In a Saturday night matchup and rabid home crowd, San Diego FC drew with the Columbus Crew by a score of 1-1.
“I really like that we’ve become a team very quickly,” head coach Mikey Vargas said. “… we’ve played the last two MLS champions and haven’t shrunken at the occasion.”
SDFC is in second place in the Western Conference with a 2-0-1 record and defeated Real Salt Lake by a score of 3-1 in their last game. Meanwhile, Columbus holds a second-place tie with Inter Miami CF in the Eastern Conference with a 2-0-1 record and came off a 0-0 draw with Houston Dynamo FC.
It is the second home game for SDFC after a 0-0 draw with St. Louis City SC in their inaugural home match.
The first ten minutes of the first half were back-and-forth, with no team consistently controlling possession. Columbus’s first scoring chance of the game came on defender Mohamed Farsi’s shot, but SDFC keeper CJ dos Santos made the save.
The Crew scored the first goal of the game in the 13’ as forward Max Arfsten’s shot got past a diving Santos. The goal marked the first-ever MLS goal in Snapdragon Stadium history.
In the 24’, Farsi doubled the lead, but a foul on San Diego defender Luca Bombino during the build-up of the play brought the goal back to keep the score at 1-0.
Columbus continued to pierce SDFC’s defense; however, dos Santos remained strong as he made a diving save to his left on a shot from forward Jacen Russel-Rowe.
SDFC forward Anders Dreyer had a perfect scoring chance one-on-one with Columbus keeper Patrick Schulte, but the shot was saved and went for the corner.
On the ensuing corner, San Diego defender Paddy McNair found open space and fired his shot past Schulte to level the score; however, he got called for offsides to keep it 1-0.
With momentum on their side, SDFC kept their offensive push going but were still searching for their first goal.
After two minutes of added time, the first half ended with a Columbus 1-0 lead. The Crew controlled a 55%-45% possession and a 6-4 shot advantage over San Diego.
To start the second half, SDFC made a substitution, with midfielder Onni Valakari coming in for fellow midfielder Marcus Ingvartsen after he sustained an injury at the end of the first half.
SDFC’s first scoring chance in the first half came on midfielder Lucas De La Torre’s cross to Ángel but went into the hands of Schulte.
Dreyer showed why he was the top scorer for San Diego as he found open space and showed perfect patience to put the ball past Schulte. Much to the dismay of the SDFC fans and Dreyer, he was called for offsides to make it the second goal by the team to be brought back.
In the 61st minute, Dreyer continued to prove he was as deadly as he got past the Columbus defense and drew a foul on Crew defender Matle Amundsen. As Amundsen was the last man back, he was shown a red card to bring them down to ten men.
On the free kick, Schulte continued to be a thorn in the side of San Diego as he saved Dreyer’s shot.
Both teams made substitutions in the 66th minute, with Marcelo Herrera coming on for Rowe for Columbus. As for SDFC, midfielder Alejandro Alvarado came on for midfielder Anibal Godoy, and striker Alexander Mighten was substituted for Ángel.
On a corner kick from De La Torre, SDFC leveled the score at 1-1 on a header from Valakari in the 69th for the team’s first-ever goal at home.
A defensive mistake by SDFC led to the Crew’s best scoring chance of the half, but forward Diego Rossi’s shot went harmlessly over the net.
Midfielder Jeppe Tverskov’s header in the 77’ almost doubled the lead; however, it went just above the crossbar.
Schulte continued to have a stellar game as he saved two straight scoring chances for SDFC to keep it a tie game.
SDFC made two substitutions in the 82nd minute: Midfielder Jasper Loffelsend came on for defender William Kumado, and defender Franco Negri slotted in for Bombino.
Following eight minutes of added time, San Diego was awarded a corner kick for what would be the game-winner if they scored. SDFC would not take advantage of the situation as McNair’s header went just high and missed the net.
After one more chance for the SDFC, the final whistle blew, signaling a 1-1 draw between the two teams.
“Ultimately, this feels like a disappointment for us,” Vargas said. “These guys are disappointed in the locker room… we just played against a top team, and we had them, and we’re disappointed we didn’t get it.”
San Diego moves to 2-0-2 with eight points to remain unbeaten and stay in the second spot in the West. Meanwhile, Columbus holds the same record as SDFC and takes sole possession of second place in the East.
SDFC next plays an away game against Austin FC on March 23 at 1:00 p.m.