Albion San Diego and the Maryland Bobcats will face each other in the quarterfinal round of the NISA playoffs for the second year in a row on Saturday at Canyon Crest Academy. Albion enters the match as the fourth seed after finishing the regular season with 41 points, which was five points better than Maryland who enters as the fifth seed.

“We have confidence that we will be ready for a tough opponent that is very talented, especially on the offensive end,” said Albion San Diego head coach Diego Gomez.

The two sides faced each other on June 15 ending in a scoreless draw and then again on Oct. 4 when Albion San Diego came out with a 1-0 victory courtesy of a 38th-minute goal from forward Cyrus Tran who scored on a shot that rebounded off the post by teammate Alexander Dalou. Albion finished the regular season undefeated in its final six games including the NISA Independent Cup So Cal championship versus Bay Area United FC on Sept. 27.

Maryland finished with a 2-0 loss to the Savannah Clovers on Oct. 18, but rested several key players including forward Darwin Espinal who led the team with 11 goals. “Darwin Espinal can create for himself and his teammates,” Gomez added. “Our defense must be on top of its game to neutralize his abilities. I’m hoping we have as much fan support as we have all season to help push us to victory.”

Albion San Diego has been led all season by the outstanding efforts of goalkeeper Ben Roach, who has 12 clean sheets, which is second-best behind Chattanooga FC goalkeeper Jean Antoine. On the offensive side, Albion is led by the six goals of forward Cyrus Tran followed closely by the five goals of midfielder Daniel Bedoya, who earned NISA Player of the Month honors in September, with five of his own. Albion San Diego will be looking for back-to-back trips to the final after making it to the championship match in 2022 when it also finished as the fourth seed.

Photo by John Cocozza Photography