The kickoff took place at 6:15 p.m.
Just 10 minutes later, the clock struck midnight.
Major League Soccer’s Cinderella story had played out with one of the youngest rosters in the league, and if you thought it was only a matter of time before a defense featuring three rookies faltered, you were right.
San Diego FC will not be traveling to South Florida to face Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in the MLS Cup next weekend. Instead, the Vancouver Whitecaps will be making that trip after securing a clinical 3-1 victory on Saturday night at a sold-out and stunned Snapdragon Stadium in the Western Conference final.
For the first time all season, the expansion team looked like one—conceding three first-half goals and finishing the match with 10 men and a 19-year-old third-string goalkeeper making his MLS debut.
“Details are for later, but it clearly wasn’t our best night and they had a very good night,” said coach Mikey Varas. “I know this hurts, but no one can take away the incredible season these players had. They made the city dream, they made an entire region dream.”
“We were just one step away from the MLS Cup, and 12 months ago, we were all introducing ourselves.”
The match was nearly decided within the first 10 minutes, which was all it took for the league’s most potent attack outside of Miami to unravel San Diego FC’s rookie outside backs.
In the eighth minute: Right back Ian Pilcher, who was playing college soccer for the Charlotte 49ers just a year ago, lost possession in his own third. Four one-touch passes later, Brian White was tapping the ball into the net.
In the eleventh minute: Left back Luca Bombino, only 19 and fresh from the MLS reserve league last year, was outplayed by Whitecaps winger Emmanuel Sabbi. Sabbi dribbled into the box and fired a hard shot that backup goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega, starting in place of the injured CJ dos Santos, deflected into the middle of the field instead of wide.
The ball fell to Ali Ahmed, who unleashed a shot that rookie center back Manu Duah, a freshman midfielder at UC Santa Barbara at this time last year, attempted to clear, but it instead deflected off Sisniega’s back and into the net.
The Whitecaps absorbed pressure for the next half hour before launching a counterattack following another careless loss of possession by the hosts, with Ahmed finding himself one-on-one against Pilcher on the flank.
Ahmed left Pilcher spinning and fired a cross that White easily chested over the line—making it 3-nil.
“It was obviously a tough first half for us,” captain Jeppe Tverskov said. “They were clever with their press, trying to catch us off guard and waiting for the perfect pass. It turned hectic, making it difficult for us to recover after going behind 1-0 and then 2-0. We had a mountain to climb.”
The irony? If you’d predicted which team would have skid marks on their back line, you would have expected it to be Vancouver.
Tristan Blackmon, the MLS Defender of the Year, received two yellow cards and was sent off in the conference semifinal against LAFC, resulting in a one-game suspension. His replacement, Belal Halbouni, came on and quickly tore his ACL, leaving the Whitecaps to finish overtime with only nine players before succeeding in a penalty shootout.
This sequence forced Mathias Laborda to move from left back to center back alongside Ralph Priso, a converted midfielder already out of position. Tate Johnson, a 20-year-old rookie, stepped in at left back, while the available substitutes consisted of players returning from injuries who hadn’t seen much action all fall.
“A lot can happen during 2½ hours,” Vancouver coach Jesper Sorensen said to the media after their improbable win against LAFC. “We are prepared for most scenarios. I believe we demonstrated last week that we have the mentality to handle adversity. And we will need that mentality to progress to the MLS final.”
“We are prepared to suffer on the pitch.”
Fortunately, they didn’t have to endure much suffering on Saturday, at least until Varas made the unusual decision to introduce three halftime substitutes: Hirving “Chucky” Lozano for forward Corey Baird, Luca de la Torre for midfielder Anibal Godoy, and Franco Negri for Pilcher at outside back.
Lozano, who hadn’t started since a locker room outburst back in September, responded with a goal in the 60th minute—a looping shot from long range after a quick restart caught Vancouver off guard. This sparked the crowd, reminiscent of a 5-3 SDFC win at Vancouver in June.
However, this was a different Whitecaps squad. For one, it included German superstar Thomas Muller following his August transfer from Bayern Munich. The team also shifted to a 4-2-3-1 formation instead of a 4-3-3, strengthening their midfield presence. Moreover, they refrained from applying a frantic high press on SDFC, a tactic Sorensen later admitted was poorly designed.
Additionally, SDFC was without Escondido native Milan Iloski, who scored four goals in 20 minutes during the earlier 5-3 win but had since ended his loan agreement and eventually signed with the Philadelphia Union.
In the 79th minute, SDFC faced a goalkeeping crisis.
Sisniega rushed out from his goal and fouled midfielder Ryan Gauld, which referee Joe Dickerson deemed a clear goal-scoring opportunity, resulting in an automatic red card. With dos Santos injured in the first round against Portland, third-string keeper Duran Ferree was thrust into action for his MLS debut at age 19, forcing the hosts to finish the game a man down.
“It was a great season for me, my teammates, the staff, and our leadership; a very rewarding season,” Lozano reflected. “We aimed to be champions, and it just wasn’t meant to be. But everyone can walk away with pride for what we accomplished this season.”
“Tonight was unfortunate, but that’s football. You win some; you lose some.”
When the final whistle echoed, the Snapdragon Stadium crowd—most of whom resisted the urge to leave early—stood and applauded the expansion club with a heartfelt ovation.
“That means a lot,” Tverskov said. “I think they could sense our disappointment. We haven’t faced a game like this throughout the season… that’s why it hurts. It’s been a fairy tale season for all of us. Everything felt magical, and for a moment, we saw the end and dared to dream. It shows we have been doing many things right.”
“I believe we can take pride in our accomplishments, and we are building something for future seasons. Perhaps that’s something to reflect on in the coming week. It’s tough today.”
