By james art Overview:
The top-seeded Los Angeles Force won their first National Independent Football Association title with a penalty shootout victory over No. 2 seed Irvine Zeta FC on Saturday night.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The top-seeded Los Angeles Force won its first National Independent Soccer Association title with a penalty kick win over No. 2 seed Irvine Zeta FC on Saturday night.
Los Angeles won the tiebreaker 3-2 after playing to a 1-1 tie in front of 1,447 at Veterans Stadium.
A championship game that came down to a shootout suited two clubs featuring 2024 Gold Glove winner Seth Thorman of Los Angeles and Mitch North of Irvine. Thorman started by denying IZFC in the first two rounds. From there, his teammates did the rest. As Shinya Kadono missed IZFC’s fifth attempt, the game-winning PK was scored by Victor Blanco in the fourth round.
Los Angeles took the lead in the 36th minute on a 22-yard left-footed score by Josue Cartagena, who was a member of the 2023 NISA champion Flower City Union. George Almeida equalized for Irvine in the 55th minute with a bicycle kick.
During the regular season, the rivalry was forged as first-year Irvine gave NISA LA’s founding club a run for its money, recording a win and two ties in the six-game series. The last meeting between the clubs was a 2-0 win by Los Angeles on 15 September.
Los Angeles has participated in two NISA finals. In 2021, they lost to FC Detroit City after a 1-0 own goal.
