated Ferree—who’d come aggressively out of the goal—on a breakaway and once again faced an empty goal. Still, the forward fumbled the shot and the ball rolled wide just as defender Manu Duah caught up to him. Five minutes later, Antony had another shot on goal, but he was ruled offside.
“I think there’s a style of play in the goalkeeper department that we have specifically set out, so things like this will happen,” Ferree said. “We were stuck in bad positions, so decisions had to be made.”
The 19-year-old goalkeeper still put up a solid four total saves, but the offense couldn’t find another goal to back him up. San Diego held off Portland until six minutes into stoppage time, when Portland defender Alex Bonetig secured the game-winning goal from the center of the box off a corner.
“We trust each other in the dressing room, and now is not the time to throw it with anything at each other, or whatever it can be,” Dreyers said. “It’s about staying together and watching what we can do better.”
In the 2-1 loss, San Diego put up three shots on goal, 10 shot attempts, and six corner kicks. And while the team earned two yellow cards (Ingvartsen at 63’, Pedro Soma at 76’), SDFC finally did not earn a red card.
“I know nobody wants to hear it, but today was a step forward,” Vargas said. “The result didn’t go our way, but we got closer to being who we want to be.”
San Diego’s next shot at finding a win will be at 6:30 p.m. on May 2, when they return to Snapdragon to face their southern California rivals, Los Angeles FC.
