San Diego, CA
Tom Krasovic: Raucous night in ‘football city’ moves San Diego FC closer to title
The party will rage on.
San Diego FC, rewarding and feeding off another loud capacity crowd, beat Minnesota United 1-0 Monday night to advance to the semifinals of the MLS Cup playoffs.
Thanks to Anders Dreyer’s 72nd-minute goal and the shutout, the first-year club booked Snapdragon Stadium for the Western Conference final Saturday against Vancouver.
If any MLS fan base deserves another home game, it’s SDFC’s supporters.
Capacity crowds of 32,500 have attended all three of the team’s playoff matches on the heels of a season in which the club finished fourth overall in attendance and first among teams that don’t play in NFL venues.
Monday night, the crowd’s chanting, singing and drum-banging impressed both sides.
“Great atmosphere,” said Minnesota United coach Eric Ramsay, who worked three years with global powerhouse Manchester United in England.
“We have landed in football city,” San Diego FC captain Jeppe Tverskov, who played for several years in Europe.
“I love to play in front of a lot of fans,” said an appreciative Dreyer, who clapped afterward for the supporters.
The match’s lone goal hit high notes, too.
SDFC forward Corey Baird ran down a through pass near the end line and heeled the ball backward to a perfect spot.
Dreyer ripped a left-foot shot, beating the league’s top goalkeeper inside the near post.
“I had just one thing on my mind: hitting it as hard as possible,” said Dreyer.
Making it a trifecta of excellence, the defense recorded its second consecutive shutout behind a few top-notch plays.
Right back Ian Pilcher’s clearout near the goal-line, in the 48th minute, may have been SDFC’s top defensive play of the year. A goal would’ve allowed Minnesota United to do what it does best — shepherd a lead to the finish line.
“It’s so well-deserved,” said Tverskov, commending Pilcher’s hard work behind the scenes and Pilcher’s adjustment to moving from center back.
Goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega, delivering a reprieve in the 64th minute, bought more time for SDFC’s offense to break through against Minnesota’s well-coordinated defense.
Though he lost his footing, Sisniega recovered quickly to block a Minnesota shot. And Pilcher, in protecting the 1-0 lead, denied the visitors a breakout near midfield by smartly taking down a player, well worth the yellow card.
“We just defended with heart the whole game through,” Tverskov said. “We did very well, considering this team is so dangerous on almost every set piece.”
So, on balance, it was another festival of football — SDFC midfielder Luca de la Torre’s phrase — in Mission Valley.
But there was a significant flaw in the presentation.
The pitch at Snapdragon Stadium, beaten up by the San Diego State-San Jose State football game two days earlier, was not worthy of a playoff match in America’s top men’s soccer league.
It was far too bumpy. And Sisniega said he slipped on sand, nearly enabling Minnesota to score a cheap goal to say nothing about increasing injury risk.
Ramsay praised SDFC, but deemed the subpar pitch an unfortunate aspect to the match.
Before he answered questions from reporters, Tverskov brought up the pitch, calling it the worst home surface of the season.
“The pitch needs to go,” Tversko said. “There’s no in between.”
Ramsay said SDFC actually would’ve benefited the most from a good-quality surface, noting that San Diego, which led the MLS in ball possession this season, tends to “dominate the ball.”
Dreyer was kinder than Tverskov and others about the pitch, saying bumpy surfaces are part of the sport.
It appears that neither a shoddy field, sickness nor jet lag can deter Denmark’s Dreyer, who in recent days was shut down by a virus that had him throwing up eight days ago in Europe. From last Monday through Wednesday, he was plagued by headaches.
Then he boarded the long flights back to San Diego.
He said he wasn’t at full speed on Monday. But when Baird teed him up, he looked as sharp as he has all year.
Next, Dreyer will lead SDFC against Vancouver for the third time. SDFC won in Canada and the teams played to a tie in Mission Valley. But this time, German star forward Thomas Müller will be with Vancouver.
“The good news,” said Dreyer, “is I can relax a little bit” in the next few days.
SDFC fans may need some time to recover, too. Come Saturday, they’ll be ready.
MLS Western Conference Final: No. 1 San Diego FC vs. No. 2 Vancouver Whitecaps
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
TV: AppleTV
Radio: 760-AM, 1700-AM (Spanish)
NASCAR will honor the 250th birthday of the United States and the US Navy’s 250th anniversary with a race brand new to the racing calendar.
The Anduril 250 will take place on a road course built on Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, California. The 3.4-mile track has 19 turns. The race is 255 miles total and drivers will do 75 laps.
Shane van Gisbergen, who is widely considered to be NASCAR’s best road course driver, will start in pole position. van Gisbergen has won seven road races in 14 total starts, and he is just two road wins away from tying Jeff Gordon’s record of nine.
nascar anduril 250: what to know
- When: June 21, 4 p.m. ET
- Where: Coronado Street Course (Naval Base Coronado, San Diego, California)
- Channel: Streaming exclusive
- Streaming: Prime Video (30 days free)
Here’s everything you need to know about today’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the Coronado Street Course.
NASCAR Cup race at San Diego start time:
Today’s (June 21) NASCAR race, the Anduril 250, begins at 4 p.m. ET.
What channel is today’s (June 21) NASCAR race on?
Today’s NASCAR race won’t be on traditional television; it will air exclusively on Prime Video.
How to watch the NASCAR Anduril 250 for free:
With Prime Video, you can also take advantage of the streamer’s Shop the Race storefront, exclusively on the Amazon mobile app, to shop gear, flags, and more for your favorite driver.
NASCAR San Diego starting lineup:
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Carson Hocevar
- Ryan Blaney
- Zane Smith
- Todd Gilliland
- Daniel Suárez
- Ryan Preece
- Connor Zilisch
- Michael McDowell
- Austin Hill
- Ty Gibbs
- Bubba Wallace
- Corey Heim
- Kyle Larson
- AJ Allmendinger
- Chris Buescher
- Tyler Reddick
- Austin Dillon
- Joey Logano
- Alex Bowman
- Kevin Magnussen
- Chase Briscoe
- Ross Chastain
- Riley Herbst
- Cole Custer
- Denny Hamlin
- William Byron
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Brad Keselowski
- Chase Elliott
- Austin Cindric
- Noah Gragson
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Ty Dillon
- Josh Berry
- Jimmie Johnson
- Christopher Bell
- Erik Jones
- Cody Ware
Why Trust Post Wanted by the New York Post
This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.
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Shane van Gisbergen earned his sixth career pole and second of the 2026 season on Saturday, rocketing to pole position around NASCAR’s all-new 3.4-mile street course at Naval Base Coronado. He even touched the wall twice on his fast lap, pushing to the absolute limit.
“A little bit (surprised),” said Van Gisbergen, who went out with the first group of qualifiers. “I thought the track would be better, and I thought people would execute a bit better. As I said, it’s just so difficult. There’s three or four corners you’re seeing for the first time of the day, and it’s on your heater. Amazing. The Red Bull Chevy is really good. Thank you to Trackhouse for doing a great job from yesterday, and we just need to get the driver a bit better,” he concluded with a smile.”
Watch: SVG surprised to win Busch Light Pole at San Diego
Van Gisbergen bested Carson Hocevar by 0.0156s with a fast lap of 2:14.788s. Ryan Blaney will start third, Zane Smith fourth, and Todd Gilliland fifth. Blaney was a little bit quicker than SVG for most of his lap, but lost it through the final set of corners.
Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Connor Zilisch, Michael McDowell, and Austin Hill will out the remainder of the top ten on the starting grid.
Project 91 driver Kevin Magnussen qualified 21st for his NASCAR Cup debut. Notably, championship leader Tyler Reddick spun out, but still reached 17th on the grid. Denny Hamlin is just 19 points behind him, and will start 26th.
Watch: Reddick loops it in Turn 2 during qualifying
Some other notable drivers very deep in the field include William Byron in 27th, Chase Elliott 30th, and an injured Christopher Bell 37th. He will have Brent Crews on standby, and may finish the race for Bell on Sunday.
Jimmie Johnson was the first driver to set a time, and showed just how tricky things were as he had to use the runoff area in Turn 2 to avoid an incident. Erik Jones also smacked the wall at the exit of Turn 16, but there were no red flags during the session.
NASCAR Cup San Diego ‘Anduril 250’ Full Starting Lineup
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