Overview
- Onni Valakari and Anders Dreyer scored for San Diego in the first-round opener at Snapdragon Stadium, with Kristoffer Velde pulling one back for Portland.
- San Diego controlled the match with 15 total shots, 833 passes and 71% possession in its first win of the best-of-three series.
- Lozano was left out of the matchday squad under an internal sanction following a verbal altercation reported to have occurred after an early-October substitution.
- The forward issued a public apology on Instagram and has trained positively, and the coach said he could be considered for the next match if standards are met.
- The expansion side finished atop the Western Conference with 19 wins and 63 points and visits Portland for Game 2 on November 1.