Overview
- Wednesday night at Providence Park Kristoffer Velde opened the scoring and set up a second-half goal as Portland defeated San Diego 3-1.
- Gabriel Pirani scored his first goal for San Diego to level the match just before halftime, but Ariel Lassiter restored the lead early in the second half and David Da Costa added a long-range strike to seal the win.
- San Diego played without influential attacker Anders Dreyer because of a suspension and had its three-match unbeaten streak snapped by the loss.
- The result moved Portland into the Western Conference playoff positions and gave Cifuentes a positive early sign as he continues to implement his tactical approach.
- The game came amid ongoing transfer speculation around Portland top scorer Kevin Kelsy and a compressed midseason schedule that is testing squad depth and rotation for both clubs.