San Diego FC’s day began with news that three players have been selected to next month’s Major League Soccer All-Star Game.
Maybe MLS can make room for a fourth.
Milan Iloski scored four times in a span of 12 minutes, and visiting SDFC vaulted to first place in the MLS Western Conference standings with a 5-3 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday night at BC Place. By doing so, Iloski — an Escondido native and former UCLA standout who is in San Diego on loan from FC Nordsjaelland — joined elite company.
Consider: Iloski became just the 20th player in the 30-year history of MLS to score four or more goals in a match. Curiously, he’s also the third player this season to do so, joining Brian White of the Whitecaps and Sam Surridge of Nashville SC. Iloski has scored nine goals in six matches since joining SDFC as an injury replacement for Marcus Ingvartsen.
San Diego FC’s Milan Iloski, back right; Onni Valakari, back left; and Alex Mighten celebrate Iloski’s first goal against the Vancouver Whitecaps during the first half of an MLS soccer match in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Iloski opened the scoring in the 35th minute, added his second goal just two minutes later, and SDFC carried a 2-0 lead into halftime. He started the second half equally as hot, scoring in the 44th and 47th minutes to grow the visitors’ lead. Tomas Angel tacked on a goal in injury time to make it a 5-2 lead.
Vancouver outshot SDFC 17-12, but the visitors had more shots on goal (8) than the hosts (5). MLS’ expected goals stat gave Vancouver a small edge over San Diego, 2.3 to 2.2.
San Diego improves to 11-5-3 this season, good for first place in the Western Conference. The azul and chrome essentially trade places with Vancouver, which falls to 10-4-5.
San Diego FC’s Milan Iloski, back right, celebrates his second goal against the Vancouver Whitecaps with Alejandro Alvarado Jr. (70) and Oscar Verhoeven (33) during the first half of an MLS soccer match in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
SDFC has outscored its opponents 22-8 in nine road matches this season.
Earlier Wednesday, three SDFC standouts — Anders Dreyer, Hirving “Chucky” Lozano and Jeppe Tverskov — were named to the Major League Soccer All-Star Game. The trio will play in the July 23 game at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas.
It’s the first-ever all-star selection for all three players. San Diego FC is the first MLS expansion team since Atlanta United in 2017 to produce three all-stars.
Both wingers, Lozano and Dreyer are SDFC’s two designated players. Dreyer is second on the club with eight goals and leads MLS with nine assists.
A Mexican star, Lozano has scored five goals in 14 games (12 starts). He is currently rehabbing a leg injury.
Tverskov, SDFC’s team captain, has scored one goal and logged six assists.
The MLS all-star teams were selected by a combination of fan, player and media voting, coaches’ selections and picks by commissioner Don Garber.
Originally Published: June 25, 2025 at 9:49 PM PDT