San Diego FC spent last weekend a mile high, huffing and puffing on the way to a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Rapids outside Denver.
Things won’t get any easier Saturday, when they take on Charlotte FC more than 2,300 miles away from home. The trip east is SDFC’s longest of the young season — the club is traveling roughly twice as far as it did a week ago and in a March trip to Austin, Texas.
SDFC coach Mikey Varas knows what his club is up against. Charlotte is 5-2-1, good for second place in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference. San Diego FC is 4-2-2, tied for third in the Western Conference behind the Vancouver Whitecaps and Minnesota United.
“That’s what we want,” Varas told reporters on Thursday. “We want to test ourselves against the best, see where we’re at, see where we’re good and see where we need to get better.”
SDFC has already learned some lessons from last week’s loss, the first time the club has allowed more than two goals in a match all season. Varas said SDFC was affected by the altitude, though “we don’t use that as an excuse,” he said.
That didn’t keep the club from fighting. Forward Tomás Ángel cut Colorado’s lead to 3-2 with a goal in the 89th minute, and SDFC had multiple good looks at the net in injury time before the final whistle blew. Defender Chris McVey, midfielder Jeppe Tverskov and goalkeeper CJ dos Santos all played the full 90 minutes at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, which at 5,200 feet above sea level is the highest point in American soccer.
“I loved that we were brave,” Varas said. “We were a little bit sloppy on the ball. We know we have more quality than what we showed, at least in of the ing and receiving.”
Charlotte might be SDFC’s toughest opponent to date. The club’s goal differential of plus-6 is tied for second in the 30-team MLS. Midfielder Pep Beal leads Charlotte with three goals. Winger Wilfried Zaha, Charlotte’s high-profile designated player, is expected to return from thumb surgery in time to face SDFC. He has scored two goals over six matches this season.
SDFC’s gauntlet should ease up in the coming weeks. After Saturday, San Diego will play five of its six matches at Snapdragon Stadium. Its opponents over the next two weekends, Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas, are a combined 6-8-2 to start the season.
“The quality of this squad is really high,” SDFC midfielder Luca de la Torre said, “so we need to keep pushing.”
Watch party
San Diego FC will host an all-day block party Saturday at The Soap Factory in Logan Heights. The event starts at 10 a.m. and features a live DJ, food trucks, a bar station, giveaways and a youth soccer tournament.
The Soap Factory will broadcast the team’s game against Charlotte starting at 4:30 p.m.
Tickets available
Tickets are now on sale for San Diego FC’s home games as part of the 2025 Leagues Cup. SDFC will host C.F. Pachuca on July 29, Tigres UNRL on Aug. 1 and Mazatlan FC on Aug. 5.
The Leagues Cup features teams from MLS and Liga MX, Mexico’s top soccer league.
Wave head to Louisville
The San Diego Wave (1-2-1) will take on Racing Louisville (1-1-2) at noon Saturday in Kentucky. The match will be broadcast locally on Fox 5 and streamed live on Paramount+.
The Wave are coming off a 2-0 home loss to the Kansas City Current last weekend.
San Diego is led by forward Delphine Cascarino, who leads the National Women’s Soccer League with two assists. She also logged an assist when San Diego and Racing Louisville met at the end of the 2024 season. Racing Louisville’s roster features Taylor Flint, who played for the Wave from 2022-23 under her maiden name, Taylor Kornieck. Flint has appeared in four matches this season, logging one assist.
The Wave will play at the Chicago Stars next week before returning home May 4 against Bay FC.
