SAN DIEGO — For as fun as San Diego fans have had over the last few weeks cheering their teams on in the playoffs, Sunday was a dark day. All three professional sports teams in San Diego who were competing on their respective playoff tournaments were eliminated. The Padres were eliminated in Philadelphia, the San Diego Wave lost in Portland and the SD Loyal lost at home to the Oakland Roots.
San Diego Padres
The Padres were looking to extend their magical run through the MLB postseason but were stopped short by the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies took three straight at home against the Padres to win the series. The Padres fought back from multiple deficits only to give up a go-ahead homerun to Bryce Harper in the 8th. After finishing the 2022 regular season with an 89-73 record, the team advanced to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 1998.
San Diego Wave
After a historic inaugural campaign, San Diego Wave Fútbol Club’s season was cut short with a 2-1 loss to Portland Thorns FC in the NWSL Semi-Final. Wave FC got a head start in the 9th minute off a goal from Taylor Kornieck. Alex Morgan sent in a cross to Kornieck who headed the ball in for the first goal of the Semi-Final, putting the away side up 1-0. In the third minute of stoppage time, Portland’s Crystal Dunn scored off a corner kick and secured the win for the home side.
With the result, San Diego Wave FC’s landmark inaugural season comes to an end. Wave FC made history as the first expansion team to make the playoffs before advancing to the NWSL semifinal with a 2-1 win over Chicago Fire FC on Oct. 16 in the quarterfinal.
San Diego now holds the record for both the NWSL Playoff attendance record and the NWSL regular-season record, with 26,215 and 32,000 fans at Snapdragon Stadium.
SD Loyal
San Diego Loyal SC played to a 3-0 loss against visiting Oakland Roots SC Sunday night in a Western Conference Quarterfinals match at Torero Stadium. The loss eliminates coach Landon Donovan’s team from postseason play and ends the club’s run at a USL Championship title.
SD Loyal finished the regular season earning the No. 2 seed in the conference after a 18W-9L-6D record and 60 points. Against No. 7 seed Oakland Roots Sunday, SD Loyal controlled the match for most of the first half until Oakland opened the scoring with Dennis’ goal. The forward gave his team a 1-0 lead when he sent a left-footed shot past SD Loyal goalkeeper Koke Vegas in a tight window to the upper left corner of the net. Dennis’ shot was the only one for Oakland in the first half. Oakland went on to score two more in the second half for a final score of 3-0.
With a bright future on the horizon, SD Loyal heads into the offseason looking to prepare for its fourth year in the USL Championship in 2023.
Oh... And that former San Diego football team that moved to Los Angeles lost to the Seahawks 37-23.
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