Monterey Bay FC’s 2026 USL Championship season is a full campaign of 34 matches, 30 in the regular season and four in the cup, and the shape of it tells you a lot about where the club is trying to go.
The NorCal rivalries land early and often. Monterey Bay opens against Oakland Roots SC and meets Sacramento Republic FC inside the first three weeks, two derbies that set the emotional tone before the summer grind. Those Northern California fixtures are the ones the Kelp side circles, and they tend to draw the biggest crowds to Cardinale Stadium in Seaside.
From there the season stretches spring into October, a coast-to-coast schedule that sends the Crisp-and-Kelp everywhere from Texas to the East Coast between home stands. In a league this deep, the margin between a home playoff match and an early exit often comes down to how many points a team banks at home, and Monterey Bay has built its recent identity on making Cardinale a hard place to visit.
We cover the club as local professional sport — results, schedule, and the moments that matter — rather than through a national wire lens. The next home match is the one worth being there for.
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