Out to keep a remarkable debut season on track, offensive-minded San Diego FC will look to extend their winning streak to five games when they play host to the Houston Dynamo on Saturday.
San Diego FC (12-5-3, 39 points) not only sit in first place in the Western Conference, they have averaged 3.5 goals per game during their four-game win streak. Most impressive of all is that the most recent three victories all came on the road.
Last Saturday, Tomas Angel delivered in second-half stoppage time for a 3-2 victory over FC Dallas.
Milan Iloski and Anders Dreyer are tied for the team lead with nine goals each. Dreyer and Hirving “Chucky” Lozano also scored in last weekend’s victory at Dallas.
“For me, especially as a striker, I can’t dwell on missed chances or anything like that,” Iloski, a San Diego-area native, said, according to mlssoccer.com. “I have to pick my head up really fast and have a short mentality.”
Dreyer was named MLS Player of the Month for June with three goals and six assists in three games. He leads MLS with 23 goal contributions, while his 14 assists also lead the league.
The Dynamo (6-9-5, 23 points) sit just outside of the playoff line in the Western Conference just past the midway point of the season. Now they hit the road, where they are 2-3-4 this season.
Houston earned a 1-0 home victory over St. Louis City last Saturday to end a three-match losing streak when they allowed three goals in each of the defeats. Two of those three losses came at home.
Ezequiel Ponce scored the lone goal last weekend in the 66th minute when he was left unmarked in front of the goal and scored amid relentless pressure. Defender Felipe Andrade delivered his first assist with Houston.
Ponce leads the club with five goals in MLS play and seven across all competitions. with the Dynamo among the bottom half of the conference with 25 total goals on the season.
Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen said the key to a victory Saturday will be to slow Dreyer.
“He’s been really impressive and he’s arguably been one of the best players in this league at this moment,” Olsen said. “He fits the way they’re playing in a big way.”
Houston will be without midfielder Jack McGlynn, who remains on duty with the U.S. men’s national team for the Gold Cup. McGlynn has two goals and five assists in 16 regular-season games.
–Field Level Media
