Anders Dreyer scored in the second half and Pablo Sisniega made three saves to lead expansion side San Diego FC to a 1-0 victory over Minnesota United on Monday night in a Western Conference semifinal at a sold-out Snapdragon Stadium.
San Diego will host the second-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday with a chance to play for the MLS Cup on the line. No. 5 seed New York City FC travels to play third-seeded Miami for the Eastern Conference title, in Saturday's first match.
Dreyer, the Newcomer of the Year and Best XI honoree, used assists from Corey Baird and Jeppe Tverskov to find the net in the 72nd minute. The 27-year-old midfielder from Denmark had 19 goals and 19 assists during the regular season to help San Diego earn the top seed. He has four goals and two assists in his first four playoff appearances.
It was Tverskov's first postseason goal contribution in his fourth appearance. Baird's first three postseason assists have come this season. He had one goal in 10 prior playoff appearances with three different clubs.
Sisniega, who made only four regular-season starts for San Diego, earned his second clean sheet in his second postseason start. He made a dazzling save in the 64th minute to keep it scoreless.
Dayne St. Clair did not have a save in his 11th career playoff start for No. 4 seed Minnesota United, which made a second straight exit in the conference semis in its sixth trip to the postseason since joining the league in 2017.
Coach Mikey Varas’ San Diego squad set MLS records for an expansion team with 19 victories and 63 points on the way to a first-place finish.
