SAN DIEGO — It is a great time to be a San Diego sports fan! Currently, the city has three professional sports teams at the end of nearing the end of their regular season schedules and all three will be participating in their league’s postseason tournaments.
The San Diego Padres, San Diego Wave and SD Loyal will all take part in playoffs over the next few weeks!
San Diego Padres
They are back! The last time the Padres participated in the postseason after a 162-game season was all the way back in 2006!
The team’s schedule has been finalized, they will head to New York to take on the Mets in a three-game series beginning on Friday, October 7 at 5 pm PST. The team won the 2022 season series against the Mets, 4-2.
In the new postseason format, the Padres will play all three of the first-round games on the road.
“It's a been a long time since we've been in this spot,” said right-hander Joe Musgrove, who grew up a Padres fan in suburban El Cajon and pitched their first no-hitter in his second start with the team in 2021. “It's pretty crazy how it all worked out, I end up back here in a year where we've got a team like we have to make it this far.”
If the team beats the Mets in the first round, they will head back west to take on the Dodgers in a best of five series that will take place in Los Angeles and San Diego.
It’s the seventh playoff berth in franchise history and the fourth since Petco Park opened in 2004. The Padres haven’t been to the World Series since 1998, when they were swept by the New York Yankees.
San Diego Wave
After their first season in San Diego, the Wave will host a NWSL Quarterfinal game at Snapdragon Stadium on October 16! The team finished with a 10-6-6 record which solidified the team in third place in their division.
San Diego Wave FC clinched its spot in the quarterfinals last Sunday against the Orlando Pride and is the first and only expansion team in league history to make the playoffs in its inaugural season. The team fought back from a two-goal deficit on the road to earn a 2-2 draw and its first-ever playoff berth.
The 2022 NWSL playoffs will feature the top six teams (OL Reign, Portland Thorns, San Diego Wave FC, Houston Dash, KC Current and Chicago Red Stars) with the top two seeds earning a first-round bye to the semifinals. The semi-finals will take place the weekend of Oct. 22-23 on CBS Sports Network ahead of the Championship game on Oct. 29. All playoff matches will stream internationally on Twitch.
SD Loyal
San Diego Loyal SC secured its first-ever home playoff match after defeating Las Vegas Lights FC 2-1 in September. A few days later the club knocked off the team from Orange County to clinch second place in the western division in the USL Championship standings
The San Diego region will play host to its first postseason USL Championship match the weekend of October 21-23. The Loyal will play a team that is TBD on October 23 at Torero Stadium.
CBS 8 would like to wish the Padres, Wave and Loyal the best of luck in their quests to bring a championship home to San Diego.
