San Diego FC’s inaugural season ended with 3-1 defeat against Vancouver Whitecaps
Anders Dreyer following San Diego FC’s 3-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps at Snapdragon Stadium. (Emmanuel Alonso/Sandiego.futbol)
The unprecedented rookie campaign for San Diego FC has come to an end.
San Diego FC’s inaugural season ended with a tough 3-1 defeat against the Vancouver Whitecaps in front of a sold-out Snapdragon Stadium.
“I think they made a city, made the whole region dream. We were one step away from MLS Cup, and 12 months ago, we were all introducing ourselves,” said Head Coach Mikey Varas after the match to his team. “This hurts really bad right now, and it's not time for details. It really isn't. It's not time for details. But what we can all agree on is that each and every one of us is going to carry this bit with us. We're going to carry it with us and use it, use it as motivation to come back even stronger.”
San Diego stuck with the same lineup and formation they have in the past games, but Vancouver made some tactical changes by playing wider than they normally do.
“What they did was very clever. Some of the other games they have been very good at hitting players in behind, especially their wingers,” said SDFC Captain, Jeppe Tverskov. “Today they hit them more wide on the pitch and made it more man against man against our fullbacks.”
Tverskov complimented the play of Vancouver’s wingers, Ali Ahmed and Emmanuel Sabbi who took advantage of their opportunities against Luca Bombino and Ian Pilcher. He also highlighted the play of Andrés Cubas who shined in the midfield, even more than their star designated player, Thomas Müller.
In the 11th minute Vancouver entered the box against poor defensive pressure by San Diego allowing Sabbi to put a shot on target. SDFC goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega initially saved it, and got up to dive for the next shot. Forward, Ali Ahmed, shot the loose ball, but it was blocked by Manu Duah who tried to clear the ball off the line. The ball bounced off Sisniega into the back of the net for an own goal.
The third goal came at the worst time for San Diego FC as the minutes in the first half were dying down. During the second minute of stoppage time Ali Ahmed received a pass and went directly one-on-one against Ian Pilcher and entered the box easily before sending a perfect cross into the keeper’s box. Bryan White was directly in front of the goal and the pass deflected off his body into the back of the net.
San Diego continued to push, but was playing uncharacteristically desperate in an attempt to claw back into the match.
They eventually scored in the 60th minute after a shot was floated over the Whitecaps goalkeeper by Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, who was substituted on at halftime.
Vancouver did not sit back and had few more offensive chances to extend the lead, but did earn a red card after a foul by Pablo Sisniega. San Diego native Duran Ferree took his spot, but with 10 men the match was all but finished.
The Whitecaps celebrated with a trophy celebration on the pitch while the San Diego fans and supporters serenaded the team as a thank you for one of the most successful seasons by an MLS expansion club in the league’s 29-year history.
With the victory the Whitecaps go on to the MLS Cup final against the Eastern Conference champions, Inter Miami, led by international superstar, Lionel Messi.
