Front Row Seat: San Diego FC advances to Western Conference Semifinal

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San Diego FC

Anders Dreyer leads SDFC to playoff-clinching win at Snapdragon Stadium - San Diego Union-Tribune
Serenaded with chants of “M-V-P” from the supporters section during warmups, San Diego FC forward Anders Dreyer wasted little time validating the cheers in a 4-0 MLS Cup Playoffs Game 3 win over visiting Portland Timbers on Sunday.

The 2025 MLS All-Star scored in the fifth minute of the do-or-die contest, assisted on a cross from Onni Valakari. Valakari, who made a midfield tackle to gain possession, lobbed a pass that sailed just behind the streaking Dreyer but within the window of two Portland defenders.

Dreyer repositioned and fired a low shot past Timbers goalkeeper James Pantemis. The tone-setting goal sent the Snapdragon Stadium crowd of 32,500 into a frenzy that never relented for the ensuing 85 minutes, as the home club closed out the first victorious postseason series in franchise history.

San Diego FC Dominates Timbers 4-0 - Chromatic FC
San Diego FC delivered a crushing 4-0 defeat to the Portland Timbers in a decisive Game 3 of the playoffs. This was a true do-or-die contest on Sunday night, with the victor earning the right to advance to the Western Conference Semifinal against Minnesota United. SDFC was determined to secure a win in regulation, having been forced into penalties and ultimately defeated after Portland’s late equalizer in Game 2.

San Diego FC heading to the Western Conference Semis, routing the Portland Timbers 4-0 - The Sporting Tribune
Following the 4-0 victory over the Portland Timbers, SDFC head coach Mikey Varas spoke at the post-game press conference on the win and looking ahead to the next round.  

“The most important thing is that we celebrate this, this milestone, because we continue to write history for a brand new club in a city that loves Football. I think that's the most important thing right now. Then tomorrow, it doesn't matter what happened in this game tomorrow, we've got to start preparing for a totally different test in the next round.”

Tom Krasovic: SDFC bucks city’s sports tradition with elimination-game win - San Diego Union-Tribune
So now it will come down to winning three more games. The Western Conference finale would be in Mission Valley, too – against the winner of the LACF-Vancouver semifinals match. The MLS Cup matches come Dec. 6, at the venue of the team that had the most points in the regular season.

The San Diego newbies earned the homefield matches in Games 1 and 3. And doing what many San Diego teams did not do in decades gone by, they took advantage of it.

San Diego Wave

Wave lose to Portland in OT, see season come to an end - San Diego Union-Tribune
The first road playoff win in San Diego Wave FC history will have to wait after the club fell 1-0 to the Portland Thorns in the first round of the NWSL playoffs Sunday, Nov. 9 at Providence Park.

The No. 3 Thorns struggled to break through the No. 6 Wave’s back line for most of the match, not registering a corner kick until the 84th minute.

However, the Thorns did enough to keep the game scoreless and head into overtime. And from there, Thorns young star Olivia Moultrie made a run in the 93rd minute, crossed it into the box to Portland forward Reilyn Turner who headed it past Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan for the match’s lone goal.

Atlanta lands NWSL expansion franchise backed by Arthur Blank for record $165 million: Sources - The Athletic
Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but the reported $165 million fee is more than 50 percent higher than the $110 million Denver paid in January. The other recent expansion teams, Bay FC and Boston Legacy, paid around $53 million.

The move solidifies Atlanta’s growing presence in American soccer.

The area is the future home of the U.S. Soccer Federation, which is relocating its headquarters and national training center to Fayette County, Georgia by 2026. The new facility, backed by Blank and his family’s foundation, is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in time for the FIFA men’s World Cup next summer.

San Diego State Aztecs

3 Thoughts … after San Diego State’s 38-6 loss at Hawaii - San Diego Union-Tribune
The loss to Hawaii was not surprising in that it was a defeat. Few could have expected the Aztecs to run the table the rest of the season. The surprising part comes from the fact SDSU’s defense had been so good during the winning streak, whereas against the Rainbow Warriors it was so not.

Could missing linebacker Tano Letuli, who suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago against Wyoming, and cornerback Chris Johnson, who was out Saturday with an unspecified injury, have been so disruptive?

County Supervisor enters discussion over Aztecs football ticket prices; AD responds
Does Wicker feel like he needs to adjust prices down again, with half as many season ticket holders now as there were three years ago?

“I think a winning product on the field is the thing that, hopefully, should fuel that and start moving people back,” he said. “You know, you’re winning on the field, you can’t have a much better all-inclusive experience with what we’re doing today.”

Desmond wrote that many people simply can’t afford to go to games. Does Wicker agree with that?

“I realize how much things have changed in the last three or four years and yet we’ve brought season ticket prices down,” Wicker said. “The Padres don’t have a problem drawing (fans) for 81 games. SDFC hasn’t had a problem drawing with their 20-plus games, for the most part. And those ticket prices are probably comparable with ours.”

Aztecs pushed in 73-57 win vs. Idaho State - San Diego Union-Tribune
Five days after blitzing Long Beach State by 32 points, San Diego State hosted an Idaho State team that was comparably mediocre in the computer metrics and won 73-57.

The difference in the rare Sunday afternoon game: The Aztecs had to work for it.

Winning by six points fewer than the computer projection cost them six spots in the Kenpom metric, from No. 25 to 31. But coach Brian Dutcher will gladly take a metrics hit in exchange for the game film and the second-half minutes under relative duress.

“It’s what you want in a (nonconference) game,” Dutcher said. “You want to be exposed in some things that you have to get better at, and they exposed us on some things.”

Odds & Ends

Chargers vs. Steelers SNF takeaways: Justin Herbert, L.A.'s defense beats down Pittsburgh - USA Today
Justin Herbert can handle the pressure. Not just of expectations, but actual pressure, too. No quarterback faced more pressures than Herbert over the first nine weeks of the season, and the Steelers sacked him a whopping five times Sunday. Even so, Herbert led the Chargers to a resounding win. If he continues to play at this clip, he could help the Chargers to emerge as an AFC contender.

Guardians' Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz indicted for pitch rigging - ESPN
Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were charged with fraud, conspiracy and bribery stemming from an alleged scheme to rig individual pitches that led to gamblers winning hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors Sunday.

Ortiz, 26, was arrested Sunday morning in Boston and will appear in court Monday, according to prosecutors. Clase, 27, is not in custody.

$450K pitches: Indictment vs. Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz reveal star closer as force behind alleged scheme - Yahoo Sports
What is clear in the report that features multiple examples of Clase communicating and interacting directly with bettors — including, shockingly, during the very games in which he was engaging in the illicit activity and by obtaining tickets for one of the bettors to attend said games in Cleveland — is that Clase was the driving force behind this alleged scheme. This is a stunningly poor reflection of character for a pitcher who already had one major misstep earlier in his career when he was suspended 80 games in 2020 for testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug. Clase had seemingly righted the ship since establishing himself in the majors in 2021, signing a $20 million extension in 2022 and blossoming into one of the most dominant relievers we’ve ever seen. Clase did not seem to be in the kind of position to need to turn to illegal affairs to find some extra fast cash, and yet it was him who allegedly engaged in this gambling scheme for an extended stretch before Ortiz, a far less established, notably less compensated pitcher who had far more to lose, “joined the criminal scheme,” according to the indictment.

November Is When The Colorado Rockies Do Their Best Work - Defector
When the Rockies unveiled their new head of baseball operations in an attempt to defibrillate their future, they were expected only to raise a few nods of acknowledgement, not slacken all the jaws. They had interviewed the sort of promising young executives that teams interview for jobs like this, which was itself a revolutionary shift in approach by the organization, and then announced that they would be hiring none of them. That was just a few days before they announced that that they would be turning things over to Paul DePodesta, the better-looking real-world version of Jonah Hill's Moneyball character and a man who has been out of baseball for a decade. And not just out of baseball, either—as the chief strategy officer for the Cleveland Browns, a job DePodesta has done remotely since 2016, he has also been out of football simultaneously.

Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue dies at 84 - Pro Football Talk
Tagliabue was elected to succeed long-time Commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1989. Tagliabue served through 2006.

He had worked as an outside counsel for the NFL with the firm of Covington & Burling, where he practiced law for 20 years.

Tagliabue was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020, as a contributor.

In all, the NFL has had only three commissioners since 1960: Rozelle, Tagliabue, and Roger Goodell.

Longtime NBA great, Hall of Fame coach Lenny Wilkens dies at 88 - Yahoo Sports
One of four Hall of Famers ever to be inducted both as an NBA player and coach, Wilkens made nine All-Star appearances for the St. Louis Hawks, Seattle SuperSonics and Cleveland Cavaliers during a 15-year playing career. He coached the SuperSonics to a championship in 1979 and retired as the league's winningest head coach in history, amassing 1,332 victories over a 32-year tenure for six different franchises.

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