San Diego FC defender Christopher McVey celebrates after advancing through the first round of the MLS playoffs. (Photo by Gregory Bull/Associated Press)

San Diego FC dominated and devastated the Portland Timbers Sunday during a 4-0
home victory that ended the Timbers’ season and earned SDFC a trip to the MLS Western
Conference semi-finals.

A sold-out crowd of 32,000 fans watched SDFC keep a historic debut season alive at Snapdragon Stadium.

“Our environment has been unbelievable,” SDFC head coach Mikey Varas said after the
match.

SDFC now faces Minnesota United FC in the Western Conference semifinals, beginning Nov. 24 as they look to become the second expansion team to win the MLS Cup.

It didn’t take long for San Diego to give the fans something to cheer during the decisive match
in this best-of-three series.

The first goal came in the fifth minute, when SDFC right wing and league MVP-candidate Anders Dreyer scored his first of two goals with a left-footed shot from the center of the scoring box to the net’s lower left zone, off an assist from Onni Valakari.

Just 12 minutes later, left wing Amahl Pelligrino scored his first of two goals with a right-footed shot. Like Dreyer’s first, it came from the center of the box and was delivered to the lower left zone of the net.

SDFC led 2-0 at the half after possessing the ball for nearly 63% of the opening
45 minutes. The club generated 10 shots during the first half, six of which were on goal and two of which found the net.

Portland, on the other hand, generated eight shots, three of which were on goal and none of
which found the back of the net.

For the full match, SDFC maintained 66% possession time and had 15 shot attempts,
including nine on goal. Portland had nine shot attempts, with just three on goal.

But SDFC didn’t take its foot off the gas pedal. In the 53 rd minute Pelligrino again scored on a right-footed shot from the center of the box, but this time into the upper right central zone of the net. Center forward Corey Baird was credited with the assist.

“I feel like I’m starting to show myself,” Pelligrino, who had a slow start to the season but has six goals in his last five matches, said during the post-match press conference. “If you train
good and have a good relation(ship) with your teammates, it’s easy to play on a team like this.”

“I’m happy for him that he scored two,” Dreyer said of Pelligrino.

Dreyer collected his own brace during the 79th minute when he nailed a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the lower right portion of the net.

“It’s easy with teammates like I have here,” he said. “We scored four beautiful goals. It’s a good feeling. It’s amazing.”

With San Diego leading 4-0, frustrations started to show for Portland in the latter portion of
the match. Less than a minute after Dreyer’s second goal, Portland center back Juan Mosquera elbowed midfielder Hirving “Chucky” Lozano in the neck, knocking Lozano to the ground.

Mosquera was shown the red card and disqualified from the remainder of the match, forcing
the Timbers to play 10 on 11 for the remaining 10-plus minutes.

Lozano had just checked into the game nine minutes before being struck. He was once again
was used in a reserve role for San Diego, entering the match during the 70 th minute, with SDFC nursing a 3-0 lead.

The team’s second-leading scorer and one of the highest-paid players in MLS, Lozano lost
his starting role – and temporarily any role at all – with San Diego following a verbal altercation with the coaching staff after he was pulled at halftime during an Oct. 4 match against the Houston Dynamo.

He then sat out the following two matches before being brought back as a reserve during the three-game playoff series against Portland.

Under the MLS playoff format, the semifinals are single-elimination matches, with the winners advancing to the conference finals the following weekend. SDFC’s match against Minnesota United FC is scheduled for 7pm at Snapdragon Stadium on Nov. 24.

San Diego and Minnesota split their two matches in the regular season, with SDFC winning
4-2 in June and United FC prevailing 3-1 on the road in September.

Notes: On Tuesday, Dreyer was named Newcomer of the Year by Major League Soccer.
Dreyer, 27, is the first San Diego player ever to earn a year-end award and the first Danish
player named Newcomer of the Year. Earlier in the season, he was named to the 2025 MLS All-Star team and was also named Player of the Month in both June and August.

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