A major upset in the women's League Cup and a seven-goal thriller in the men's League Cup were the highlights of quarter-final weekend.
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The shock result was in the women's competition where Shepparton United ended Strathfieldsaye Colts United's League Cup campaign.
Strathfieldsaye Colts United - the best team in Bendigo women's soccer the past two years - fell to a slick Shepparton United.
In a replay of last year's League Cup final, Shepparton United found the back of the net four times to advance to a semi-final clash with Shepparton South.
Maddie Ridsdale scored a brace for Colts, but Shepparton United was the better side on the day.
Two goals from Lucy Kinnane set up Shepparton South's 3-0 win over Eaglehawk in their quarter-final clash.
Maya Vukcevic added the third goal in a dominant performance.
La Trobe University and Spring Gully United will meet in the other semi-final.
La Trobe Uni outclassed Tatura 6-1 in their quarter-final game thanks to hat-tricks from Courtney Hingston and Shannon Fox.
Spring Gully had a much tougher time against a gallant Kyneton.
Charlie Guillou and Ella Kirby scored the crucial goals for the Reds, while Sian Hooppell found the back of the net for Kyneton.
In the men's League Cup, the best of the quarter-finals was at Tatura where the home side took arch-rival Shepparton South in a replay of last year's League Cup final.
In a seven-goal thriller, it was Shepparton South who edged out the Ibises 4-3.
South raced to a 3-1 lead in the first half and then withstood a gutsy Tatura fightback.
Recruit Stephen Appiah continued his brilliant start to 2024 by scoring a hat-trick for Shepparton South and Joel Aitken scored the fourth goal.
Damian Russo, Fraser Gosstray and Tristan Zito were the scorers for Tatura.
Shepparton South now faces Eaglehawk in the League Cup semi-finals after the Borough hammered Border Raiders 7-0 in their quarter-final.
After scoring two goals in Eaglehawk's round of 16 win, young midfielder Caden Meeks backed up with four goals against the Raiders.
Veteran Keegan Smyth, Jesse Matthews and Riley Henderson also scored for the Hawks.
The remaining two quarter-finals were lopsided matches.
Strathdale outplayed Golden City 5-2, while Shepparton United demolished Epson 8-1.
A hat-trick by Ethan Basilewsky was the highlight of the Blues' big win. Jack Lawrence and James Sloane also scored for Strathdale.
Lachlan Bull and Harrison Morley scored for the young Golden City squad.
Shepparton United had six individual players score in an emphatic 8-1 win over the Epsom Scorpions.
Mohammad Reza Baqiri and Mohammed Al-Gazaly led the way with two goals each for United.
Eposom's lone scorer was impressive youngster Logan Hromenko.
The League Cup semi-finals will be played midway through the season.
The League One Men and League One Women championship seasons kick-off this weekend.
