La Máquina is an American amateur football club, based out of the

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

area, in central Orange County, competing in the

United Premier Soccer League The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American for-profit soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The leagu ...

. The club takes its name and identity from

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

, and was formed as a branch of the Irvine Premier Soccer Club's FC Golden State, for competing in the UPSL.

U.S. Open Cup record

2016

La Máquina entered the 2016 U.S. Open Cup, in the first round against the Portland Timbers U-23 of the

Premier Development League 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 advanced to the second round by defeating the Timbers by a score of 2–0. La Máquina qualified to the First Round of the 2016 U.S. Open Cup by defeating 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Chula Vista FC by a score of 4–0. La Máquina defeated the Sacramento Gold of 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. ...

by a score of 2–0 in the second round of the Open Cup on May 18, 2016 at Westminster High School in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in western Orange County, California, United States. Westminster was founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian Temperance movement, temperance colony and was incorporated in 1957. Westminster is bordered by ...

and advanced to face fellow UPSL side LA Wolves FC in a historic face off putting two new clubs and leagues in the third round. This was the first Open Cup for both teams. On June 1, 2016, La Máquina defeated L.A. Wolves in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup and advanced to the following round to face the

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

at the

StubHub Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills, in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dign ...

on June 14, 2016. La Máquina faced the LA Galaxy at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA and fell in extra time by a score of 4–1 on June 14, 2016, after a controversial goal was allowed by the referee in favor of the Galaxy. The match commentators said that the final score was not reflective of how the match played out, given that La Máquina held the Galaxy to a 1–1 tie for 90 minutes. Although there were questionable calls in the match, La Máquina had a man advantage for about 70 minutes of regulation time, after Galaxy midfielder Rafael García was ejected from the game upon receiving a straight red card on a foul to La Máquina's midfielder Ramiro Zurdo Díaz. La Máquina were incapable of closing the game in regulation time.

2016 Qualifying

La Máquina qualified to their first U.S. Open Cup in two qualifying rounds. There were to be three elimination rounds, but the U.S. Soccer Federation used its discretion to qualify the winners of the second qualifying rounds, due to the restructuring of the tournament that took place that year.

2017

La Máquina qualified to their second consecutive U.S. Open Cup, in two qualifying rounds, by defeating Orange County FC and Santa Ana Winds FC in late 2016. However, the club would not match the deep run they made the year prior, after being eliminated in the first round by

Fresno Fuego Fresno Football Club U-23, formerly Fresno Fuego FC, was an American association football, soccer team based in Fresno, California, United States. Founded in 2003, the team played in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid ...

of the

2017 Qualifying

2018

La Máquina qualified to their third consecutive U.S. Open Cup on November 19, 2017 by defeating Chula Vista FC of the So Cal Premier League by a score of 4–1. La Máquina defeated fellow UPSL club Bell Gardens FC in the first round and Las Vegas Mobsters in the second round by forfeit.

2018 Qualifying

Year by year

La Máquina was suspended from Spring 2016 UPSL play for being involved in a brawl with fellow league club San Nicolas FC in 2015, however, La Máquina returned to the UPSL after serving a six-game suspension.

Squad

The following players formed La Máquina's 2016 U.S. Open Cup squad:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:La Maquina FC United Premier Soccer League teams Soccer clubs in Orange County, California Sports in Santa Ana, California