It seems just like yesterday when 1904 FC played Cal United Strikers at the now-gone SDCCU Stadium on Sept. 14, 2019, as the team from San Diego came out with a 3-1 win in its inaugural National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) match.
Fast forward three years later and now it’s Albion San Diego’s turn to take on Cal United, this time in the semifinal round of the playoffs, for a chance to play in the championship match. 1904 FC and ASC San Diego, which was part of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) previously, merged in December of 2021 announcing that Albion San Diego would join NISA starting in 2022.
Its rookie season has been one for the record books as the only remaining professional soccer team in San Diego still alive in the postseason now goes up against the team that finished on top of the regular season standings.
In the first head-to-head match on June 10, Cal United won by a score of 3-0 at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium pulling away late thanks to goals in the 86th and 90th minute of what was an evenly contested game to that point. The second meeting was on Aug. 20 at Championship Stadium in Irvine which saw Cal United take an early lead thanks to a free kick from forward Omar Nuño, which got deflected and found the back of the net despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Ben Roach. Instead of folding and letting the second-best scoring average in the league run rampant, Albion San Diego was able to settle down and tie the match on a goal from forward Alioune Diakhate in the final moments of the first half. Despite both teams having chances to score in the second half, both goalkeepers stepped up for their respective teams to help seal the 1-1 draw.
The third game saw Cal United once again take an early lead at home this time without even touching the ball. Defender Jacob Haupt inadvertently passed the ball back to Ben Roach in the 12th minute, but the pass had too much on it and was just out of reach for the goalkeeper to prevent an own goal. Just as Albion was able to go back on Aug. 20, it rebounded nicely with Diakhate once again scoring the tying goal this time on a close-range header in the 68th minute that goalkeeper Jean Antoine could not react to in time.
Albion San Diego was not content with a draw though and was able to score the game-winner in the 74th minute via the waiting foot of defender Khadim Seye. Seye’s goal came on a corner kick where teammate Jacob Haupt jumped up and got his head on the ball a split second before Antoine tried to punch it out after leaving his line. Both players went down hard after they collided with Haupt laying on the ground for a few minutes and Antoine for several minutes more having to leave the game on a stretcher.
The fourth and final match between the two sides came on Oct. 8 at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium with the lone goal coming in the 14th minute thanks to Albion San Diego forward Mayele Malango taking advantage of a turnover by the Cal United defense and getting around goalkeeper Steven Barrera to calmly place the ball in the back of the net. That 1-0 victory gave Albion the fourth seed and home-field advantage in the quarterfinal round against the Maryland Bobcats which turned out to be huge as the team, led by head coach Ziggy Korytoski, come out with a 2-0 victory on Oct. 21 in front of the home fans.
As for Cal United, it did not need to play a quarterfinal game since the team had already earned a bye having locked up the top seed by the time it faced Albion.
“We have to continue to play with confidence and use the experience from our previous matches in order to come out with the victory,” said Korytoski. “Cal United is rested and going to come out ready to play. We have to keep our intensity up for the entire game.”
The semifinal between Albion San Diego and Cal United is Saturday, Oct, 29 at 7 p.m. at Championship Stadium in Irvine.
Photo courtesy: David Frerker
