As May rolls around, NorCal Premier Soccer’s exciting league play is headed towards an exciting conclusion, with several title races up for grabs all across the state. Now more than ever, three points are a necessity for clubs looking to be in contention by the time the NorCal College Showcase kicks off later this month. This week, NorCal Matchday returns to the ECNL-RL where there’s the potential for several teams to make inroads towards lifting the trophy in just a few weeks.
Here are your games of the week:
| U19 Girls ECNL-RL |
| 5/3 | IR Academy |  | 8:30 a.m. @ Pleasant Grove High School |  | San Juan SC |
| In what appears to be a four horse race for the title, two of the three top sides in the U19 Girls ECNL-RL face off this weekend when IR Academy hosts San Juan SC early Saturday morning. IR currently sit atop the table with 26 points, while San Juan SC have 24 points but have played one more match than IR. Those two sides are battling for first place along with Walnut Creek Surf, who have 25 points but have played the same number of games as IR. When the two sides met all the way back in September, San Juan delivered IR what is still their only loss of the season to date. |
| U14 Girls ECNL-RL |
| 5/3 | South Valley United |  | 12:00 p.m. @ Neighborhood Church Field 1 |  | Rocklin FC |
| Given that the younger age groups for the ECNL-RL just play in the spring, the U14 Girls division is currently wide open, with almost every team still in contention thanks to a lack of overall matches played. However, two of the sides who have gotten off to the best starts are South Valley United and Rocklin FC, who meet this Saturday in the Central Valley. Rocklin currently top the table with eight points, but have already played four matches. Meanwhile, South Valley United have six points, but have played just two games. It will be a busy weekend for United, who also host unbeaten California Odyssey Friday night. |
| U16 Boys ECNL-RL |
| 5/3 | Albion SC Merced |  | 3:00 p.m. @ Stone Ridge Christian High School Field 1 |  | South Valley Chivas |
| Both Albion SC Merced and South Valley Chivas have been absolutely banging in goals in the U16 Boys ECNL-RL, with the former having hit the back of the net 34 times and the latter scoring a division-leading 42 times. When the pair met back in November, the match proved to be an absolute barnburner of a 3-3 draw, making the return fixture a highly anticipated one. Each team will look to continue their high scoring ways this weekend and will do so as the top two teams in the division currently--Albion have 24 points from 11 matches, while South Valley have 23 from 10. |
| U14 Boys ECNL-RL |
| 5/3 | SF United FC |  | 5:30 p.m. @ Crocker Amazon Soccer Fields #3 |  | Folsom Lake Surf |
| The only two unbeaten teams in the U14 Boys ECNL-RL meet this weekend as second-place SF United FC hosts first-place Folsom Lake Surf Saturday night in San Francisco. Though SF United sit one point behind Surf, they currently sit in the driver's seat as they've played one fewer match. Both teams will be tough outs, though, as they've combined to allow just four goals in nine games, while scoring 27 times to boot. |
