San Diego FC Plays to a 3-3 Draw against FC Cincinnati at Snapdragon Stadium
MLS San Diego FC

San Diego FC Plays to a 3-3 Draw against FC Cincinnati at Snapdragon Stadium

Published on May 16, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Diego FC News Release


SAN DIEGO - San Diego FC (SDFC) earned another point in the Western Conference Standings with a wild finish to a 3-3 tie against FC Cincinnati at Snapdragon Stadium. Forward Marcus Ingvartsen had a brace and Amahl Pellegrino also found the net in the Club's second to last match before the summer break in front of 24,984 fans at Snapdragon Stadium.

Mboma Dem gave Cincinnati an early lead in the 11th minute. SDFC responded in the 32nd minute when Ingvartsen tied the match with a right footed shot from the right side of the box ending the half 1-1.

In the second half, Tom Barlow doubled the lead for Cincinnati in the 50th minute with a right footed shot from the center of the box. SDFC's Pellegrino tied the match in the 66th minute with a right-footed shot from outside of the box. Ingvartsen scored his second goal of the night in second-half stoppage time, giving SDFC the lead 3-2 in the 90'+6' minute. The lead was short-lived as Tom Barlow scored his second goal of the night to equalize the match 3-3 in the final play of the match after receiving a through box from Ayoub Jabbari.

Up next, SDFC (4-5-5, 17 pts.) remains in San Diego to face the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in a Western Conference Final rematch, and the Club's last match before the summer break, on Saturday, May 23 at Snapdragon Stadium with kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. PT. Tickets for Saturday's match are available at SanDiegoFC.com/Tickets.

Goal Scoring Plays:

CIN - 1-0 - Kenji Mboma Dem (Evander) 11th minute: Mboma Dem sent a low left-footed shot past Duran Ferree to open the scoring. He finished a break away from the left side, scoring off a pass by Da Silva Ferreira.

SD - 1-1 - Marcus Ingvartsen (Kieran Sergeant, Onni Valakari) 32nd minute: Ingvartsen buried a left-footed volley to tie the match as he sprinted into the penalty box and reached a rolling cross from Kieran Sargeant from left to right.

CIN - 1-2 - Tom Barlow (Evander) 50th Minute: Barlow tapped in a corner kick from near the goal line to give the visitors the lead. Evander recorded his second assist of the night, finding Barlow on a free kick on the scoring play.

SD - 2-2 - Amahl Pellegrino (Pedro Soma, Christopher McVey) 66th minute: After receiving a pass from midfielder Pedro Soma, Amahl Pellegrino buried a right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom corner past Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano.

SD - 3-2 - Marcus Ingvartsen (Anisse Saidi), 96th minute: Late in the match after a turnover in midfield, substitute midfielder Anisse Saidi played a through ball into the path of Ingvartsen inside the box, who fired a right-footed shot into the top left corner of the net for his second goal of the night.

CIN - 3-3 - Tom Barlow (Ayoub Jabbari, Samuel Gidi), 98th minute: Off the ensuing restart, midfielder Samuel Gidi played a long ball from midfield into the box that substitute forward Ayoub Jabbari headed down into the path of Barlow, who slotted home for the second time into the bottom right corner.

Postgame Notes:

- With tonight's 3-3 draw against FC Cincinnati, SDFC earned MLS Regular Season points for the fourth consecutive match.

- SDFC is 1-0-3 in that span, outscoring opponents 11-6.

- SDFC has now scored 22 goals at home this season.

- SDFC now has a 4-5-5 2026 MLS Regular Season record with 17 points.

- SDFC is 2-2-3 against Eastern Conference teams.

- SDFC now holds a 23-14-11 all-time MLS Regular Season record.

- SDFC is 3-2-3 at home in the 2026 MLS Regular Season.

- SDFC completed 715 passes compared to Cincinnati's 388 tonight.

- SDFC outpossessed FC Cincinnati 59 to 41 percent.

- SDFC is now 6-7-5 across all competitions in 2026 (MLS Regular Season 4-5-5, Concacaf Champions Cup 2-2).

- SDFC has now earned points in its last four MLS Regular Season matches, earning six of 10 points in the Western Conference during that span.

- Defender Kieran Sargeant registered his first career MLS assist, contributing on Ingvartsen's goal.

- Sargeant also made his fifth start for SDFC, and his seventh appearance this season.

- Forward Marcus Ingvartsen scored his team-leading 10th and 11th goal of the MLS season tonight. He now has 15 goals for the Club across all competitions.

- Ingvartsen now also has 15 goal contributions (11 goals, 4 assists).

- Ingvartsen is second in the league in goal contributions behind Lionel Messi (16 goal contributions).

- Ingvartsen has had five goal contributions in his last two matches, three against Austin FC on May 13 and two tonight.

- Ingvartsen has scored seven goals in the last seven MLS matches.

- Ingvartsen's second goal is the 114th goal in club history.

- Valakari and Dreyer are the only players to play in all 48 of SDFC's Regular Season and five post-season matches for a total of 53 MLS career appearances each.

- Aníbal Godoy made his 50th start for SDFC across all competitions tonight.

- Midfielder Alejandro Alvarado Jr. made his fifth appearance for SDFC this season, coming on as a substitute for Pellegrino in the 78th minute.

- Goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos appeared in the 20-man roster tonight for the first time since suffering an injury against LAFC on May 2.

Match Information

2026 MLS Regular Season

San Diego FC vs. FC Cincinnati

Saturday - Snapdragon Stadium (San Diego, Calif.)

Scoring Summary:

CIN (0-1) - Kenji Mboma Dem (Assisted by Evander, 11')

SD (1-1) - Marcus Ingvartsen (Assisted by Kieran Sargeant, Onni Valakari, 32')

CIN (1-2) - Tom Barlow (Assisted by Evander, 50')

SD (2-2) - Amahl Pellegrino (Assisted by Pedro Soma, Chris McVey 66')

SD (3-2) - Marcus Ingvartsen - 2 (Assisted by Anisse Saidi, 90 +6')

CIN (3-3) - Tom Barlow - 2 (Assisted by Ayoub Jabbari, Samuel Gidi, 90 + 8')

Misconduct Summary:

CIN - Miles Robinson (caution, 24')

SD - David Vazquez (caution, 54')

CIN - Evander (caution, 87')

CIN - Tom Barlow (caution, 90')

Lineups:

SAN DIEGO FC: GK Duran Ferree; D Luca Bombino, D Manu Duah, D Christopher McVey, D Kieran Sargeant (D Oscar Verhoeven, 46'); M Aníbal Godoy (Pedro Soma, 46') -C-, M Onni Valakari (F Anisse Saidi, 90 +1'), M David Vazquez (F Alex Mighten, 69'); F Amahl Pellegrino (M Alejandro Alvarado Jr., 78'), F Marcus Ingvartsen, F Anders Dreyer

Substitutes Not Used: GK CJ Dos Santos; D Ian Pilcher, F Lewis Morgan, F Bryan Zamble

TOTAL SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; FOULS: 7; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 3

FC CINCINNATI: GK Roman Celentano; D Nick Hagglund (M Obinna Nwobodo, 73'), D Miles Robinson (Kyle Smith, 46'), D Matt Miazga; M Evander -C-, M Samuel Gidi, M Brian Anunga, M Kenji Mboma Dem (F Bryan Ramirez, 73'), M Pavel Bucha; F Kevin Denkey (F Ayoub Jabbari, 90 +1'), F Gerardo Valenzuela (Tom Barlow, 46')

Substitutes Not Used: GK Evan Louro; D Gilberto Flores, D Ayoub Lajhar, F Ender Echenique

TOTAL SHOTS: 8; SHOTS ON GOAL: 6; FOULS: 9; OFFSIDES 0; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 2

Referee: Timothy Ford

Assistant Referees: Jeremy Kieso, Eduardo Jeff

Fourth Official: Ricardo Fierro

VAR: Ramy Touchan

AVAR: Joshua Patlak

Weather: 66-degrees, cloudy

Attendance: 24,984

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

SDFC HEAD COACH MIKEY VARAS

On tonight's match:

"Yeah, I think overall we made a lot of really good plays in the game, and we played more or less a game that you would feel pretty good about winning. But unfortunately, we just didn't make enough plays, you know, from defensive. Considering how many shots they had and how many times they actually got hold of the ball, to concede three goals, like we just can't, we can't be okay with that. And then when we score three goals at home, it's got to be three points. Ultimately proud of the group, because they turned the result around and kind of against the run of play, where they got ahead of us two different times. And then it's last play of the game, and ultimately, yeah, we got to close the game better. We got to make that play, that's a play that has to be made. We kind of drop lower than we've ever dropped on a defending corner- or a defending kickoff- and then we have to take a duel, we lose a duel, they score the goal. And that's the gut wrencher right there."

On what the message to the group is after the result:

"That's the focus, is that we have to learn from these moments, you know? As much as they suck and everybody's going to be pissed off about it, we have to learn from it and we have to mature as a group from it. Because we experience a lot of things for the first time together, these kind of situations, right. And ultimately we need individual guys also to mature, so that they are more ready to make plays, because I think the way the run of the game goes, this should be a comfortable win and it ultimately ends up being a tie. So the challenge is, we got to close games better, because it's now too many, too many games where we left points on the table. We have to be upset about that and we have to make sure that we mature from it. Ultimately, what I also told them was that, you know, at least the neutral news is that we continue to accumulate points, where we were in a rough patch where we weren't getting points, and now we're still, we are accumulating points, and where we are compared to the playoff line is very tight now. Which is important, because I think the way results were going for a little bit, we were at a little bit of risk of creating a gap between us and where that line is, and now the line is very tight. So, it's about taking these learning lessons very quickly and being ready for a game against probably the best team in the league right now, who came here and knocked us out of playoffs last year and making sure that we're coming here ready to take three points."

On if some of tonight's mistakes are the growing pains of playing younger players:

"100 percent. 100 percent and it doesn't soften the blow, like you still have to be really upset that you lost the game, but you can't microwave development or experience, like that's not how it works, you know? You need to live these experiences, you need to play these experiences, you need to mess up, you need to then be challenged. Can you do better? Then, you need that opportunity to show that you can be better, and you know, these are we have by far, by far the most minutes for players under 21 in the league, you know? I know everybody wants a finished product very fast in life, that's the world we live in right now, but that's not our mentality. Our mentality is to make sure that we create something that's sustainable, so while we go for the win every single game, we also know that as long as we take the learning lessons during the hard times, that these will eventually help those players be much better players in the future and also us be a much better team. And that's no excuse, because our job is to win games and we're always disappointed when we don't, but at the same time, we know there's a larger picture at play here when you have this many young players playing."

SDFC MIDFIELDER PEDRO SOMA

On his assist and how gratifying it feels to build on his previous performance:

"I think the coach gave me a little bit of confidence after last game to continue building on that performance and that confidence, it gave me the ability to see that pass and go for it at the end. When you go for things and take a little bit of risk, some of the times you get that prize. So, very happy that happened, and yeah, just very happy."

On the contrast of emotions from tonight's result to Wednesday night's result, despite it not being a loss:

"Yeah, no, it definitely feels like a loss. Especially before the kickoff, the ref tells us there's 10 seconds left. So, in my opinion, it's something we cannot do. The standards we have at this club, that needs to be a win for us. At the end, we learn and move on, but if we score three goals at home, that has to be three points for us. So, conceding three at home really, really hurts."

On the support and guidance the Club gives their younger players when they make mistakes:

"Yeah, no, it's the constant support of the club. At the end, there is a standard, so it's not as in if you make several, several mistakes, you're going to keep playing, right? This is a professional club, there are standards. The coach is going to put on the 11 guys who he thinks will have the best chance to win the game, so at the end it's developing, it's learning. The Club is always constantly pushing us, and they love us. Just an example, after Dallas I didn't play for a while, even though the club still loved me, they were pushing me, but then you see I come back after a while and I'm able to perform at a high level, and that's just the club. Their love for us as human beings before athletes, so that pushes us a lot."

SDFC FORWARD MARCUS INGVARTSEN

On tonight's match:

"Yeah, if we start on the positive side, we score three goals. I think we play a very good game, most of the game's strong, coming back from behind twice. Yeah, three goals at home should be a win, so that's the positive thing. And then the frustrating thing is that we have to sit here once again, saying that we play good football and scoring three goals, but we don't get the results. So, pretty tired of that."

On what his message was to the group as a leader of the Club:

"Yeah, we just need to mature up a bit. It's been too many games, so enough. We all know that it can happen once or twice during the season, but it's too many times, and that's something we need to work on. And be more clever, stay to our principles, even in the last five, ten seconds. So, we need to find that balance, having our clear principles, stay with them the whole game and then be better at game management."

On the final ten seconds from his point of view:

"Yeah, I dropped a little bit to be in front of the defensive line, and we end up dropping too much. The distance gets too big, they are ending up in a two against two situation in the box, and then everything can happen. So, that's not something we want to do on a kickoff. We want to get into pressure, push up our line, and then if they put it all the way back there, Duran will be there to take care of it. But yeah, that's the game management that we need to work on."

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Major League Soccer Stories from May 16, 2026


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