San Diego FC played its 17th game of the 2025 MLS regular season this Saturday, May 31. SDFC hosted Austin FC at Snapdragon Stadium for the fifth and final home game in the month of May.

There was a very notable absence in San Diego’s starting 11 as Jeppe Tverskov was unavailable due to yellow card accumulation. Alejandro Alvarado Jr. replaced the team captain in the midfield alongside Anibal Godoy, who was wearing the captain’s armband in this match.

Marcus Ingvartsen was just coming back from injury and started this match on the bench for Mikey Varas. San Diego was coming off a 1-0 loss against Seattle Sounders on the road, but were still on a four-game undefeated streak at home.

SDFC controlled 67 percent possession in the opening 45 minutes and were clearly the better team on the pitch. The visitors did not pose much of a threat, but San Diego was unable to take advantage of this dominance.

One of the more exciting plays in the first half came when Alejandro Alvarado tried an ambitious bicycle kick shot that just went just wide of the opposition’s net.

The first half ended scoreless, and frustration grew at the beginning of the second half with Austin locking down the home team. However, SDFC stayed persistent, and the opening goal of the match came in the 60th minute.

Luca de la Torre delivers! 🎆

📺 #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/LqelDmNjl7 pic.twitter.com/wvakoMzU0o

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 1, 2025

Luca de la Torre scored his fourth goal of the season to give the Azul and Chrome the lead. The scoring play was very well crafted, beginning with a long ball forward by Paddy McNair to “Chucky” Lozano. The Mexican international then weaved in and out to pass the ball to de la Torre, who released a perfectly located shot to the back of the net.

A few minutes after that goal, cheers turned into concerns around the Snap as Hirving Lozano was subbed out due to an injury. The issue seemed to be a non-contact muscle injury, as Alex Mighten immediately replaced him.

Lozano was out for 26 days due to his previous injury, which is not great news for the club or for “Chucky”. The veteran winger now has the potential to miss the 2025 Gold Cup with the Mexico national team, which was his first call-up back to Mexico in over a year.

SDFC struggled to generate much offensive play in the following minutes after Lozano’s departure. However, Austin FC was really struggling on the offensive side of the ball as well. Chula Vista native Brandon Vazquez was completely shut down and was eventually subbed out in the 72nd minute.

Marcus Ingvartsen made his return for SDFC in the 81st minute when he came on for Alejandro Alvarado Jr.

The game remained consistent in the final minutes, just as it had been throughout. San Diego FC had much more of the ball, but both teams seemed to struggle to generate concrete scoring plays.

One of the clearest opportunities came towards the dying moments when a header by Marcus Ingvartsen was stopped by visiting goalkeeper Brad Stuver.

Mikey Varas’ final substitution of the game was an important one as Milan Iloski replaced Luca de la Torre. Iloski made an immediate impact in the match as he went on to score in stoppage time to seal the 2-0 scoreline .

Milan Iloski give-and-goal for San Diego. 🏃‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/c0jJTPomeV

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 1, 2025

Anders Dreyer pulled out a phenomenal pass on the scoring play, which allowed Iloski to come away with the shot on net. Both goal scorers on the night were San Diego natives, marking an important milestone in something the club is trying to achieve.

The win was an important one for SDFC after a very frustrating 1-0 loss on the road against Seattle Sounders.

This is now San Diego’s fifth win in the last seven games, which has San Diego currently in third place on the MLS table at the time of writing.

After five home games in May, San Diego will have to go the entire month of June without a game played at Snapdragon Stadium. SDFC’s next game will be until June 14 against Minnesota on the road, followed by road games against Vancouver and Dallas.

While the win was a very positive one, the injury picked up by Hirving Lozano is still a heavy concern after this game.

Francisco Velasco

Francisco, 28, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego FC, San Diego Wave. I have covered Liga MX, MLS, Mexico National Team, USWNT, Copa América and European clubs like Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund.