PORTLAND, Ore. — San Diego FC’s first-round Major League Soccer playoff series against Portland will come down to a decisive Game 3.
The expansion club fell on the road to the Timbers on penalty kicks 3-2 on Saturday night after they played to a 2-2 tie in regulation.
SDFC was leading 2-1 for most of the second half when a goal by Gage Guerra in the 98th minute equalized the game and sent it to PKs with no overtime period for first-round series games.
In the PKs, Anders Dreyer connected first, followed by Portland’s Felipe Mora hitting. Hirving “Chucky” Lozano snuck one by the keeper on the far side, then Pablo Sisniega, in for an injured CJ dos Santos, made a save on Portland’s Cristhian Paredes.
However, SDFC sailed the next two attempts by Onni Valakari and Marcus Ingvartsen. Sisniega made another save, but Kristoffer Velde hit for Portland on the fourth attempt to tie the PKs at two.
On the fifth attempt, Jeppe Tverskov also sent his shot too high, nailing the crossbar and leaving the door open for Portland. Antony Alves Santos stepped to the ball and delivered the game-winner to force a deciding Game 3. The teams will play Nov. 9 at Snapdragon Stadium; the match starts at 6 p.m.
It was about the worst start SDFC could have asked for, however, with the Timbers’ front line winning early and creating a number of chances.
In the 18th minute, a deep ball from Portland goalkeeper James Pantemis went to the front of the SDFC box and found Timbers forward Antony Alves Santos who fell down. However, he kept the ball long enough for his forward teammate Kristoffer Velde to pick up the loose ball and fire a rocket into the net to make it 1-0 Portland.
Three minutes later, SDFC goalkeeper CJ dos Santos made a sliding stop on the near side of the goal to stop another Timbers threat, but appeared to get kicked in the head inadvertently by Timbers midfielder David Da Costa.
Timbers players in the box immediately looked to the sideline for the medical team, and after a 10-minute delay, dos Santos was taken off the field in a stretcher. Pablo Sisniega entered the game for the injured dos Santos, his fifth appearance of the season.
Portland continued to dominate for the next 20 minutes, but the San Diego attack was finally able to move forward in the final 15 minutes thanks in part to 13 first-half fouls called on Portland.
Twelve minutes of stoppage time were added due to the Dos Santos injury, and in the 45+12th minute, SDFC found its equalizer when forward Corey Baird made a run down the far sideline.
Baird crossed it to the top of the box, where forward Amahl Pellegrino was waiting. He took a second to line up his shot and let the Timbers defender fall off him, then fired a hooking shot that froze Pantemis and found the net in the top corner on the far side.
A minute later, Pellegrino took control of an errant Portland pass and seemingly crossed a ball into the box for a goal from Onni Valakari, but a replay review deemed SDFC offside.
Despite the late push, Portland still controlled most of the first half with eight shots, three of them on goal, while SDFC had five shots.
In the second half, Lozano made his return to the pitch and continued the momentum SDFC had built to end the first half with an early goal.
In the 51st minute, Anders Dreyer uncorked a fiery shot on goal that was blocked by Pantemis to the near side, but Lozano was in perfect position next to the goal to fire the ball right back and into the wide-open net.
There was a brief pause to see a stadium replay and determine if the goal should be reviewed for offsides on Dreyer’s original shot, but play went on with SDFC now in front 2-1.
And from there, it was just about surviving for SDFC as the Timbers pushed forward for the final 25 minutes and the extra eight minutes of stoppage time.
Timbers midfielder Omir Fernandez barely missed a header wide of the net in the 66th minute, Sisniega made his first save of the match in the 71st minute on a shot from Velde, and then Velde barely missed wide on a diving header attempt in the 74th minute.
Portland had a chance that started in the 81st minute. Cristhian Paredes corralled a cross on the far side and fired it back to the head of Fernandez in the middle of the box. His shot went wide, Paredes saved it and sent it in again, only for Felipe Mora to just barely miss his header.
SDFC was seemingly seconds away from winning the match when Portland finally broke through on a Gage Guerra goal in the 90+8th minute. Ariel Lassiter was nearly in the near-side corner and just chipped the ball into the box where Guerra came crashing in and headed the ball into the top, far-side corner to tie the match and send it to the PKs.
MLS Cup playoffs, first round: San Diego FC vs. Portland Timbers
(Best-of-three series is tied, 1-1)
When: Nov. 9, 6 p.m.
Where: Snapdragon Stadium
Streaming: AppleTV+
Radio: 760-AM, 1700-AM (Spanish)