Albion San Diego earned a trip to the NISA semifinals after its 2-0 win over the Maryland Bobcats in the quarterfinal round played at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium on Friday, Oct. 21.

After both teams failed to score in the first half, Albion San Diego got a penalty call in the opening moments of the second half after forward Alioune Diakhate was taken down in the box by Maryland midfielder Yaya Fane. Albion defender Daniel Vicente stepped up in the 47th minute to take the penalty kick and gave his team the 1-0 lead after his strong shot beat goalkeeper Felix Annan.

“I felt the team played well and controlled the tempo throughout the match,” said Albion San Diego head coach Ziggy Korytoski. That penalty kick conversion by Daniel really helped in terms of imposing our style of play for the remainder of the game.”

Albion was able to extend the lead in the 67th minute when midfielder Harold Hanson found teammate Mayele Malango after getting by the Maryland defenders to right-foot the ball from five yards out past the outstretched arms of Annan. Albion goalkeeper Ben Roach was not called upon much due to his team’s ability to control possession and prevent any quick counterattacks.

The victory means that Albion now faces Cal United Strikers in the NISA semifinal round at Championship Stadium in Irvine on Saturday, Oct. 29. The two sides played each other four times during the regular season with Albion San Diego winning the final two meetings including the season finale on Oct. 8.

“We head over to take on a team we’re very familiar with,” Korytoski added. “I think it will be another hard-fought game just like all of them have been this season.”

San Diego Wave Fútbol Club was eliminated from the NWSL playoffs and a trip to the championship game after its 2-1 semifinal round loss to the Portland Thorns at Providence Park on Sunday afternoon. The team, led by head coach Casey Stoney, took the lead in the 8th minute thanks to a beautiful left-footed pass from forward Alex Morgan to teammate Taylor Kornieck who headed the ball by goalkeeper Annabella Bixby.

Portland responded quickly after midfielder Rocky Rodríguez took a shot from just outside the box that found the top corner beating goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan to tie the match 1-1. The Wave almost took the lead just before the end of the first half after a corner kick found the foot of Kornieck who shot the ball from close-range, but it was deflected by Bixby with some help from the post.

The second half got controlled methodically by the Thorns with the final 20 minutes seeing it have complete domination in terms of scoring opportunities and winning possession. These efforts paid off in the 93rd minute when midfielder Crystal Dunn, who came in earlier in the half as a substitute, rifled a right-footed shot past Sheridan that turned out to be the game-winner.

“My overriding emotion is just huge pride in the team, the players, the club, and what we’ve been able to do in such a short space of time,” said Stoney. “I’m just gutted for the players because I thought they deserved more.”

Despite the loss, the San Diego Wave became the first NWSL expansion team to make and win a playoff game along with having Morgan finish as the league’s Golden Boot winner with 15 goals. Stoney is currently in the running for coach of the year while Morgan and defender Naomi Girma are among the nominees for most valuable player. Girma is also nominated for defender and rookie of the year, while Sheridan is nominated as goalkeeper of the year.

San Diego Loyal was eliminated from the USL Championship playoffs after its 3-0 loss to the Oakland Roots on Sunday night at Torero Stadium. Oakland opened up the scoring with a 36th-minute goal from midfielder Charlie Dennis who took a left-footed shot from 18 yards out that beat goalkeeper Koke Vegas. The visitors extended the lead in the 52nd minute when midfielder Lindo Mfeka took advantage of a bad pass from defender Kyle Adams meant for Vegas and calmly kicked the ball in the back of the net. The Roots closed out the scoring in the 91st minute when midfielder Matias Fissore got by the Loyal defense, which was down to eight players at that point after the ejections of Thomas Amang, Alejandro Guido, and Grant Stoneman. Oakland now travels to Toyota Field in San Antonio on Thursday to play the top-seeded San Antonio FC in the western conference semifinal.

ADG FC won its fifth in a row after a historic 15-1 blowout over Cuervos FC on Sunday night with 12 goals from Cesar Romero helping the team take over first place in the Southern California South Standings. ADG now has 18 points with six wins in its first seven matches so far this season and is now three points clear of Murrieta Soccer Academy having scored 35 goals with a +22  goal differential.

Hector Trujillo has been covering soccer starting with the San Diego State University men’s soccer team in 2003 for The Daily Aztec. A graduate of SDSU where he received his B.A. and M.A. degrees, Trujillo has a lifelong passion for playing and writing about the beautiful game.

Photos by David Frerker, San Diego Wave, and San Diego Loyal