Head Coach: Tyler Silva
Venue: Championship Stadium
2023 Regular Season: N/A (Expansion Team)

2023 Season Recap: Irvine Zeta FC will debut in NISA this season as one of four new expansion clubs. Irvine Zeta FC played in the United Premier Soccer League’s SoCal South Division 1 last year. Zeta FC finished top of its division, going 10-1-0 with 31 points in the UPSL Spring 2023 season. They also made it through the qualifying rounds to book a spot in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The UPSL side played as Irvine Zeta FC II and lost 2-1 in Round 1 of the U.S. Open Cup to MLS NEXT Pro side Ventura County FC. However, the pro side Irvine Zeta FC avenged that loss in the Second Round of the U.S. Open Cup this week with a 3-0 victory against Ventura County FC.

Offseason Recap

Irvine Zeta FC had preseason player tryouts and brought in some NISA veterans. The only drama this offseason was regarding their head coaching situation. Initially, Jerry Tamashiro was supposed to be the Head Coach for Zeta FC but elected to step down in January. Later that month, Irvine Zeta FC announced that former ALBION San Diego Head Coach Diego Gomez would lead the club as its new Head Coach. His stay in Orange County was short, as he was only with Irvine Zeta FC for two weeks before he announced on Feb. 5 that he’d be leaving the club to take an assistant coaching role with USL Championship side Phoenix Rising FC. Tyler Silva will now lead the club in its debut in NISA as its Head Coach, while Khadim Seye will be an assistant coach, and Daniel Gonzalez will be the goalkeeper coach.

Key Departure

N/A

Key Returnees

N/A

Key Arrivals

Irvine Zeta FC has some connections to ALBION San Diego. Expect to see some familiar players from that squad in Orange County. Midfielder Shinya Kadono and Andrew Kleszewski are on the team. There will also be some NISA veterans on this roster as well, like former Cal United Strikers FC goalkeeper Mitch North, former LA Force forward Edson Alvarado, and defender Alex Culwell. They also have a good mix of young players on this squad, such as Mingxaun Zhao, Rafael Espinoza, and Aaron Keita.

Player to Watch

NISA veteran Shinya Kadono will be the player to watch on this team. I can’t forget to mention that golazo he scored in the First Round of the U.S. Open Cup against MesoAmerica. Kadono has been in NISA since the league started in 2019 with Cal United Strikers FC. He scored five goals and added two assists with Cal United. Kadono joined ALBION San Diego last year and played in 27 matches across all competitions, scoring three goals and having one assist. Kadono is a great playmaker and versatile in the midfield position. Irvine Zeta FC will be a fun team to watch and could give the LA Force a run for their money this year. A potential new rivalry, looking forward to watching these matchups throughout the season.

• NISA
• Opinion