San Diego FC travels to Charlotte FC on Saturday

Coming off a 3-2 defeat to the Colorado Rapids on April 12, San Diego FC travels to Bank of America Stadium to take on Charlotte FC on Saturday.

SDFC is in third place of the Western Conference standings while Charlotte is the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

“First and foremost, at this level, all the games are hard,” said San Diego FC head coach Mikey Varas. “All these teams are well-prepared and have good players. We want to go against the best immediately.”

Charlotte finished in fifth place last season and was eliminated by Orlando City in the opening round of the playoffs. The team from North Carolina is led on offense by the talented midfielder Pep Biel who has tallied three goals including the game-winner over CF Montréal. Over its first eight matches this season, Charlotte has a 5-1-2 record and has won four of its last five games.

“We want to test ourselves against the best to see where we are at,” Varas added. “The most important thing is that we focus on our identity, that is non-negotiable.”

San Diego enters the match with 15 goals, which is tied for third-best in the league alongside Orlando City.

SDFC will return home to Snapdragon Stadium on April 26 for a rematch against Real Salt Lake followed by a meeting with FC Dallas on May 3.

Photo by David Frerker