In a match that could end up deciding who gets the coveted second-seed in the NISA playoffs, Albion San Diego will travel to Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine to take on LA Force. The two sides have played each other evenly in their previous four meetings this season with a win, loss, and two draws for each.

Albion is coming off a scoreless home draw against the league-leader Chattanooga FC on Sept. 10 while LA Force handed Chattanooga its only loss of the season on Sept. 6 by a 2-1 score, which snapped its 17-game undefeated streak.

The team, led by head coach Diego Gomez, currently has 30 points after 18 matches and is just one point behind Los Angeles with a victory on Sunday placing it two points ahead of the Force and in second place. Albion has gotten outstanding play from goalkeeper Ben Roach who has nine clean sheets which is second-best only behind Chattanooga FC goalkeeper Jean Antoine.

The Maryland Bobcats and Michigan Stars are also vying for the second-seed, which would bring with it a first-round bye and a guaranteed home game in the semifinal round. Albion San Diego travels to take on Maryland on Oct. 4 and will likely play Michigan one more time since the league recently announced that games postponed due to weather or health concerns will be made up at the end.

“This is not by design,” said Ron Gilmore, NISA VP of operations. “Rather, we must do this to ensure all regular season matches are played due to sporting integrity. We’ve had four matches postponed this season due to weather and two due to COVID.”

Michigan and Albion San Diego had their Aug. 20 match at Canyon Crest Academy postponed due to the impact of Hurricane Hilary as Albion San Diego is trying to make back-to-back trips to the championship match. Albion will also be playing in the NISA Independent Cup final on Sept. 27 versus Bay Area United FC at Championship Soccer Stadium.

Photo by John Cocozza Photography