Albion San Diego will take on the defending NISA champion on Tuesday, July 18 at Romeo Stadium in a rematch of their June 24 meeting at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium that ended in a 1-1 draw.

Albion comes into the match having lost just one of its previous eight games while Michigan enters having defeated LA Force 2-1 at home thanks to a 92-minute goal by forward Leon Maric.

Albion and the Stars were the last two teams standing in the 2022 NISA season after making the championship match and are only separated by three points in the standings. The team, led by Diego Gomez, sits in second place with 21 points while Michigan has 18 points but has played three fewer matches.

Albion San Diego regained second place in the NISA standings after a 1-0 road victory over Gold Star FC Detroit courtesy of a 41st-minute goal by forward Cyrus Tran. Albion dominated possession for most of that game and created several scoring chances throughout with Tran finally able to take advantage near the end of the first-half thanks to a brilliant pass from teammate Shinya Kadono.

Gold Star goalkeeper Dylan Ramos made a valiant effort to keep his team in the match, but their few scoring opportunities were stopped by the Albion defense and goalkeeper Ben Roach. Roach is having an impressive season with five clean sheets and four of those coming in the last five games. Albion San Diego has only given up one goal during that stretch, which came in the meeting versus the Stars, as both teams will face each other one last time this regular season on Aug. 20 at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium.

Photo by John Cocozza Photography