NPL 1 EAST PREVIEW

FC Elk Grove Platinum 1 (19 points) come into the weekend with the U15 Girls NPL 1 East title all-but wrapped up, needing just a single point to clinch the title thanks to a six point lead over 13-point Placer United Gold and Mustang SC Elite, the later of which Elk Grove owns the title tiebreakers with. With the championship essentially decided, most of the neutral interest will come from the three open Champions League spots (Elk Grove has already clinched the fourth). Placer and Mustang look the most likely to grab two of those spots, but because they play each other Saturday, any result will likely break the race wide open. Central California Soccer Alliance (11 points) and Pleasanton Rage ECNL (10 points) will look to fill the void that is certain to be created after the Placer – Mustang fixture, but the Alliance have the harder road ahead due to a Saturday match against Elk Grove, while the Rage play still-alive eighth-place Diablo FC NPL (6 points) and ninth-place California Odyssey SC (4 points). With eight points each, Davis Legacy Red and Sacramento United Red are also still in contention for the Champions League.

NPL 1 WEST PREVIEW

Three U15 Girls NPL 1 West teams have already clinched Champions League spots (Force ECNL with 18 points, Marin FC Blue with 17 points and Mavericks Black with 16 points) and a fourth in Vision Academy (15 points) can guarantee their spot with a draw or a win Saturday against East Bay United – Bay Oaks (9 points). But though that race has essentially been decided, the separation of the top-four teams by just three points ensures that the division title race will come down to the very last minute of play this weekend. On the weekend, two matches take place between those four sides as Force take on Mavericks on Saturday and Marin faces Force Sunday. Wins in both of those games will give Force the title regardless of other results.

NPL 2 EAST PREVIEW

Neutral observers will want to check out the final fixture of this division: Sunday’s Impact Green – Ethos SC Saints Blue game that will almost assuredly decide who books the only spot in the spring’s NPL 1. Due to Ethos’ two-point lead over the Impact, the Saints will need to beat third-place Union Sacramento FC on Saturday in order to guarantee to play for the title Sunday. Only Impact and Ethos can possibly win the title, but Union could conceivably wrestle away second-place and the NPL 2 qualification that comes with it by beating Ethos Saturday by more than one goal, winning again Sunday against last-place San Juan SC Spirits Blue (1 point) and making up an eight-goal differential in the process.

NPL 2 WEST PREVIEW

The U15 Girls NPL 2 West don’t play this weekend as their season has already ended. Mustang SC NPL Academy will play in the spring’s NPL 1 by virtue of winning the division by a five-point margin, while San Ramon FC NPL and MLVA City ECNL qualified for the NPL 2 with second and third-place finishes, respectively.