Academica Soccer Club is an amateur

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based out of

Turlock, California Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. Its population was 72,740 at the 2020 United States census, making it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto. History Founded on December 22, 1871, by pr ...

. The team currently competes in

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

and the

USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a Women's association football, women's soccer league in the United States. It began play in May 2022 and follows the USL W-League (1995–2015), USL W-League, a similar league that existed from 1995 to 2015. It is c ...

. The club's home stadium is Academica Soccer Field with a capacity of over 600 seated fans.

History

The club was founded in 1972 by members of the Portuguese Cultural Center in Turlock, CA. Academica, or 'AC', began by joining the Central California Soccer League, winning multiple titles in the 80's, 90's, and early 00's. AC also competed in the California State Cup and Amateur Cup as well as yearly Portuguese cultural tournaments. In 2013, the club joined the Liga Norcal, then called the Norcal Premier Adult Premier League. Academica reached the final in its first season, losing to San Francisco City FC. The team would reach the final again in 2016 and again in 2017, finally winning the championship. On November 14, 2017, it was announced that Academica Soccer Club would join the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

beginning in the 2018 season. In May 2018, it was announced that Academica SC became affiliated with Turlock Youth Soccer Association which rebranded as Turlock Academica Jrs. Academica qualified for the 2019 edition of the

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

through the Open Division Local Qualifying track. Academica hosted league rivals El Farolito Soccer Club in the first round where they fell 2–1 to their San Francisco rivals. The 2020 NPSL season was cancelled after only two matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the squad finished the regular season in 2nd place with a 4-1-2 record in the NPSL Return to Play series. AC would continue onto host the conference final, defeating El Farolito 2–0 in front of 600 fans in a match dubbed as the "Festa Final". The 2022 season saw AC finish the regular season in 5th place, good enough to qualify for the conference tournament. After defeating Contra Costa FC in the first round, the Black and Gold fell to regular season champions Sacramento Gold by a score of 3–2 to finish their season. On December 1, 2022, Academica SC joined

for the 2023 season. A women's team was also established that will play in the

Year-by-year

References

{{USL League Two Association football clubs established in 1972 Soccer clubs in California National Premier Soccer League teams USL League Two teams USL W League teams Portuguese-American culture in California