Defender Christopher McVey scored 21 minutes into the match to spark a three-goal first half and San Diego FC held on to beat LAFC 3-2 on Saturday night.
McVey used an assist from Anders Dreyer — his first in his sixth career appearance — to score his first goal of the season and give San Diego (3-1-2) the lead. McVey had one goal in two seasons with Inter Miami and scored once last year for D.C. United.
First-year midfielder Onni Valakari gave San Diego a two-goal lead in the 34th minute with his second goal this season. Valakari and defender Jasper Löffelsend notched assists on a goal by Alex Mighten — the first for the 22-year-old rookie — to make it 3-0 in the 40th minute.
LAFC (3-3-0) rallied to get within 3-2 by halftime on the first career goals by rookie defender Artem Smolyakov and first-year forward Cengiz Under. Smolyakov, 21, scored unassisted in the 43rd minute. Under’s goal came in the fifth minute of stoppage time in the 27-year-old’s third career appearance. Mark Delgado had his second assist this season and the 40th of his career.
CJ dos Santos had two saves for San Diego in the first home victory for the expansion team. Hugo Lloris stopped three shots for LAFC.
LAFC played a man down after midfielder Igor Jesus was tagged with a second yellow card in the 53rd minute.
San Diego will host the Seattle Sounders on Saturday. LAFC heads to Houston to play the Dynamo on Saturday.