San Diego FC wraps up Leagues Cup run with 2-0 win over Mazatlán FC

SAN DIEGO -- A calm and controlled 2-0 Tuesday night victory over Mazatlán FC saw San Diego FC complete their Leagues Cup 2025 campaign in winning fashion. 

San Diego FC were back at Snapdragon Stadium for their final Phase One Leagues Cup 2025 match, hosting Mazatlán FC on Tuesday night.

After back-to-back losses in their first two Leagues Cup games, the Chrome and Azul entered their final Phase One matchday mathematically unable to secure a top-four advancing MLS spot, having been eliminated from knockout round contention.

Last time out, San Diego FC fell 2-1 on Friday night at Snapdragon Stadium to the visiting Tigres UANL, leaving them with zero points gained through two matches.

Coming into their third match in the Leagues Cup off the back of two wins, Mazatlán stood in contention for a top-four advancing position on the Liga MX table, with five points off a 1-1 (11-10) penalty shootout victory over LAFC on July 29 and a 2-0 win over Houston Dynamo on August 1. 

Former number one selection in the MLS SuperDraft 2023, Hamady Diop, got his first start for San Diego FC after appearing in seven matches as a substitute, with his last appearance for the club on May 3. 

San Diego FC goalkeeper CJ dos Santos returned to the starting lineup, with his first appearance after suffering a nose injury on July 5 in a 4-3 loss against the Houston Dynamo. Goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega took over between the sticks for the last six straight matches, including four MLS games and the opening two Leagues Cup matches. 

The feeling of a consolation match for San Diego FC didn’t stop their offensive motivation coming into the final Phase One match, as the home side were on the front foot for the opening goal.

San Diego FC looked to be rewarded with a penalty in the 22-minute with forward Chucky Lozano’s grounded centering pass intended for the goal area being blocked by Mazatlán defender Jorge García’s planted left arm when making the sliding intervention.

Following the VAR check, referee Walter Lopez deemed the handball offense unintentional, as the ball bounced off García’s arm while bracing for his slide rather than an intentional play on the ball. 

San Diego saw their best chance on goal come in the first minute of injury time of the first half, with Mazatlán goalkeeper André Alcaráz pushing San Diego FC forward Tomás Ángel’s first-time inside the box attempt out for a corner. 

The chance started with forward Alex Mighten pulling back a cross from a left wing position for Ángel arriving near the top of the penalty box, as Ángel’s shot heading into the far side netting was met with diving Mazatlán’s Alcaráz to keep the match scoreless going into the halftime break.

San Diego FC held total dominance at the half despite the scoreboard remaining level at 0-0, as San Diego led convincingly in ball possession at 69%-31%, creating nine total shot attempts with three on target.

As for the defensive outing in the first 45 minutes, San Diego FC held Mazatlán shotless and under 100 total passes going into the locker rooms.

Four minutes after being subbed on, San Diego FC midfielder Onni Valakari opened up the scoring in the 66-minute, as he tucked a left-footed shot from the top of the box into the right side netting of the goal for the 1-0 scoring play. 

The chance came with Dreyer adding another assist on the campaign, as he claimed his 17th all competition assist of the season. 

But Valakari wasn’t done yet, with only twelve minutes on the pitch, he found his brace and doubled his squad’s advantage on the night in the 74-minute.

This time, Valakari was played through into the penalty area where he guided a right-footed shot into the opposite side netting, recording his first and second goals of Leagues Cup 2025 while pushing his all competition goal total to six.

A moment of frustration led to a sending off for Mazatlán midfielder and captain Nicolás Benedetti, as after a dispute and coming together with referee Walter Lopez, Benedetti was shown a straight red card in the 78-minute with Mazatlán having to finish the match a man down. 

As the final whistle blew at that 2-0 scoreline for a San Diego FC victory, the homeside played spoiler to Mazatlán FC's Leagues Cup dreams. With Mazatlán unable to climb into a top-four spot on points, they were eliminated from the competition. 

San Diego FC head coach Mikey Varas spoke at the post-match press conference about the win against Mazatlán, reflecting on the improvement and development of the squad. 

“We asked the guys that we finished off. It was also an opportunity to make the squad bigger.” 

“Then we asked for them to improve in some concepts that we feel like maybe we weren't up to the standard in the first couple of games in terms of just finishing actions against a low block better and then managing the transitions.”

“I think the boys stepped up today, and they did exactly what we asked, and they really hit the mark on it. We have more debuts now.”

The Tuesday night victory over Mazatlán FC marks San Diego FC’s first-ever win in the Leagues Cup and first-ever victory over a Liga MX/Mexican side.

San Diego FC finished their Leagues Cup 2025 campaign with three points from two losses and one win at Snapdragon Stadium. 

On his return from injury, masked CJ dos Santos kept the clean sheet against Mazatlán, earning his eighth clean sheet in all competitions on the season. 

It was also the finale of the six-match homestand for San Diego FC, as they finished with two wins, three losses and one draw through their six straight matches at Snapdragon Stadium. 

After completing their six-match hosting streak and their Leagues Cup 2025 campaign, San Diego FC returns to MLS play, traveling to the Midwest to Children's Mercy Park, where they will square off against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, August 9, kicking off at 5:45 p.m.

This will be the reverse fixture between the two clubs, as the first meeting at Snapdragon Stadium back on May 17, finished in a scoreless draw.