U13/U14 State Cup Quarters & Semis Recap

Just two teams remain in each division of the U13 and U14 NorCal Premier Soccer State Cup after the quarterfinals and semifinals of the competition took place this past weekend at Davis Legacy Soccer Complex and Turlock Regional Sports Park.

All finals will take place April 26 in Davis.

“The competitiveness of the quarterfinal and semifinal matches was something else,” said NorCal State Cup Coordinator Brian Voltattorni. “It was really cool seeing ECNL RL teams playing against NPL teams and NPL teams playing against State Premier teams and all the various matchups that we saw. In State Cup, the patch on the sleeve doesn’t matter once the whistle blows, everyone has to play who they play.”

Overall, 30 different titles are still up for grabs, of which four teams will earn the right to call themselves NorCal’s State Champions should they prevail in the State Division–the highest level of the competition.

The NorCal State Cup began all the way back in August, with every team participating in a three game group stage in which teams played against similarly skilled opponents.

Based on how they finished in the group stage, each team was then re-seeded into a knockout round bracket, with those performing well earning the right to host games.

From there, the competition began action at neutral sites this past weekend, with teams playing in quarterfinal matchups on Saturday and semifinal games Sunday.

“There were so many games that went to overtime, there were penalty thrillers,” Voltattorni said. “Everyone who made it to this past weekend should be proud of their accomplishment to be involved in the last eight, but now we’re down to two teams fighting it out for the trophy.”

For more information on the NorCal State Cup, click here.