After two losses to open the Coachella Valley Invitational at the hands of New York City FC and Portland Thorns, San Diego FC turned things around on Saturday with a 6-0 drubbing of the New York Red Bulls. SDFC was led by the efforts of forward Anders Dreyer who had a brace by scoring goals in the eighth and 61st minute of play.

Chucky Lozano and Luca de la Torre added first-half scores as well to give San Diego FC a dominating 3-0 lead at halftime. The team, led by head coach Mikey Varas, did not take its foot off the pedal in the second half by scoring two more (to go along with Dreyer’s second goal) thanks to forward Marcus Ingvartsen’s effort in the 64th minute and Emmanuel Boateng converting a penalty kick in the 90th minute after teammate Onni Valakari was taken down inside the box moments earlier.

SDFC goalkeeper CJ dos Santos was not called upon often due to the much-improved play from the backline, but did come up big when needed including an outstanding kick-save on Red Bulls striker Julian Hall in the 79th minute to keep the clean sheet intact. San Diego FC would have likely ended up with seven goals if it wasn’t for a dramatic save off the line in the 82nd minute by New York defender Tim Parker.

SDFC finished its three-game showcase at Coachella Valley with seven goals scored while giving up six as the team now returns home to prepare for the regular season opener against the reigning MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy on Sunday, March 23 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

GRADES

Attack: A+

The strikers looked to be on the front foot throughout with the potential of creating clear scoring chances seemingly at will along with being clinical on the final touch.

Midfield: A

Not only was the midfield creating opportunities on offense, but their recovery and man-on-man coverage made it look like SDFC had seven attacking defenders at times.

Defense: A-

NY Red Bulls had very limited opportunities to break the shutout during the match with its best chance coming late in the second half.

Goalkeeping: A+

CJ dos Santos barely worked up a sweat because of the great effort from his teammates, but was clutch when he needed to be.

Refereeing: B+

Probably the best work overall by a head official in the three games, which isn’t saying much since the previous two set the bar so low.