NPL SCHEDULES AND RESULTS

NPL MATCHDAY

U15 Girls Champions League

Pleasanton Rage 3 – Palo Alto SC 1

Rage Scorers: Fuller (2), Queirolo
Palo Alto Scorer: Lecher

With both sides chasing a perfect MVLA squad, Saturday’s matchup between Pleasanton Rage and Palo Alto SC proved to be an extremely important contest at the top of the table, with hosts Pleasanton ultimately coming out on top with a 3-1 victory. The Rage profited on two goals from Emma Fuller, who scored both the opener and the winner, the latter of which came just one minute after Palo Alto’s Camille Lecher equalized the match at 1-1. Sienna Queirolo then iced the game late with a strike of her own to give Pleasanton all three points.

KEY MATCHES

U17 Girls Champions League

In an absolute barnburner of a game, MVLA travelled to Central California Soccer Alliance and kept their perfect season in tact, taking two goals from Joelle Jung to come away with a 5-3 victory. The visitors scored early and often, with Jung’s brace and a Leah O’Brien giving them a 3-0 lead at halftime before Mila Bettinelli scored just after the break. CCSA then attempted a massive comeback, scoring three straight through Emma Martella, Tayler Breashears, and Emily Rich, only for MVLA’s Jasmine Aikey to ice the game late.

U19 Boys NPL 1 West

Palo Alto SC 2 – SF Elite Academy 0

Palo Alto Scorers: Monsalve, Barajas

Needing the full three points to get back into the Champions League discussion, Palo Alto SC picked up a huge 2-0 victory over SF Elite Academy thanks to goals on either side of the break. It took just 26 minutes for the hosts to score the eventual game winner, with Alfonso Sandoval Garcia playing Nicolas Monsalve through before the latter finished to give Palo Alto the lead. The hosts then iced the game 20 minutes from time, with Erubiel Virgen Barajas poking home a loose ball in the box to put Palo Alto back in the top four of their division.

U14 Boys NPL 1 West

AFC Academy 3 – Walnut Creek Surf 1

AFC Scorers: Velasquez (2), Bruneau
Walnut Creek Scorer: Dew

In a match where both teams desperately needed all three points, hosts AFC Academy set the tone early and often, defeating the Walnut Creek Surf via a 3-1 scoreline. Anthony Velasquez was the star on the day, scoring the first goal in the 19th minute and the last just before the end of time. Velasquez was joined on the scoresheet by Alex Bruneau, who hit the back of the net just after the break to make it 2-0 before Walnut Creek’s Brennan Dew brought the visitors back into the game in the 66th minute with a strike of his own. But AFC claimed all three points and got themselves back into Champions League contention in the process.