The Los Angeles Force won its first NISA championship trophy, edging past local rivals Irvine Zeta FC 3-2 on penalties after playing to a 1-1 draw after extra time. The announced crowd in attendance at Veterans Memorial Stadium was 1,447. The LA Force strike first in the 36th minute as Josue Cartagena, who won a championship with Flower City Union last season, delivers an excellent shot to put LA in front 1-0 just before halftime. In the second half, George Almeida found the equalizer for Zeta FC with a stellar bicycle kick to tie the match at one. LA Force thought they had scored the game-winner, but it was waived off due to offsides. After 90 minutes of play, we went to extra time, but nobody could find the back of the net, and we needed to go to penalty kicks to decide a winner in this one.
In penalties, Seth Torman made two clutch saves in the first two rounds against Irvine Zeta FC’s Andrew Kleszewski and Edson Alvarado. Garrett Hogbin and Josue Cartagena converted their penalty kicks for Los Angeles. In round 3, Marcel Salceda converted his penalty for Zeta FC, but LA Force’s Alex Jaurez kick from the spot was saved by Zeta FC goalkeeper Mitch North. In round 4, Abdul Mansaray buried it for Zeta FC, and Victor Blanco did the same for the Force. In the final round, Shinya Kadono had to score to keep his team in it, but his shot went wide left of the net, and that sealed the 3-2 penalty kick victory for the Force to win the NISA championship after a thrilling match on the west coast.
As I mentioned in the intro, this is the LA Force’s first NISA championship title but second appearance in the championship match after it lost to Detroit City FC 1-0 from an own goal in 2021. LA remains unbeaten against Irvine Zeta FC at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Irvine Zeta FC gave it everything they had on the pitch, and despite coming up short in the NISA championship, those players should hold their heads high after completing their inaugural season in the league. During the regular season, the 405 derby has built into an intense rivalry in NISA between these two sides, with Los Angeles holding the edge over Irvine Zeta FC this time in their seventh meeting on penalties and 3-3-1 overall.
Well, that’s a wrap on the 2024 NISA season. It feels odd that the season ends in October instead of mid-November, like in previous seasons, but now we get at least four to five months of the offseason. What happens between now and next March remains to be seen, and as I’ve said in the past, the NISA offseason is long and can be full of twists and turns. Don’t worry! I’ll still create podcast episodes for NISA Today FC during the offseason. I will do my best to keep you posted on any transfer moves, coaching updates, NISA offseason news, and expansion updates throughout the coming months. We also still have NISA Nation action going on with much to look forward to in the second half of the fall season, the west regional final in Las Vegas next month, and the finale with the NISA Nation National Championship match at Hofstra University in Long Island, NY in December. Stay tuned! I’ll have a podcast episode out later this week to recap the NISA championship, followed by my season recap articles on all the NISA clubs starting next week. What are your thoughts on the postseason? Let me know in the comments section below.
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