San Diego FC axe down Portland Timbers 2-1, earning first-ever MLS Cup Playoff victory

SAN DIEGO -- On their MLS Cup Playoff debut, San Diego FC took the early lead and never looked back as sold-out Snapdragon Stadium saw the Chrome & Azul win their first-ever playoff match, 2-1, in Match One of Round One on Sunday night against the Portland Timbers. 

After closing out a historic expansion inaugural campaign, San Diego FC finished the 2025 MLS regular season at the top of the Western Conference as they earned the number one seed heading into the MLS Cup Playoffs.

SDFC claimed the MLS expansion record of 63 points, coming off a nineteen-win, six-draw and nine-loss record through the 34 games.

Their Round One opponents, Portland Timbers, were directly coming off their 3-1 Wednesday night MLS Wild Card home win against Real Salt Lake at Providence Park. 

These two Western Conference clubs met twice in the regular season, with the first meeting taking place back on August 23, ending in a scoreless Snapdragon Stadium 0-0 draw. 

The second of the two matches was SDFC’s last game played, as the Oct. 18 Decision Day MLS match finished in a 4-0 blowout with San Diego FC dominating the Timbers on the road to clinch first place in the West on the final matchday. 

The biggest news leading up to SDFC’s first-ever playoff match was the reported falling out between Chucky Lozano and the coaching staff in the last couple of weeks, leading to him being left off the Oct. 26 Round One match roster.  

It marked back-to-back matches that the 30-year-old Mexican International and star designated player had been left off the available squad list, having last played on Oct. 4 against the Houston Dynamo. 

From the first whistle at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday night, San Diego FC put on the offensive pressure as the chances started to ramp up fast, with Timber's goalkeeper James Pantemis having to make multiple saves in the first 20 minutes to keep the match scoreless.

But the homeside finally broke through in the 23-minute, with SDFC defender Manu Duah having his initial outside the box strike bang off the right post as midfielder Onni Valakari was on the end of the rebound inside the box, rolling the unmarked shot past Pantemis and into the goal for the 1-0 lead.

Valakari continues to write history for SDFC, with the man who recorded the first-ever home goal for the club back on March 15 now claiming the club's first-ever postseason goal. 

SDFC's offensive pressure didn’t stop after their opening goal, with MLS MVP finalist Anders Dreyer doubling the San Diego FC lead with a 30-minute flying goal.

The delivery coming from SDFC defender Luca Bombino, with his whipped-in aerial cross into the penalty area met by a perfectly timed diving Dreyer header placed into the bottom right side netting to go up 2-0.

Portland was brought back to life in the 36-minute after a costly defensive half turnover by SDFC, leading to a fast and direct counterattack.

Timber forward Kristoffer Velde would be the one to punish SDFC, burying the inside the box attempt into the bottom left of the goal, cutting Portland’s deficit in half, 2-1. 

Portland's second-half growing offensive momentum was put to a halt with defender Jimer Fory being booked in back-to-back minutes, as he was given a red card for the double yellow fouls in the 65th and 66th minutes, leaving his squad down to 10 men for the remainder of the game. 

The player advantage was huge for SDFC, as they managed the rest of the match, seeing out the 2-1 playoff victory over the Timbers, earning the club’s first-ever playoff win.

SDFC head coach Mikey Varas spoke at the post-match press conference after the 2-1 victory over Portland, on the club’s first-ever playoff win and his reflection on the season. 

“Ultimately, this is the right first step. This is a good first step. This is playoff football. So, this is just one step in the journey that is round one.”

“And our objective right now is to enjoy this moment but then focus on recovery and then getting ready for the next one, so that we're the more prepared team going into game two.” 

“So, it's about staying consistent, continuing to do the things that we've done that have put us in this position, and then trying to take a few little learning lessons from each game as well.”

“Yeah, just tremendous honor to have the responsibility of representing San Diego as a community, as the head coach, making sure that we develop a team and individual players that are a reflection of the values of the community, the entire community, all 18, including Baja, California.”

San Diego FC will be looking to close out the Best-of-3 Round One series in Match Two next Saturday, on Nov. 1, at Providence Park, which is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m.

The Match One victory also guarantees SDFC will return to Snapdragon Stadium this postseason, either for a potential winner-take-all Match Three against Portland or to host a Western Conference Semifinal game.