We’re just about a month into the season and most teams have played at least a few matches so far, bringing early contenders for what should be exciting title races all throughout the state. In NorCal’s ECNL Regional League, the top level of competition NorCal provides, the action is heating up as teams battle in a year-long league that won’t end until late May.
Here are your games of the week:
| U13 Boys ECNL RL |
| 9/19 | Walnut Creek Surf |  | 9:00 a.m. @ Arbolado Park |  | SF United FC |
| With every team playing three matches so far in the U13 Boys ECNL RL, just six of the 24 total squads remain unbeaten. Two of those sides, Walnut Creek Surf and SF United FC, will meet in a Bay Area derby this weekend with a potential spot at the top of the table up for grabs. SF United have the slightly better record, having won all three of their games while Surf have two wins and a draw. |
| U16 Boys ECNL RL |
| 9/19 | Stockton TLJ |  | 10:00 a.m. @ Stockton Soccer Complex |  | Central Valley Premier |
| Somehow after three matchdays only one team in the U16 Boys ECNL RL has a perfect 3-0-0 record: Diablo Valley Futbol Club. However, there are five teams below them in the standings that have each garnered seven points from three games and remain unbeaten. Sitting just two points behind Diablo are Stockton TLJ and Central Valley Premier who will meet Saturday in a matchup where the winner could take the overall lead of the division should Diablo drop points. |
| U15 Boys ECNL RL |
| 9/19 | Walnut Creek Surf | | 1:00 p.m. @ Heather Farms Park | | SF United FC |
| Our second featured matchup between Walnut Creek Surf and SF United FC comes in the U15 Boys ECNL RL, where five teams have started with perfect records so far. Two of those teams are Surf and United, who each have a perfect 3-0-0 record in the young season. Both teams have shown to be defensively solid, only allowing a single goal each in three matches. |
| U14 Girls ECNL RL |
| 9/20 | Elk Grove Soccer |  | 12:00 p.m. @ Franklin High School | | Walnut Creek Surf |
| There has been some disparity in the number of matches played for each team in the U14 Girls ECNL RL, but what's clear is that currently Walnut Creek Surf nearly atop the table, only edged out on a goal differential tiebreaker by sister club Monterey Surf. Each of those sides have 3-0-0 records, a mark that Elk Grove Soccer will be looking to match this weekend--Elk Grove have won both of their games so far this year. |
| U15 Girls ECNL RL |
| 9/20 | Santa Cruz United |  | 1:00 p.m. @ New Brighton Middle School |  | Los Gatos United |
| This weekend's South Bay matchup features two teams within striking distance of the top of the U15 Girls ECNL RL table. Visitors Los Gatos Untied come into the game with the slightly better record, having picked up seven points from three games, while Santa Cruz have two wins and one loss. Should either claim victory on Sunday, they'll have a chance of unseating first-place Madera United, who have a perfect nine points from three games. |
| U17 Girls ECNL RL |
| 9/20 | Folsom Lake Surf |  | 2:00 p.m. @ Vista del Lago High School |  | Reno APEX |
| It's early in the season, but five teams have perfect records in the U17 Girls ECNL RL so far: Livermore Fusion, Folsom Lake Surf, Reno APEX, Roseville SC, and ECFC Salinas. Two of those sides, Folsom and Reno, meet this Sunday meaning that at least one of the flawless quintet will no longer be perfect following the weekend. So far Folsom have been slightly stronger in league play, scoring 21 goals while allowing just two. However Reno have scored 19 themselves and conceded just five in three matches. |
