San Diego FC face their first potential elimination match in club history when they host the Portland Timbers in Game 3 of their first-round MLS Cup playoff series on Sunday night.
San Diego FC were minutes away from sweeping the best-of-three set in two matches last weekend, before Portland’s Gage Guerra leveled in second-half stoppage time to force penalties that were eventually won by the Timbers.
Now, the second expansion team in three seasons to win the Western Conference regular-season crown has to regroup.
San Diego FC will be without starting goalkeeper CJ dos Santos, who left the second match following a scary injury during the first half and is dealing with concussion symptoms, according to manager Mikey Varas.
The hosts are also still dealing with the aftermath of a dressing room blowup that left Mexican star Chucky Lozano out of Varas’ squad in Game 1. Lozano returned and scored as a halftime sub in Game 2.
Despite all that, Varas is trying to reframe the occasion positively.
“Mentality at a big level will stay consistent,” he said. “But every match is different, and you have to be able to adapt to the circumstances and the context. We play a final. There’s finality to this game and we’re really excited about that. That’s what you get up in the morning for.”
Portland succeeded at being far more direct and threatening in Game 2 to earn a 2-2 draw, following a 2-1 loss in the series opener. Kristoffer Velde also scored his second goal of the postseason to give the Timbers an early lead.
Before Guerra’s equalizer, it looked like the eighth-seeded Timbers were going to be punished for a lack of efficient finishing rather than a lack of ideas.
But manager Phil Neville knows that approach might not translate in the visit to San Diego. In road games, the Timbers have won only five times in 21 matches across all competitions.
“When you get to the playoffs, I think the words ‘find a way to win’ is probably the most important thing,” Neville said. “We wanted to make it a certain type of game in our home stadium with our fans. Now can we do that away from home? I don’t think we can. I think we’ve got to obviously be adaptable again.”
–Field Level Media
