The IR Academy Girls 2012 NPL are moving onto the NorCal State Cup Round of 16 in the State/Premier division after shutting out East Bay United 3-0 on Sunday.

“It was 0-0 at the half and we had a bit of a slow start,” said Pete O’Donnell, IR Academy 2012 Girls NPL head coach. “We had better possession in the second half and created better opportunities.”

Lauryn Pittenger, Kennedy Taylor and Jasmine Taylor each scored goals and goalkeeper Eliza Lowery had a clean sheet against the East Bay United offensive. In the Round of 16, IR Academy will play San Francisco United Cyclones NPL. In Group H play, San Francisco United finished 1-1-1 and earned a Round of 32 bye.

Our IR Academy 2008/09 Girls White advanced to the NorCal State Cup Round of 16 in the Silver Cup division following their 3-1 victory Sunday against Elk Grove United. Rachel Metz, Katalina Ramirez and Kristine Meixner scored goals in the match. They will play Atletico Santa Rosa Monaco, which finished 1-1-1 in Group D in the Gold/Silver division, on April 13. 

Here are scores from other IR Academy matches this weekend:

Friday:

• 2008 Girls NPL 3; Oregon Surf-0 

• 2008 Boys ECNL-RL 0; IMG Academy 1

• 2014 Boys Purple 3; Sacramento United 4

Saturday:

• 2007 Girls Purple 0;  Arden Park 0

• 2008 Boys ECNL-RL 1;  Los Angeles Soccer Club 2

• 2008 Boys ECNL-RL 2; Minneapolis United 2

• 2008 Girls NPL 1; LAFC 2 

• 2010 Boys NPL 1; East Bay United 1

• 2012 Boys Purple 1;  Woodland SC 2 

• 2013 Boys Pre-NPL 1; Blues FC 2 

• 2014 Girls Purple 1;  Azzurri 1

• 2014 Girls Purple 2;  AYSO United Davis 2

• 2014 Boys Purple 2;  Butte United 5

• 2014 Boys White 2;  Sacramento United 5

• 2012 Girls Purple 1;  Cal Magic 2

• 2012 Girls Purple 1;  Livermore Fusion 5

• 2017 Girls Purple 6;  Placer United 1

• 2008 Boys ECNL-RL 1;  Los Angeles SC 2

Sunday:

• 2008/09 Girls White 3; Elk Grove United 1

• 2008 Boys ECNL-RL 0; Brazas Futebol Club 1

• 2008 GNPL 0; Santa Clara Sporting 2

• 2012 Girls Purple 0;  Walnut Creek Surf 0

• 2016 Girls Purple 4;  Sacramento United 2

• 2017 Girls Purple 10;  Davis Legacy 0

Our IR Academy 2012 Boys Purple has advanced to the NorCal State Cup Round of 16 following a 5-4 victory against Fresno Heat Sunday at our IR Academy Match of the Day.

“It was a thrilling victory for sure and a real team effort,” said Ignacio Villasenor, head coach of the IR Academy 2012 Boys Purple. “With a match that close and knowing you need a victory to advance, the pressure can get to young players—I’m proud of how these boys handled the situation.”

Kingston Owens scored a hat trick and Makai Barfield and Arash Sidiqui added goals to earn the victory. The IR Academy 2012 Boys Purple will face the winner of next week’s match between North Coast FC and Union City Premier.

In Woodland, our 2017 Girls Purple and 2017 Boys White took home medals after finishing second in their age groups at the Copa De Arboles tournament. The 2017 Girls finished 2-1 in group play before losing to North Coast FC in the finals. The 2017 Boys also finished 2-1 in group play before falling to the tournament host Woodland Soccer Club Orange 3-1 in the finals.

Our IR Academy 2010 Boys NPL finished third at the Copa Surf Tournament in Morgan Hill with a 2-1 record. The boys defeated Sentinels SC and Walnut Creek Surf during the event.

Here are scores from two IR Academy Spring League matches this weekend:

IR Academy 2016 Girls Purple 3; Vacaville United 3

IR Academy 2012 Boys Purple 0; Davis Legacy 2

On Saturday the Franklin High School varsity boys soccer team defeated Davis High School to capture the CIF-Sac Joaquin Division One section championship. Six IR Academy athletes are members of the Franklin varsity team. They include Miles Jones, Marcos Zarate, Nikhil Bhowmik, Jacob Bui, Ethan Morris and Ivan Chandra.

The Liberty Ranch varsity girls and boys teams, featuring several IR Academy 2007 and 2008 players, move on to the CIF Division IV NorCal Soccer Championships this week. The girls face Fresno Christian on Tuesday afternoon and the boys play Tamalpais on Tuesday evening.

Also this weekend, Sydnee Dobbel of our IR Academy 2007 Girls ECNL-RL committed to play soccer at the University of California-Merced. She is one of 10 IR Academy 2007 girls or boys players to announce a commitment to play college soccer. Sydnee plays center back at IR Academy and played on the varsity team at Cosumnes Oaks High School in Elk Grove.

The IR Academy 2013 Boys Pre-NPL were among four IR Academy teams to win championships this weekend at events throughout Northern California. 

“This was one of the most successful weekends we have had in club history,” said Kyle Crist, IR Academy President. “This shows how much effort our players and coaches put in on the training fields to prepare for high-level events.”

The 2013 Boys Pre-NPL won the NorCal State Cup in the Platinum Division with a 3-1 victory against Butte United. The victory came one day after IR Academy defeated East Bay United 5-1 in the State Cup semifinals. That victory included goals by Oliver Ryan and Evan Arechiga. 

“I’m proud of these boys and how they worked together to win the State Cup,” said head coach Pete O’Donnell. “The teams we played along the way presented different challenges for our players but each time we took the field they were focused on advancing to the next stage and that mindset paid off.”

In the Bay Area, the IR Academy 2015 Girls Purple and 2015 Boys White won championships at the San Mateo Winter Classic. The 2015 Girls went undefeated and gave up a single goal in the tournament. The 2015 Boys also finished undefeated and beat San Mateo County FC 5-1 in the championship match. Both teams are coached by Carlos Lomeli.

At the Sacramento United Spring Shootout, the IR Academy 2013 Boys White finished undefeated and defeated Roseville Youth Soccer Club 2-1 in the finals. The 2017 Boys Purple finished as finalists at the Spring Shootout.

“For many of our younger teams, these were their first matches of 2025,” said Araia Berhane, IR Academy Youth Director of Coaching. “To see so much early season success for our teams will pay dividends throughout the spring.”

The IR Academy 2017 Girls Purple also captured an indoor championship this weekend, finishing undefeated in their winter league.

In local high school soccer, four players from the IR Academy 2007 Girls Purple helped Liberty Ranch High School of Galt capture a CIF-Sac Joaquin Division Four Section championship. Several IR Academy players helped the Liberty Ranch boys varsity team win their Division Four Section championship. The Liberty Ranch boys team is coached by 2007 Girls Purple coach Garett Arechiga.

On Wednesday, Pleasant Grove High School of Elk Grove will take on Del Oro High School of Loomis in the CIF-Sac Joaquin Division One Section semifinals. The team from PGHS includes four IR Academy 2007 and 2008 players, as well as head coach Rich Moorhouse and assistant coach RJ Moorhouse. Rich is the IR Academy Community Relations Director and RJ serves as head coach of the IR Academy 2009 and 2016 Boys Purple teams.

NorCal Premier Spring League for all IR Academy teams begins March 8.

The IR Academy 2007 Girls ECNL-RL won their fifth NorCal State Cup championship in the State Division following a 4-2 victory against Burlingame Soccer Club in the Under-17 cup finals on June 3.

“These girls have worked hard all season and when the finals match was tied 2-2 a few minutes into the second half, they took control,” said Mirzo Alickovic, head coach of the 2007 Girls ECNL-RL. “To walk off the field as champions show their resilience and how much they trust each other on the field.”

IR Academy’s first goal came four minutes into the match when Jocelyn Maldonado scored. Four minutes later, Jaden Hiers scored to make the score 2-0. Burlingame SC scored just before halftime when Abigael Zennadi scored. She scored against just after halftime to level the match at 2-2.

In the 60th minute, Malia Moore scored what would become the winning goal and Maldonado scored a few minutes later, sealing the win for IR Academy.

By winning the State Cup finals, the 2007 Girls ECNL-RL will represent NorCal Premier at the National Cup XXIII Finals July 21-25 in Colorado. Before traveling east, the team will play in the ECNL Regional League playoffs in Norco June 12-16.