Ian Pilcher's late goal helps San Diego remain atop Western Conference, tie Whitecaps 1-1
San Diego (13-7-4) leads the conference with 43 points and the Whitecaps have 42. Minnesota United is third with 41 points.
Pilcher, a 22-year-old rookie defender, made it 1-1 in the 80th minute. Anders Dreyer's corner kick was cleared by Vancouver before Luca Bombino misplayed a shot from the edge of the area that rolled to Pilcher for a first-touch finish from near the penalty spot.
Yohei Takaoka had five saves for Vancouver (12-5-6).
The Whitecaps took a 1-0 lead on a own goal in the 40th minute. Édier Ocampo, on the counter-attack, had his shot from the edge of the area parried by diving goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega before Manu Duah's clearance attempt went into the net.
Sisniega stopped three shots for SDFC.
San Diego had 59% possession and outshot the Whitecaps 17-9, 6-3 on target.
Expansion San Diego beat the Whitecaps 5-3 on the road in the first-ever meeting between the clubs on June 25.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
12 minutes ago
- USA Today
MLS All-Star Game vs. Liga MX: Why Mexican league crossover is priority for MLS
The 2025 MLS All-Star Game is Wednesday, July 23 in Austin, Texas, with the best in MLS taking on the Liga MX All-Stars at Q2 Stadium. It's the fourth time in five years that MLS has chosen an All-Star team from Mexico's top flight as its All-Star Game opponent, and it's not hard to see why. There is a longstanding soccer rivalry between the countries at the national team level, and that extends to club play. MLS vs. Liga MX matches have often been fiery and dramatic, and there's no more reliable method for each league to test itself than by facing its next-door neighbor. The links between the two leagues go deeper than that, though, with MLS and Liga MX openly discussing ideas on how the two sides could go closer. The Leagues Cup — a competition invented by MLS and Liga MX involving 18 teams from both — kicks off in six days, and despite gripes on both side of the Rio Grande, it is the most concrete evidence that both sides want to develop this partnership further. Ahead of the 2025 MLS All-Star Game, here's what to know about the ties between MLS and Liga MX: MLS All-Star Game: Major League Soccer adds six players to All-Star roster: Who made the list? MLS, Liga MX driven together by geography Wednesday's All-Star Game is far from the first time MLS and Liga MX have collaborated. Over the last decade, the two biggest leagues in Concacaf (the governing body for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean), have actively sought opportunities to work together, whether on or off the field. There is a long-standing rivalry between U.S. and Mexican soccer dating back to the U.S. men's national team emerging as a threat to El Tri's decades as the region's lone hegemon in the 1990s. While clashes between MLS and Liga MX clubs in the Concacaf Champions Cup, the now-defunct Superliga, and the Leagues Cup have often come with acrimony, the two leagues have found plenty of common cause. Generally speaking, each of FIFA's six confederations has its own competition, with invitees to continental club championships very uncommon. MLS and Liga MX are two of the only leagues to enjoy such treatment, with Mexico most notably granted entries into South America's Copa Libertadores from 1998-2016. MLS and Liga MX teams were also granted sporadic places in the Copa Sudamericana — CONMEBOL's second-tier international tournament — in the early 2000s, and in the Copa Merconorte (a forerunner to the Copa Sudamericana) as well. However, MLS's last participation in CONMEBOL play came in 2007, and with a clogged schedule and immense travel required, there is no reason to expect that to change. The world's most prominent club competition, the UEFA Champions League, has at no point shown an inclination towards inviting participants to fly across the Atlantic, with the distances involved making such a move a non-starter. The realities of economics and population size hampering the attempts of other Concacaf leagues to provide serious competition. This didn't used to be the case, but in recent years a gap has become clear: in the last four years only four teams from outside MLS and Liga MX have reached the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals, none of whom moved on to the semifinals. In 2025, MLS and Liga MX teams won 11 of 12 total meetings with teams from other leagues. That leaves MLS and Liga MX in a difficult spot in terms of closing down the financial gaps with the giants of European and South American soccer. While both leagues are seen as offering superior top-to-bottom strength as compared to most leagues worldwide, Europe's strongest divisions in particular are still a long way off. As long as that's the case, there is a ceiling in terms of audience and access to sponsors that will hold both MLS and Liga MX back. Without an on-field competition that could give the kind of economic lift needed to gain ground on Europe's most powerful leagues — all of which are easily streamed by viewers in the U.S. and Mexico — gaining further ground has proven very difficult. MLS, Liga MX have long sought closer ties With circumstances driving the two rival leagues together, both MLS and Liga MX have shown an interest in working together, even when that has required outside-the-box thinking. An All-Star Game is an easy win; it's an exhibition that requires little in terms of FIFA or Concacaf approval. It's on other fronts where things have gotten a bit more interesting. Essentially, MLS looks with envy on Liga MX's long-standing cultural heft, with the Mexican top flight drawing TV ratings comparable to the Premier League. For MLS, getting the Liga MX audience to regularly watch and attend the top league in the U.S. and Canada is an obvious move. Liga MX sides, meanwhile, see the financial stability and business practices in MLS as a model to follow. It's not so much for giants like Club América, Tigres, or Chivas Guadalajara, but rather to lift the league's floor. Liga MX teams have long been willing to spend big, but there have also been more examples of teams folding, moving, or running into other issues that MLS has largely avoided over the last 20 years. MLS and Liga MX have both been comfortable enough over the idea of working together that chatter over a possible merger has bubbled up from time to time. While concrete steps haven't been taken, the two leagues have looked at various ways to work together. The Leagues Cup — a summer tournament featuring every Liga MX club and a varying number of MLS sides — is the most concrete current example, with the two organizations using that competition to introduce Lionel Messi as an Inter Miami player in 2023. The tournament has drawn some criticism in both nations, with U.S.-based fans voicing a preference for the domestic U.S. Open Cup after MLS attempted to unilaterally withdraw from that event in part to open space on the calendar. Liga MX fans, meanwhile, have been frustrated that the tournament is played in the U.S. only. Last year, Domè Torrent (who currently coaches Monterrey, but was in charge with Atlético San Luis at the time) called Leagues Cup "a joke of a competition" over the travel and weather conditions Liga MX teams had to endure. Nevertheless, the Leagues Cup has garnered plenty of media and fan attention in both nations, with the intensity and caliber of play impossible to completely dismiss. MLS and Liga MX executives remain bullish over the competition, even as it was modified in 2025 to only include 18 MLS teams. "I think we need more MLS versus Liga MX matches," said Garber in December. "We're looking at modifications that will, I think, make it more focused on what it is that we're trying to achieve, which is this great rivalry between our two leagues." In other words, the leagues are very likely going to keep seeking ways to increase their connections. MLS All-Star Game history vs. Liga MX Here is a list of times the MLS All-Star Game has paired a selection of Major League Soccer stars against a team of Liga MX All-Stars. MLS All-Star Game: Where have opponents come from? Once Wednesday's game kicks off, MLS will have played an All-Star Game in 29 of its 30 seasons, only skipping 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, while the format for the game has largely been a straightforward 90-minute game with penalty kicks to break ties, the league has rotated between numerous options in terms of finding two teams to put on the field. Here is where MLS All-Star Game opponents have come from over the years: MLS All-Star Game 2025: Time, TV, streaming, how to watch The 2025 MLS All-Star Game is set for Wednesday, July 23, with kickoff scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. USA TODAY Sports' 48-page special edition commemorates 30 years of Major League Soccer, from its best players to key milestones and championship dynasties to what exciting steps are next with the World Cup ahead. Order your copy today!
USA Today
42 minutes ago
- USA Today
MLS All-Stars 30 years later: How the league moved the ball forward
From new teams to an expanding fan base, see Major League Soccer's impressive three decades of growth. It's a rare all-star game that reflects a league's evolution, but that's what this year's MLS showcase offers. On July 23 at 9 p.m. ET, two dozen MLS players will step onto the field at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, and offer a snapshot of the league's progress. Though the MLS All-Stars may not defeat their counterparts from Mexico's Liga MX – broadcast live on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV – the league's upward trajectory is clear. Since its inaugural season in 1996, just two years after the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup, MLS has steadily grown alongside the nation's rising interest in soccer. Over the past three decades, global icons such as Carlos Valderrama, David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimović have brought star power and credibility to the league, helping shape its identity and elevate its global standing. But none has been as transformational as Lionel Messi, who is on this year's all-star roster. In July 2023, he joined Inter Miami, a club that played its first game in 2020. The Argentine World Cup champion not only quickly improved the team's profile and record, but he also elevated global awareness of the MLS because of his worldwide celebrity. How much has the MLS grown since its debut in 1996? Even before Messi's arrival, MLS had been on the upswing. With 12.2 million fans attending games last year, MLS was the second-highest-attended global soccer league in the world, behind only the English Premier League. MLS has a far reach with teams across the U.S. Since 1996, the league has tripled in size. San Diego FC became the 30th MLS club before the 2025 season, compared with just 10 clubs when the league debuted. The number of soccer-specific MLS stadiums is growing All 30 MLS clubs have their own facility, and 26 are soccer-specific. Three franchises will open new stadiums in the next three years (Inter Miami 2026, New York City FC 2027 and Chicago Fire 2028). It's a far cry from 1996, when there were no stadiums and no club training facilities. Some MLS franchises crack $1 billion mark Another significant area of growth has been franchise value: Five MLS teams are valued at more than $1 billion, and 14 others are among the top 50 most valuable soccer clubs in the world, according to Sportico. Los Angeles FC ($1.28 billion), Inter Miami ($1.19 billion), LA Galaxy ($1.11 billion), Atlanta United ($1.08 billion) and New York City FC ($1 billion) are the most valuable MLS franchises. MLS has succeeded in drawing international talent When the league made its debuted 1996, most of the 239 active players were American. The majority today are still American, but the league is drawing more international talent. MLS Cup championships by team D.C. United won the MLS Cup in the first season; since then, 15 teams have won the title: 'I think our league is going to continue to grow,' Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber told USA TODAY Sports before the season. 'Every time I'm asked that question, and I say, 'Here's what it will look like five years from now.' I underestimate where we're going to be. "At some point we're going to be celebrating just generations of Major League Soccer for fans here in the United States, Canada and around the world that love our league."
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Zverev works with tennis great Nadal ahead of hard court season
Alexander Zverev feels that working with tennis legend Rafael Nadal and his uncle Toni has given him a boost for the upcoming hard court tournaments and the US Open. "It very beautiful, very good week. Obviously with a lot of help from Toni and from Rafa as well" Zverev said in a video posted on Tuesday on X by the Rafael Nadal Academy, where he has been training. "It was fantastic seeing the two of them again. I enjoyed my time, I'm ready to go to the United States now," he said. After a shocking first-round exit at Wimbledon last month, Zverev is the top favourite at the Canadian Open, which starts on Sunday, after Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic pulled out of the competition. The US Open, which is the final Grand Slam of the year, starts on August 24.
