San Diego FC salvages finale in Leagues Cup play; MLS season resumes Saturday

Onni Valakari needed only a few minutes on the pitch Tuesday night to close San Diego FC’s inaugural Leagues Cup foray with a 2-0 win over Mazatlan FC at Snapdragon Stadium.

Shortly after subbing in for Luca de la Torre at the 62nd minute, Valakari broke a scoreless stalemate when he booted a left-footed screamer that Mazatlan goalkeeper Victor Alcaraz had no hope of stopping.

The 66th-minute goal, set up by a perfectly placed cross from Anders Dreyer, gave SDFC (1-0-2) its first lead in Phase One of Leagues Cup play. Valakari added to that advantage eight minutes later, when David Vazquez dumped a pass off to the streaking midfielder.

Valakari’s shot from right-to-left found the net, out of the reach of a diving Alcaraz, guaranteed SDFC would not go winless in a disappointing Leagues Cup debut. It also sealed the visiting club’s fate both for the night and in the Leagues Cup.

Stakes were low for SDFC coming into Tuesday’s contest, reflected in the sparse attendance at Snapdragon Stadium. Losses of 3-2 to CF Pachuca on July 29 and 2-1 to Tigres UANL last Friday eliminated SDFC from the annual competition between clubs from Major League Soccer and Mexico’s Liga MX.

However, Mazatlan (1-1-1) arrived in San Diego with five points and above the top-four cutoff line on the Liga MX side of the tournament. The visiting Cañoneros earned two points for defeating Los Angeles FC in penalties and downing Houston Dynamo last week.

SDFC successfully played the role of spoiler, frustrating the purple-clad Mazatlan squad. A red card issued to captain Nicolas Benedetti in the 78th minute effectively signaled the end of Mazatlan’s hopes to advance to the eight-team knockout stage.

C.J. dos Santos, donning a protective mask for the nose he broke July 5 vs. Houston, made his return in goal. He did not see much work with SDFC dominating possession for more than 75% of the match, only making his first save in a month during the 86th minute.

Jesus Hernandez’s attempt was Mazatlan’s only shot on goal compared to six for SDFC.

Dos Santos took back over for Pablo Sisniega, who conceded only three total goals in four Major League starts but allowed five in SDFC’s two previous Leagues Cup matches.

With dos Santos back in goal and Dreyer returning after missing Friday’s loss to Tigres due to a red card, SDFC rounded back near full-strength ahead of this week’s resumption of MLS play.

The league’s Western Conference-leading club travels to Kansas City on Saturday in SDFC’s first MLS match since beating Nashville FC on July 25, 1-0.