Sacramento Republic controls play but misfires in loss to Orange County

Sacramento Republic FC controlled much of the play against Orange County on Saturday night but couldn’t manage enough offense in a 1-0 loss in Irvine.

“Too many players had off nights, just felt like we weren’t quite there,” Sacramento coach Mark Briggs said. “We’re never quite there. And we didn’t create enough opportunities. It was disappointing.”

While Sacramento dominated possession of the ball, Orange County had far better finishing opportunities. Orange County had four shots on goal, all in the first half, while Sacramento managed just two.

Republic FC did a fine job controlling the ball, with 60.4% of the possession time for the game.

“I just don’t think we created enough,” Briggs said. “I don’t think we’re clinical enough. I don’t think we put enough balls in the box. It’s great to have possession, but possession doesn’t win you games.”

Cameron Iwasa came in the game as a substitute in the second half. The Jesuit High School product, and the all-time leading Republic FC scorer, has just one start and 108 minutes played out of 270 this year. The striker didn’t manage any shots Saturday night.

Republic FC returns to Sacramento to face Phoenix Rising at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be on KQCA-58 and Estrella TV as well as ESPN+.

This story was originally published May 23, 2021 at 7:27 AM.