CALIFORNIA STORM WIN WEST REGION, LOOK TO REPEAT AS WPSL CHAMPIONS

 

With two early goals against So Cal Union FC in the West Region Final, California Storm is one step closer to making history as the first team in the WPSL’s 27-year history to repeat as National Champions. 

 

Erica Grilione put Storm in the lead in the seventh minute and Miya Alamares doubled the lead in the 11th minute at Linfield Christian School in Temecula, Calif. After that, Storm did what Storm does: win in the postseason. 

 

 

Storm now returns to Neal Patterson Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., where it has won two of the last three WPSL titles in search of the elusive back-to-back title—something no team has yet to accomplish. 

 

Grilione’s seventh minute goal—her first in the 2025 season—set the tone for the match. When Almares doubled the lead in the 11th minute the match was all but determined. Goalkeeper Abbie Faingold earned the clean sheet in the match. The Storm have yet to give up a postseason goal. 

 

 

Photo by Sandra Velez-Lopez

 

With the win, California Storm moves to 2-0-0 in the postseason and 9-0-1 on the season. 

 

Next up the Storm have a date with South Region winners, Chattanooga FC on Friday in the WPSL Championships semifinal at Neal Patterson Stadium in Stillwater, Okla. 

 

So Cal Union FC: 0
California Storm: 2

 

So Cal Union FC: Anna Arban, Ciara Caringal, Elizabeth Ludwig, Christina Marlow, Gia Kiesling, Jaylin Young, Hannah Parkinson, Anay Garcia, Ece Aliyazicioglu, Abria Smith, Adriana Madrigal, Carly Burns, Haylie Hutchinson. 

 

California Storm: Abbie Faingold, Alex Klos, Amelia Villa, Elizabeth Hutchison, Elle Quinn, Erica Grilione, Lauren Kenny, Madison Ayson, Miya Alamares, Paloma Daubert. Substitutes: Dakota Harris, Devyn Simmons, Gray Willson, Kennedy Mayo, Paige Thompson, Sadie Leal-Schuman, Susie Long, Yasmin Azar.

 

0-1: Erica Grilione 7’
0-2: Miya Alamares 11’

 

Misconduct
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