On June 4, NISA announced details for the 2020 Fall Season.[3] The eight member teams would be split into conferences, Eastern and Western, with the Force playing in the later.
The Fall regular season schedule was announced on July 31, 2020.[4] The team played two regular season games against the rest of the Western Conference.
All eight NISA teams qualified for the 2020 Fall tournament, which will be hosted at Keyworth Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, beginning on September 21 ending with the final on October 2.[5]
NISA announced initial spring season plans in early February 2021, including starting the season with a tournament in Chattanooga, Tennessee with a standard regular season to follow.[6][7] The tournament, now called the NISA Legends Cup, was officially announced on March 10 and is scheduled to run between April 13 and 25.[8] All nine NISA members teams taking part in the Spring were divided into three team groups and played a round robin schedule. The highest placing group winner automatically qualified for the tournament final, while the second and third highest group winners played one-another in a semifinal to determine a second finalist.
The Spring Season schedule was announced on March 18 with each association member playing eight games, four home and four away, in a single round-robin format.[10]
Source: nisasoccer.com Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal differential; 3) goals scored; 4) head to head; 5) goals allowed; 6) coin toss (X) Spring Legends Cup champion; (Y) Fall Champion, qualifies for season final; (Z) Spring Legends Cup runner-up, qualifies for spring final [1] Notes:
^If either 2020 Fall Champion Detroit or 2021 Legends Cup runner-up Chattanooga finish the spring season in first place, or both teams finish in the top two, the spot in the spring final will go to the next best team.
Note: Report missing Garduno's caution, incorrectly claims Gordillo received a second yellow in the 75th, 1904 subs (Lomeli on for Arreola in the 55', Ramirez on for Apollon in the 64'), LAF subs (Culwell on for Barrera in the 82')
Stadium: Keyworth Stadium Attendance: 3,356 Referee: Matt Geringer
Note: Both stream and match report missing both Los Angeles Force subs (Julio Rubio came in between 56th and 75th minutes, Edson Alvarado entered after Todd's goal and is shown on stream)
Note: Match originally scheduled to be played at Rio Hondo Stadium in Whittier, California; match report not complete and information (including stats) taken from team Twitter and fan stream
Note: Guarnera's own goal is not shown on the report but is shown on stream. Match called off in the 66th minute due to poor lighting at the venue. According to NISA rules, the score at the time of the match stoppage is final.
Stadium: Keyworth Stadium Attendance: >100 Referee: Jeremy Scheer
Note: Report missing yellow cards from Barrera and Tate but they are shown on broadcast, Russell's red card is misattributed to Richard Dixon, LA's starting XI lists Kashani when it was actually Villatoro, Goñi was subbed into the match in the 54th minute and is shown on stream. Following the match, both red cards issued to Russell and Villon were downgraded to yellow cards.[11]
Note: Moran cards not shown on report but seen on stream including post-match, Goñi sub and yellow card not reported but seen on broadcast, report lists Villatoro twice on Force starting XI instead of Villon
As a team playing in a recognized professional league, the Force would normally be automatically qualified for the U.S. Open Cup. However, with the 2021 edition shorted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NISA has only been allotted 1 to 2 teams spots.[12] On March 29, U.S. Soccer announced 2020 Fall Champion Detroit City FC as NISA's representative in the tournament.[13]
