![\"Pablo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SUT-L-playercaps-0223-27.jpg\")
Pablo Sisniega<\/p>\nIt was the stuff of dreams.<\/p>\n
Goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega was summoned from the bench in the first half of San Diego FC\u2019s playoff game against the Portland Timbers last week and, for about 70 minutes, looked to be leading the team to its biggest win yet.<\/p>\n
It was the stuff of nightmares.<\/p>\n
Portland\u2019s Gage Guerra scored on Sisniega in the dying seconds of stoppage time, sending SDFC and the Timbers to a penalty shootout. Sisniega stopped two penalty kicks but allowed three to get past him, and SDFC headed home from Portland with an opportunity squandered.<\/p>\n
If anybody on SDFC\u2019s roster can handle the ups and downs of the Major League Soccer playoffs, it\u2019s Sisniega. The 30-year-old backup has experienced highs and lows throughout his soccer career. A good night turned bad in Portland seems to be a fleeting moment \u2014 not a defining one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that I\u2019ve been in enough situations throughout my career where I\u2019m not phased by the moment,\u201d he said. \u201cI know that I can come in, and I\u2019ve had situations where I play in front of a lot of fans, hostile fans, so \u2026 you\u2019ve just got to go in and focus on your job.\u201d<\/p>\n
SDFC will take on Portland at 6 p.m. Sunday in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the MLS Cup\u2019s first-round playoff series, and Sisniega is expected to be back in goal and unfazed by last week\u2019s loss.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s why San Diego FC plucked Sisniega from San Antonio of USL Championship prior to the season, and why coaches were comfortable with him in goal for a month earlier this season after CJ dos Santos suffered a deviated spectrum during a collision in the goal box. Dos Santos\u2019 latest injury, a fractured cheekbone suffered early in last week\u2019s loss to the Timbers, could be a season-ender.<\/p>\n
Sisniega\u2019s life and soccer career have taken him throughout the globe. Born in Mexico City, Sisniega moved to Guadalajara as a young boy before relocating to Philadelphia at age 14. After three years in Pennsylvania, he headed to Spain to begin his pro career.<\/p>\n
From 2014 to 2019, Sisniega played for Real Sociedad de Futbol B in San Sebastian, the heart of Basque Country. From there, it was off to MLS\u2019 LAFC for three seasons and Charlotte FC for two. Playing time was hard to come by.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I played six first-team games (with Charlotte) in two years,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew I was in a position where I could either try to find a team in MLS and probably not play a lot, or go down to USL and get 30 games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pablo Sisniega<\/p>\n
Sisniega bet on himself, signing with San Antonio FC\u00a0 last year. He started 22 of the team\u2019s 34 matches, stopping more than 70% of opponents\u2019 shots while allowing 1.32 goals per 90 minutes.<\/p>\n
SDFC signed Sisniega to its roster in December.<\/p>\n
The move down \u201chelped me to find my form, find my confidence, find my love of football again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think it\u2019s one of the best decisions I\u2019ve made because,\u00a0 one, it developed me into a keeper to be better and to be more confident in my ability, and it just really helped me get the feel for the game back. I think that\u2019s why this year, when I\u2019ve come in, I\u2019ve been able to play at a higher level.\u201c<\/p>\n
If Sisniega sounds self-actualized, consider his background. His parents, Ivar Sisniega and Cristina Fink, combined to make four appearances for Mexico in the Olympics. The elder Sisniega competed in modern pentathlon and was a flag bearer at the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Fink was a high jumper. After retiring from competition, she became a sports psychologist, working at one time for MLS\u2019s Philadelphia Union.<\/p>\n
Their son inherited not only his parents\u2019 physical gifts \u2014 at 6-foot-3, Sisniega looks as if he\u2019d be just as comfortable catching footballs or shooting 3-pointers \u2014 but their collective wisdom as well. The SDFC goalie competes intensely in training sessions and uses visualization techniques to build up mental reps.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you imagine yourself in certain scenarios in the game,\u201d he said, \u201cthen when they happen in the game, you\u2019re not surprised by them.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Pablo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2244549692-1.jpg\")
Pablo Sisniega #13 of San Diego FC tends net during the 2025 MLS Cup Playoff match between San Diego FC and Portland Timbers at Providence Park on November 01, 2025 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
As for his mom?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been like having a very elite sports psychologist at my disposal for my entire life,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving that has prepared me for so many different scenarios, and we\u2019ve worked on it so much. But now that I\u2019m a more mature, better goalkeeper, these situations I don\u2019t think phase me as much as when I was younger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which is good. Saturday\u2019s match against Portland figures to be another tense affair. Top-seeded SDFC, which set MLS records for wins and points by an expansion team in the regular season, must win to keep its historic season going. Portland, the No. 8 seed in the West, seemingly has little to lose.<\/p>\n
Sisniega said he\u2019ll be happy to have Snapdragon Stadium\u2019s crowd behind him, though he\u2019d probably be just as comfortable in another hostile road environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t let the outside circumstances affect you,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that\u2019s the way I mentalize and the way I prepare.\u201d<\/p>\n
MLS Cup playoffs, first round: No. 1 San Diego FC vs. No. 8 Portland Timbers<\/p>\n
(Best-of-three series is tied 1-1)<\/p>\n
When: 6 p.m. Sunday<\/p>\n
Where: Snapdragon Stadium<\/p>\n
Streaming: AppleTV+<\/p>\n
Radio: 760-AM, 1700-AM (Spanish)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was the stuff of dreams. Goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega was summoned from the bench in the first half…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":365098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1370,3549,15520,7264,221,62,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-365097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-fc","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-soccer","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-top-stories-sdut","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115515470094714289","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}