CHICAGO, Ili. (Saturday, July 12, 2025) – San Diego FC (SDFC) earned three points on the road with a 2-1 win over Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field on Saturday night. Winger Anders Dreyer recorded a brace, scoring both goals in the first half off assists from Hirving “Chucky” Lozano and Luca Bombino. The win keeps SDFC at the top of the Western Conference standings.
Dreyer opened the scoring in the eighth minute, finishing a left-footed shot off a low cross from Bombino and a quick touch from Lozano to give SDFC a 1-0 lead. The Danish 2025 MLS All-Star doubled the advantage in first-half stoppage time, firing home a second goal from another Lozano cross to send San Diego into the break up 2-0. Chicago’s Hugo Cuypers pulled one back in the 87th minute to make it 2-1, but SDFC held firm in the closing moments to secure the win in the Club’s first-ever meeting with the Fire. Goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega played a key role in preserving the result, making three crucial saves in his regular season debut for San Diego, including two late stops from close range.
SDFC now returns home for two matches at Snapdragon Stadium in the week, hosting Toronto FC on Wednesday, July 16, followed by the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, July 19. Kickoff for both matches is set for 7:30 p.m. PT, with live coverage available on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, as well as English and Spanish radio broadcasts on San Diego Sports 760 AM and TUDN 1700 AM. Tickets are available at
SanDiegoFC.com/Tickets.
Goal Scoring Plays:
SD 0-1 – Anders Dreyer (Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, Luca Bombino), 8th minute: Dreyer opened the scoring with a left-footed strike from just outside the six-yard box, finishing off a low, rolling cross from Luca Bombino that was redirected into his path by Hirving “Chucky” Lozano.
SD 0-2 – Anders Dreyer (Hirving Lozano, Luca Bombino), 45+3: Dreyer doubled the lead with another left-footed finish, slotting the ball past Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady off a pinpoint cross from Hirving “Chucky” Lozano. The chance came on a breakaway, with Lozano sprinting up the left flank after receiving a long pass from Luca Bombino before delivering the assist.
CHI 1-2 – Hugo Cuypers (Maren Haile- Selassie), 88th minute: Chicago pulled one back through Hugo Cuypers, who made a run into the six-yard box and converted a low cross from Maren Haile-Selassie with a right-footed finish inside the right post, beating SDFC goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega.
Postgame Notes:
· With today’s 2-1 win against the Chicago Fire, SDFC earned its 13th win in club history.
· SDFC is now 13-6-3 with 42 points through 22 games this season and currently sits in first place in the Western Conference standings.
· SDFC is now 1-1-1 against Eastern Conference rivals this season. Today marked the Club’s first win against an Eastern Conference opponent.
· SDFC is now 7-4-0 on the road this season.
· SDFC has 24 goals on the road in 2025.
· SDFC is now 10-1-0 when scoring first.
· Luca Bombino, who made his 15th start for the Club and registered his second and third assists tonight on both of Ander Dreyer’s goals.
· Dreyer scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season. He is the team’s leading scorer.
· Dreyer now has 26 goal contributions (11 goals, 15 as sists), tied for the fifth most by a player in his club’s first 22 games of a season in league history.
· The Danish 2025 MLS All-Star leads MLS in assists with 15.
· Dreyer now has three braces this season (Feb. 23 at LA Galaxy, June 14 at Minnesota and July 12 at Chicago).
· Dreyer has had multiple goal contributions in seven matches: Feb. 23 at LA Galaxy (2 goals), May 3 vs. FC Dallas (1 goals, 2 assist), May 14 vs. Colorado (1 goal,1 assist), June 14 at Minnesota United (2 goals, 1 assist), June 25 at Vancouver (3 assists), June 28 at FC Dallas (1 goal, 2 assists), Jul. 12 at Chicago (2 goals).
· Forward Hirving “Chucky” Lozano made his first start since coming back from a lower leg injury on May 31. He appeared off the bench in SDFC’s last two matches (at FC Dallas on June 28 and vs. Houston Dynamo on July 5).
· Lozano assisted both of Dreyer’s goals tonight, bringing his season total to 15 goal contributions (6 goals, 9 assists).
· Defender Christopher McVey registered his 99th MLS regular season appearance tonight. Overall, McVey has 100 MLS appearances across all competitions including MLS Playoffs.
· Defender Chris McVey started and played the full 90 minutes in tonight’s match, bringing his total to 2,190 minutes through San Diego FC’s first 22 MLS regular season games. McVey is now the only SDFC player to have played every single minute this season.
· 19-year-old defender Oscar Verhoeven made his eighth start for SDFC, his eighth appearance with the Club and his 17th MLS career appearance.
· Goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega made his MLS regular season debut for SDFC. His last MLS appearance came on March 11, 2023, when he played for Charlotte FC against Atlanta United.
· Sisniega had his first three regular season saves with SDFC and MLS tonight.
· Midfielder Luca De La Torre returned to action with SDFC, starting for the first time since leaving for national team (USMNT) duty after SDFC’s 2-0 win against Austin FC on May 31.
· SDFC was without seven players tonight: CJ Dos Santos, Willy Kumado, Anisse Saidi, Marcus Ingvartsen, Aníbal Godoy, Alejandro Alvarado Jr. (on MLS Season-Ending Injury List) and Andres Reyes (on MLS Season-Ending Injury List).
Next Game
SDFC will now return home to face Toronto FC on Wednesday, July 16 and the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, July 19 at Snapdragon Stadium. Kickoff for both matches is set for 7:30 p.m. PT, with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, as well as English and Spanish radio broadcasts on San Diego Sports 760 AM and TUDN 1700 AM.
Match Information
2025 MLS Regular Season
San Diego FC (13-6-3, 42 pts) vs. Chicago Fire FC (8-9-4, 28 pts)
Saturday, July 12, 2025 – Soldier Field (Chicago, Ili.)
Scoring Summary:
SD (0-1) – Anders Dreyer (Assisted by Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, Luca Bombino), 8’
SD (0-2) – Anders Dreyer (Assisted by Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, Luca Bombino), 45+3
CHI (1-2) – Hugo Cuypers (Assisted by Maren Haile-Selassie), 87’
Misconduct Summary:
SD – Onni Valakari (caution, 2’)
CHI – Mauricio Pineda (caution, 30’)
SD – Emmanuel Boateng (caution, 82’)
CHI – Brian Gutierrez (caution 90+6)
Lineups:
SAN DIEGO FC: GK Pablo Sisniega; D Paddy McNair (Ian Pilcher, 46’), D Oscar Verhoeven, D Christopher McVey, D Luca Bombino (Franco Negri, 90+1); M Onni Valakari, M Jeppe Tverskov -C-, M Luca De La Torre; F Anders Dreyer, F Hirving “Chucky” Lozano (Alex Mighten, 58’), F Tomás Ángel (Emmanuel Boateng, 81’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jacob Jackson, M Manu Duah, D Jasper Löffelsend, F Milan Iloski, F Alex Mighten, D Hamady Diop.
TOTAL SHOTS: 7; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 11; OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 0; SAVES; 3
CHICAGO FIRE FC: GK Chris Brady, D Leonardo Barroso (Johnny Dean, 66’), D Jack Elliott -C-, D Sam Rogers (Tom Barlow, 86’), D Andrew Gutman, D Philip Zinckernagel (Maren Halie-Selassie, 72’), M Brian Gutierrez, M Jonathan Bamba, M Mauricio Pineda, M Sergio Oregel Jr. (Rominigue Kouame, 46’), F Hugo Cuypers
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jeffrey Gal, M Kellyn Acosta, D Omari Glasgow, D Omar Gonzalez, M Tah Ange Innocent D’Avilla Dje
TOTAL SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 17; OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 2
Referee: Victor Rivas
Assistant Referees: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho, Eduardo Jeff
Fourth Official: Joshua Encarnacion
VAR: Daniel Radford
AVAR: Tom Supple
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 81-degrees,
Attendance: 27,631
