SDFC keeps hold on top spot in West despite misstep in 1-1 draw with Vancouver
The two best teams in MLS Western Conference battled to a - draw Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium However it was San Diego FC that authentically scored both goals San Diego kicked the ball into its on its own goal during the first half due to the error the Vancouver Whitecaps led for a considerable chunk of match time without having scored Then SDFC came back to level things late San Diego center back Manu Duah accidentally scored on his own group s goal from the center of the net during the match s th minute Whitecap dier Ocampo on the counter-attack had his shot from the edge of the area parried by diving goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega before Duah s clearance attempt went into the net thus Vancouver received the point With the tally still - in favor of the visitors in the th minute SDFC center back Ian Pilcher who made his pro debut in February and was starting only his sixth match of the season connected with a left-footed shot from the center of the box to the top left corner of the net It was the first goal of his MLS career SDFC left back Luca Bombino picked up the assist The goal was phenomenal Pilcher a -year-old rookie explained during the post-match press conference It was super-nice to do it with this club Let's take a minute and appreciate this gargantuan save from Pablo pic twitter com K qUTVLSSC San Diego FC sandiegofc July I wanna thank God he explained when appealed to whom he dedicated his first goal And this is the first match that my family was able to come to so I wanna thank them the North Carolina native added Thanks to the draw San Diego maintains its narrow lead in the West with a record of - - and points Vancouver sits in second at - - and just a hair behind at points Vancouver had entered the Dragon on Saturday looking to not only topple San Diego from the top of the table but to gain revenge In the June match between the sides San Diego won - at Vancouver In fact Vancouver dominated much of this first half Saturday even without San Diego conceding a goal But in the second half SDFC flipped the script For example SDFC took only four shots in the first half but had in the second Conversely Vancouver took seven shots in the first half but only two in the second Over the full minutes SDFC maintained ball possession for of the match First and foremost we re a values of competition SDFC head coach Mikey Varas declared during a post-match press conference These guys are competitive Star member Chucky Lozano was back in the starting XI after coming off the bench the past limited matches He had been playing limited minutes since returning from a lower leg injury he s been hampered off and on by left hamstring issues since early in the season However SDFC is still hurting Midfielder Alejandro Alvarado Jr was out with a knee injury and right back Willy Kumado missed the contest due to a hip injury Danish forward Marcus Ingvartsen also was unavailable he hasn t played since suffering a lower-body injury against Minnesota United in June Also midfielder Anibal Godoy sat out his third consecutive contest due to injury and defender Andres Reyes is still recovering from an injury he sustained in May Notes SDFC has four consecutive matches at home starting with a Friday contest against Nashville SC The club then plays three Leagues Cup matches against Liga MX teams at Snapdragon CF Pachuca on July Tigres UANL on Aug and Mazatl n FC on Aug The Associated Press contributed to this analysis
