San Diego FC (SDFC) earned a 4-2 victory over Liga MX side Club Tijuana (Xolos) in the inaugural Baja Cup at Snapdragon Stadium. After trailing twice, SDFC responded with three unanswered goals in the second half to secure bragging rights in the San Diego/Tijuana region.
Xolos struck first in the sixth minute through Vitinho, but winger Alex Mighten leveled the score nine minutes later. Club Tijuana regained the advantage in the 51st minute on a goal from Christian Leyva, before SDFC responded with three late second half goals. David Vazquez equalized in the 76th minute, Manu Duah put the hosts in front four minutes later, and a Right to Dream guest player capped the scoring in the 88th minute.
The Baja Cup marks the first meeting between SDFC and Club Tijuana as part of a five-year partnership that celebrates the shared football culture of the San Diego/Baja region with an annual friendly match.
SDFC now turns its attention back to MLS Regular Season play, traveling to face Atlanta United FC on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the clubs’ first-ever meeting. The match will air live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, with English-language radio coverage on San Diego Sports 760 AM and Spanish-language coverage on TUDN 1700 AM.
Goal Scoring plays:
TIJ (0-1) - Vitinho (Joe Corona), 6th Minute: Vitinho opened the scoring with a strike from about 35 yards out, catching SDFC goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega off his line. The midfielder took a feed from Joe Corona, quickly fired from the left side, and saw his shot bounce into the net.
SD (1-1) - Alex Mighten (Corey Baird), 15th minute: Mighten pulled SDFC level with a left-footed shot from inside the box. After receiving a short pass from Corey Baird, he turned, pivoted, and rolled his finish across goal for the equalizer.
TIJ (1-2) - Christian Leyva, 51st Minute: Leyva restored the lead for Club Tijuana with a low shot into the left corner from the edge of the box, beating Sisniega from the left side.
SD (2-2) - David Vazquez (Tomás Ángel), 76th Minute: Vazquez tied the match with a sliding finish inside the box. He connected on a pinpoint cross from Tomás Ángel, sending his shot past substitute goalkeeper José Miguel Corona. Ángel delivered the ball on a volley from right to left.
SD (3-2) -Manu Duah (David Vazquez), 80th Minute: Duah put SDFC in front with a header off a Vazquez corner kick. The rookie defender outjumped the Xolos back line in the center of the box and powered his effort past Corona.
SD (4-2) -Guest Player (Guest Player), 88th minute: SDFC capped the win with a goal from one of its four guest Right to Dream players. The forward collected a low pass from a fellow guest player, turned quickly near the six-yard box, and slotted his shot into the net.
Postgame Notes:
- With tonight’s 4-2 win against Club Tijuana, SDFC takes the first-ever Baja Cup and earned its first win against its border town neighbor.
- Tonight’s match was the first of a five-year partnership that will pair these two clubs in a yearly friendly match.
- The win tonight was also SDFC’s second win in an international friendly (Club America on June 7). It was also the Club’s third win against a Liga MX team across all competitions. SDFC beat Mazatlán FC 2-0 on Aug. 5 in its first-ever Leagues Cup victory.
- Midfielder David Vazquez scored his first goal for SDFC tonight. He also had an assist on Manu Duah’s goal.
- Vazquez was named Player of the Match after recording two goal contributions against Xolos.
- Duah also scored his first goal with SDFC. The Rookie defender found the net in his 14th appearance with the Club across all competitions. He came on as a substitute for Pedro Soma in the 61st minute tonight and scored 19 minutes later.
- Forward Alex Mighten also found the net tonight, scoring his second goal with SDFC across all competitions. He scored one goal in the MLS regular season.
- Forward Corey Baird was on the SDFC starting lineup for the second time this season. His first came in a regular season match against Portland Timbers on Aug. 23 in his debut with the Club.
- Baird contributed in Mighten’s goal tonight with an assist, his first with SDFC.
- Soma also made his first start for SDFC. It was his fifth appearance with the club since being acquired on July 28.
- Defender Aiden Harangi was back in action for SDFC as part of the Starting XI tonight. It was Harangi’s first time on the pitch since suffering an upper body injury against the San Jose Earthquakes on Aug. 17.
- Defender Leo Duru made his first start for SDFC. Duru had appeared in two MLS regular season matches coming on as a substitute against LAFC and Portland Timbers in his debut with the Club.
- Goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega started at goal for SDFC for the seventh time across all competitions. He also started against Liga MX side Club América in a friendly and in two Leagues Cup matches against CF Pachuca and Tigres UANL.
- Sisniega was replaced by Duran Ferree in the 46th minute, with the San Diego native making his debut with SDFC. He earned a pair of saves against Xolos.
- SDFC featured four guest players from the Right to Dream global network tonight, with one of them scoring the Club’s fourth goal of the night. Another guest player assisted on that scoring play.
Next Match
SDFC will next return to MLS Regular Season action against Atlanta United FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 20. The match will be broadcast live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, as well as English and Spanish radio broadcasts on San Diego Sports 760 AM and TUDN 1700 AM.
Scoring Summary:
TIJ (0-1) - Vitinho (Assisted by Joe Corona), 6’
SD (1-1) - Alex Mighten (Assisted by Corey Baird), 15’
TIJ (1-2) – Christian Leyva, 51’
SD (2-2) - David Vazquez (Assisted by Tomás Ángel) 76’
SD (3-2) - Manu Duah (Assisted by David Vazquez) 80’
SD (4-2) - No. 37 Guest Player (Assisted by No. 34 Guest Player), 88’
Misconduct Summary:
TIJ – Ramiro Franco (caution, 18’)
SD - Tomás Ángel (caution, 61’)
TIJ – Domingo Blanco (caution, 67’)
SD – No. 35 Guest Player (caution, 68’)
SD -Manu Duah (caution, 84’)
Lineups:
SAN DIEGO FC: GK Pablo Sisniega (Duran Ferree, 46’); D Leo Duru, D Ian Pilcher, D Aiden Harangi (No. 34 Guet Player, 46’), D No. 35 Guest Player; M David Vazquez, M Aníbal Godoy –C- (No. 36 Guest Player, 46’), M Pedro Soma (Manu Duah, 61’); F Emmanuel Boateng, F Corey Baird (Tomás Ángel, 46’), F Alex Mighten (No. 37 Guest Player, 46’)
Substitutes Not Used:
TOTAL SHOTS: 6; SHOTS ON GOAL: 6; FOULS: 10; OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES; 2
CLUB TIJUANA: GK Jesús Corona (José Miguel Corona, 41’); D Josué Reyes, D Ramiro Franco (Pablo Ortíz, 23’), D David Osuna, D Aarón Mejía; M Kevin Escamilla, M Joe Corona -C-, M Vitinho, F Adonis Preciado, M Christian Lyva (Domingo Blanco, 65’); F Joban González
Substitutes Not Used: GK Salim Hernandez, F Mourad El Ghezouani, F Brian Palacios, M Luciano Farías. D Ian Olvera, D Brayan Fernández, M Sebastian Muñoz.
TOTAL SHOTS: 9; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 8; OFFSIDES 1; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 2
Referee: Elton Garcia
Assistant Referees: Kevin Lock, Eduardo Jeff
Fourth Official: Corbyn May
Weather: 77-degrees, Partly Cloudy
Attendance: 29,171
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
SDFC HEAD COACH MIKEY VARAS
On the players he used for tonight’s match:
“So, we were pretty intentional with our weeks, and we knew that this week started with this kind of, like bounce back mentality. We know we're going to go on the road, and then this game, provided an additional opportunity to grow our squad, right, make our squad bigger, and then also work towards that goal of making home a fortress. And so, we put, kind of had, like a little bit of a split mission mentality in terms of, had to separate the group just for a couple of days. And one group trained this morning, for example, and one group played. And I think it was a really, really great experience, because the guys showed up. This is a culture here that whether it's five a side, or it's a playoff match, or it's a lead match or it's a quote on quote, friendly. If we're going to lace up our boots, we're going to try to win. That's inside our DNA, and I think they did a great job of doing that. What I told them was, I think it was so amazing just to watch the team play, because the spirit of the team is evident and clear. No matter who's on the field, the names change, but San Diego FC doesn't change. And you see them playing really, with a lot of initiative, a lot of courage. You see the team pressing. You see the team going down a goal, coming back, going down another moment, coming back, going for the win, winning 3-2 not being satisfied, going for the fourth goal. And those are things that I think are going to really set the foundation for the long term of the club. And then guest players are awesome. This is like, I think the one of the most positive outcomes of this, is a collaboration between the greater family that we are at Right to Dream, because it's not just San Diego FC, that we represent, we represent all of Right to Dream, which is Right to Dream Ghana, Egypt, Denmark and San Diego. And so, you see [the guest players] coming from Denmark, and from the IA [International Academy]. And it's really nice to be part of something much bigger.”
On Duran Ferree getting first minutes with the club:
“I think Duran [Ferree], this was also an opportunity for individual players to kind of make a statement, and you made that pretty clear to them as well. The way that you make a statement is you play with high levels of intensity and quality that make the team better and give us a chance of winning. And I think Duran [Ferree] is one of the players that did well for himself, because he made a couple of big saves. In my opinion, he was calm and collected in a couple of crossing situations. And then in the build up, he showed that he has a really high level and the only way to really find out, of course, training helps. The only way to really find out is to play in front of 20 plus thousand people in a game that both teams want to win. He did really well.”
On Alex Mighten scoring and boosting his confidence:
“Yeah, again, like one of the main intentions was to make our squad bigger. And we put the individual objective for each guy to say, prove a point. Go out there and prove a point, show who you are. The way you show who you are is play with the intensity and quality that helps the team win. I think it's massive. These games can really help players, maybe who haven't gotten as much of an opportunity or as many minutes to showcase themselves. And as a winger, it's always important to get goals, so we're really hopeful that this helps him kind of get into that positive trend.”
