10/24/2026
(San Diego, CA) The Seattle Sounders were in San Diego on Saturday night, knowing a win would solidify their MLS playoff push. They were facing a San Diego FC team trying to snap an 8-game winless streak and fighting for their mathematical survival of postseason play.
The first half was 45 minutes of a feeling-out process with a couple of attacks from both sides but in the end they would go to the halftime break scoreless at 0-0.
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer made a few adjustments at halftime, subbing Sebastian Gomez to inject some energy into the attack. That shift yielded instant returns. In the 50th minute the Sounders broke the deadlock when Dejon Joveljić collected the ball outside the box, found a sliver of space against the retreating San Diego backline, and fired a laser into the upper left-hand corner and beat San Diego goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega giving Seattle a 1-0 lead.
Five minutes later Seattle struck again when Jackson Ragen passed the ball to Hassani Dotson, who then split defenders and got the ball over to Gomez, Gomez then fired it home to make it 2-0 and a big lead for the Sounders.
Seattle looked to be cruising to a win (and those big three points) but in the 60th minute, following a VAR review, the referee pointed to the penalty box for a foul against Seattle’s Alex Roldan, giving San Diego a penalty kick. Anders Dreyer went to take the shot for San Diego, fired it to the right side of the goal, and Sounders keeper Andrew Thomas had it timed perfectly to block the shot. The ball rebounded back out into fair play, where Cedric Bakambu slammed the ball into the left side of the net to put San Diego on the board.
Schmetzer, wanting to protect that 2-1 lead, brought in young defender Stuart Hawkins and other reinforcements like Paul Ariola. The match continued to be back and forth and remained 2-1 in favor of Seattle all the way to stoppage time.
Deep into extra time, Hawkins was wrestling for position with Marcus Ingvartsen near the edge of the box. As the ball went out of bounds, Hawkins kept a grip on Ingvartsen’s jersey, referee Allen Chapman called the foul and gave San Diego the chance for the equalizer with not much time left in the match. Bakambu stepped up to take the PK and Thomas guessed wrong as Bakambu easily scored the tying goal.
When the final whistle blew the tie keeps San Diego’s faint play-off hopes alive. It felt more like a loss for the Sounders especially on how they lost. They won’t have much time to dwell on it as next Wednesday they’re back home hosting against Houston.
More coverage check out Cascadia Sports dot Net’s coverage here
| Statistic | San Diego FC | Seattle Sounders |
|---|---|---|
| Final Score | 2 | 2 |
| Ball Possession | 59% | 41% |
| Expected Goals (xG) | 2.37 | 1.35 |
| Total Shots | 13 | 13 |
| Shots on Target | 4 | 4 |
| Corner Kicks | 5 | 3 |
| Goalkeeper Saves | 2 | 3 |
| Fouls Committed | 11 | 12 |
| Offsides | 1 | 1 |
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- 50′ (SEA): Dejan Joveljić (Unassisted) — Left-footed strike from outside the box.
- 55′ (SEA): Sebastian Gomez (Assisted by Hassani Dotson & Jackson Ragen) — Tap-in off a cross.
- 60′ (SD): Cédric Bakambu (Unassisted) — Rebound following an Anders Dreyer penalty save.
- 90+6′ (SD): Cédric Bakambu (Penalty) — Equalizer deep in stoppage time.
- 53′ (SEA): Dejan Joveljić (Yellow Card)
- 59′ (SEA): Alex Roldan (Yellow Card)
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