San Diego FC Falls 2-1 on the Road to Austin FC, Marking First Loss of Inaugural MLS Season
MLS San Diego FC

San Diego FC Falls 2-1 on the Road to Austin FC, Marking First Loss of Inaugural MLS Season

March 23, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Diego FC News Release


AUSTIN, TEXAS - San Diego FC (SDFC) suffered its first-ever loss of the 2025 MLS season, falling 2-1 to Austin FC at Q2 Stadium, ending their unbeaten run to start the year. Despite a goal from SDFC midfielder Luca De La Torre, SDFC was unable to overcome Austin's early lead.

SDFC (2-1-2, 8 points) cut an Austin FC (3-2-0, 9 points) 2-0 early lead after SDFC Head Coach Mikey Varas' team began to create attacking pressure. Austin scored on two quick breakaways early in the first half in the first-ever meeting between both clubs. Austin FC's Brandon Vazquez and Jon Gallagher scored within the first 20 minutes of the match before De La Torre found the net in the 27th minute. SDFC controlled possession throughout a high-paced second half that had scoring opportunities for the visitors until the dying moments of the match.

Next up, SDFC returns home to host LAFC on Saturday, March 29 (7:30 p.m. PT) at Snapdragon Stadium live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Goal-Scoring Plays

1-0 ATX - Brandon Vazquez (Diego Rubio), 10th minute: Vazquez slipped behind the SDFC defense on a quick pass by Rubio from near midfield. Vazquez sprinted up the field with the ball with only a charging goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos to beat. He sent a right-footed shot from the right side of the box into the net to open the scoring.

2-0 ATX - Jon Gallagher (Owen Wolff), 19th minute: Gallagher opened the scoring with a right-footed shot inside the lower left post after racing up field on a quick pass from Wolff, following a rapid restart off an SDFC foul. He sprinted past the last defender and finished one-on-one against CJ Dos Santos from the right side of the box.

2-1 SD - Luca De La Torre (Onni Valakari), 27th minute: De La Torre cut into Austin FC's lead with a right-footed shot past Brad Stuver, finishing a pass from Valakari near the top of the 18-yard box.

Postgame Notes:

- With today's 2-1 road loss, SDFC snapped it's undefeated run to start the 2025 MLS Regular Season.

- SDFC is now 2-1-2 on the season and sits fifth in the Western Conference.

- SDFC is now 2-1-0 when playing on the road in 2025.

- SDFC is 1-1-0 when wearing the Club's primary kit.

- Luca De La Torre scored his first MLS goal and his first with SDFC when he cut the Austin FC lead in the first half. De la Torre has now registered a goal or an assist in in the last two matches.

- Defender Ian Pilcher and midfielder Alejandro Alvarado Jr. made their respective SDFC and MLS first career starts today.

- 18-year-old Defender Luca Bombino made his second consecutive start against Austin FC, marking his third appearance for SDFC this season.

- Midfielder Alejandro Alvarado Jr. made his first SDFC start against Austin FC.

- Defender Hamady Diop made his SDFC debut replacing Ian Pilcher in the 64th minute.

- SDFC was without starters Aníbal Godoy and Paddy McNair, who were away on national team duty with Panama and Northern Ireland, respectively.

- 16-year-old Forward Anisse Saidi made his professional debut replacing Alejandro Alvarado Jr. In the 81st minute of the match. Saidi becomes the youngest player to debut for SDFC at the age of 16 years, 9 months, and three days.

- Defenders Willy and Luca Bombino made their second-consecutive starts of the 2025 MLS Regular Season.

- Forward Tomás Ángel registered his third-consecutive start for SDFC.

- SDFC allowed two goals in a match for the first time in Club history after five MLS matches.

- SDFC has now registered a minimum of 16 shots per match in four-consecutive matches.

- Goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos, defender Chris McVey, midfielder Jeppe Tverskov, and forward Anders Dreyer have all started and played a full 90 minutes through the Club's first five matches, each totaling 460 minutes played.

Next Game

Next up, SDFC will return home to host LAFC at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. PT live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Match Information

2025 MLS Regular Season

San Diego FC (2-1-2, 8 pts) vs. Austin FC (2-2-0, 6 pts)

Sunday - Q2 Stadium (Austin, TX.)

Scoring Summary:

ATX (1-0) - Brandon Vazquez 10' (Assisted by Diego Rubio)

ATX (2-0) - Jon Gallagher 19' (Assisted by Owen Wolff)

SD (2-1) - Luca de la Torre 27' (Assisted by Onni Valakari)

Misconduct Summary:

SD - Ian Pilcher (caution 3')

SD - Luca de la Torre (caution 13')

ATX - Dani Pereira (caution 33')

SD - Chris McVey (caution 54')

Lineups:

SAN DIEGO FC: GK CJ Dos Santos, D Luca Bombino (Franco Negri, 74'), D Ian Pilcher (Hamady Diop, 64'), D Christopher McVey, D Willy Kumado (Jasper Löffelsend, 64'); M Luca de la Torre, M Jeppe Tverskov -C-, M Alejandro Alvarado Jr. (Anisse Saidi, 81'); F Onni Valakari, F Tomás Ángel, F Anders Dreyer

Substitutes Not Used: GK Pablo Sisniega, M Heine Bruseth, F Emmanuel Boateng, M Manu Duah, F Alex Mighten.

TOTAL SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 13; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 10; SAVES; 3

AUSTIN FC: GK Brad Stuver, D Jon Gallagher, D Zan Kolmanic (Julio Cascante, 76'), D Brendan Hines-Ike, D Guilherme Biro ; M Dani Pereira (Nicolás Duberssarsky, 87'), M Owen Wolff, M Ilie Sánchez -C-, M Besard Sabovic (Jader Obrian, 77' ; F Diego Rubio (Osman Bukari, 59'), F Brandon Vazquez (CJ Fodrey, 87')

Substitutes Not Used: GK Stefan Cleveland, D Antonio Gomez, D Riley Thomas, D Nicolás Van Rijn.

TOTAL SHOTS: 10; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; FOULS: 14; OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3

Referee: Filip Dujic

Assistant Referees: Michaeal Barwegan, Jeffrey Greeson

Fourth Official: Matthew Corrigan

VAR: Geoff Gamble

AVAR: Fabio Tovar

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 86 degrees

Attendance: 20,730

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

SDFC HEAD COACH MIKEY VARAS

On Austin starting fast and SDFC settling in later in the match:

"The things that I'm proud about is we had a lot of guys, young guys, step in, and we were still us, true to our style of play, playing with initiative. We do have to take a reflection, you know, last couple games, slower starts and how we start faster games. But I agree that they settled in well, and the lessons learned are the same things that we've been thinking all season. One, we're going to be very good on the ball. I think we caused Austin a lot of trouble. We created clear chances. We played through the inside of them. We played around them. But we need to manage the transitions better. They create a lot of danger in transition, then in our pressing how well are we able to protect the space in behind."

On controlling possession and looking like the better team but not getting the result:

"This is football. Football. Football is football. When one team was ready to play more in transition and defend low and our job was to solve the puzzle. We got very close multiple times. And as I mentioned earlier, I think the most important thing is if we can build off of the really good things we've done, which is really make it difficult for them to defend us in possession, and then add a little bit more solidity in terms of how we manage the transition moments, then I think we'll be in good shape."

On the looks Austin FC provided tonight:

"I mean, I mean, I think they caught us in transition. There's some clear learning moments, but at the end of the day, we controlled large portions of the match. I haven't looked at the stats yet, but the board said 70 percent -30 percent possession. I know we played in their half the whole second half, and it's about making sure that we have a good structure behind the ball in those moments. Because they had forwards that were pretty smart in terms of moving in the opposite spaces and then just playing in behind right away. They were quite direct with their transitions. And at the end of the day, we had a lot of new life into the lineup. And that's also takes time, the right chemistry takes time, and learning how to play at this level takes time. So for me, it was as hard as it is to lose, it's still a net positive game, game, in my opinion, because we lost guys to injury and international duty, and these guys came out and wanted to play our game in Austin, and that's a huge a huge credit to them in the direction that we're going. And so, at the end of the day, I think football is sometimes, you're better than the opponent at doing what you want to do versus what they want to do. And today, unfortunately, it didn't go or when."

SDFC MIDFIELDER JEPPE TVERSKOV

On facing counter attacks and having own chances at goal:

"We knew that as soon as we would start having the ball and keeping possession which we succeeded from, I think minute to 15 or 20, they would slowly drop down. And I think most of the game, except from the first 20 minutes, was like this, and it's difficult to open up a team that sits low. We know it could be about patience, also in the heat here, it could play a factor. So, for us, it was about keeping going and trying to prevent the counter attacks. We knew they also could come at weren't perfect for us today, but yeah, we didn't, we didn't succeed."

On having played with young players in this match:

"No, I think people start to play when they're good enough. It's nothing about the age, and it's the same here. Now we had some guys out, but I don't think it was a big question within the squad, whether these guys were ready or not. They definitely are, and we have had some months to see it, but they haven't gotten the opportunity before today. So yeah, it's credit to all the guys. As Mikey also said, we play the same way. Either we, we change two, three or six guys, we have a style that we feel like it's our competitive edge, and we're going to keep doing that."

SDFC MIDFIELDER LUCA DE LA TORRE

On scoring first goal with SDFC and seeing players from San Diego on both teams:

"Obviously, special moment. It's something I've been working hard to add to my game, to arrive more in good positions and to finish. So obviously, happy with the goal, disappointed with the results. And yeah, it was, it was good to see Brandon (Vazquez) again. I haven't seen him in a long time. Luca, see Larry's underneath."

On having some debuts and young players seeing action tonight:

"They're all good kids that want to learn, that are good players. I think they all played well. It's a credit to the group that we can have a few injuries if you guys got an international break, and that these guys are capable of stepping in, and that everyone's brave enough to play that the way we want to play and then control the game."

On possibly having to face similar tactics from other teams in the future:

"It's a learning moment for us. The big thing is to manage the defensive transitions better in the counter press. Also, Brandon [Vazquez] is a good striker, and he was, he was running well when they turned the ball over, I think that with the ball, there was a lot of space between the lines. They were protecting the space behind them, quite a lot. So, we have to be a little bit more calm, just have quality and patience and to arrive in the pockets. And we did well a few times. But if we can do that for the whole 90 minutes, then we create better chances, and we probably win."

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