Drake Callender’s saves and some unfortunate whistles left San Diego FC seeing red on Saturday in its 2-1 loss to Minnesota United FC at Snapdragon Stadium.
SDFC (3-2-2) played a man down for almost the entire second half after defenseman Christopher McVey was sent off. McVey dribbled along the sideline in the 46th minute when he collided with Minnesota United defenseman Nicolas Romero.
The force was enough to send Romero flailing to the turf, bringing out a yellow card. With McVey having been booked in the first half, he was shown the red card — his third of 2026. McVey was sent off in SDFC’s 2-2 MLS Cup draw against Real Salt Lake on March 22, four days after receiving a pair of yellow cards in the Concacaf Champions Cup loss at Toluca.
McVey’s three contribute to a staggering stretch of six red cards issued across each of SDFC’s last five competitions. The club won the first leg against Toluca despite playing nearly the entire match down a man, with Marcus Ingvartsen booked in the ninth minute of the March 11 contest. Manu Duah, sent off later in the same match, received a red card in last week’s 3-0 MLS Cup loss at San Jose; he did not play Saturday.
Despite the disadvantage, SDFC continued to create scoring chances. Anders Dreyer fired off a shot in the 81st minute that Callender saved just before the goal line — the second time the Loons net-minder denied Dreyer in such fashion.
In the 29th minute, Dreyer came inches away from giving SDFC a 2-1 lead when. He beat Minnesota defensder Anthony Markanich and Lewis Morgan dumped off the pass to SDFC’s star forward. This brought Callender out of the net, who made just enough contact with the ball on Dreyer’s attempt to slow the shot’s momentum.
Callender recovered, diving on top of the ball just before it reached the goal line.
Callender’s deflection right at the line in the second half caromed to the near side and appeared to cross the end line, but SDFC was not awarded a corner kick. It marked the first of two times when the azul and chrome had what may have been a corner opportunity missed.
Onni Valakari attempted a shot in the 85th minute that looked as if it deflected off of a Minnesota player before going out, but possession was awarded to the visitors.
SDFC’s last attempt to draw even, a Dreyer shot in the seventh minute of stoppage time, was denied on Callender’s fifth save of the night. The block preserved a lead that Minnesota gained on Kelvin Yeboah’s putback in the 40th minute. He beat Osvald Soe after a Markanich header attempt, giving the visitors the lead.
In the 11th minute, SDFC threatened to take a 2-0 lead when Valakari split a pair of Minnesota defenders before blasting a low attempt from the top of the box. Callender stretched out to deny the shot, keeping Minnesota United within striking distance for the equalizer minutes later.
The visitors’ first goal came at the 15th minute, when Tomas Chancalay lofted a cross into a crowd. There, Kyle Duncan swooped in to beat SDFC’s Luca Bombino with a header that beat goalkeeper Duran Ferree.
Bombino’s defensive miscue knotted a match in which the 19-year-old delivered the first goal of the night — and the 100th across all competitions in the brief history of SDFC.
In the sixth minute, Dreyer played the ball forward along the right side to Morgan, who then fired off a cross to Bambino. Bambino snapped off a sharp, left-footed shot Callender had no chance of stopping as SDFC took the early advantage.