San Diego riding Marcus Ingvartsen's hot streak into game with Whitecaps

Marcus Ingvartsen has the hottest boot in MLS at the moment.

Heading into San Diego FC's home match Saturday night against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Ingvartsen has scored six goals in the last four matches. That includes a brace on May 16 in his team's 3-3 draw with FC Cincinnati.

On the year, Ingvartsen has 11 goals, good for fourth in the league. Only Chicago's Hugo Cuypers (13), Miami's Lionel Messi (12) and Dallas' Petar Musa (12) have more.

"I think I've been finding a good form, personally," Ingvartsen said. "Then, the last couple of games, our players, the team, (have) also improved, creating more chances. We play good football ... and then I make sure to be around the box and get my chances."

That's helped San Diego (4-5-5, 17 points) get closer to the form that helped it enjoy such a good expansion season in 2025. It is unbeaten in its last four fixtures at 1-0-3, although it let Cincinnati salvage a draw via Tom Barlow's goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

Ingvartsen's scalding form will run into one of the top defenses in MLS. Vancouver (9-2-2, 29 points) has conceded only 10 goals in 13 matches, tied with Nashville SC for the fewest in the league, and boasts the best goal differential at plus-20.

But the Whitecaps are coming off a rare loss, falling 1-0 to Houston on May 16 as Guilherme tallied in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time. The result ended their seven-match unbeaten streak (5-0-2).

This will be the fifth of eight straight fixtures away from British Columbia for Vancouver. Thanks to MLS' World Cup break and the fact that its home venue, B.C. Place, is hosting seven matches, the team won't play at home again until Aug. 1.

"You can just have bonding time together," said defender Tristan Blackmon of the extended road trip. "It's fun to go on trips, especially when you're doing well. It's fun to go into other stadiums and try to take points away from the home team."

--Field Level Media

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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 11:10 PM.