Streak snapped: Sacramento Republic hammers Red Bulls as good times return to home field
Mark Briggs finally had something to smile about Saturday night.
The Sacramento Republic coach has bit his lip and issued cagey criticism for months as his team, which started the year with 10 new players, struggled to gel under Brigg’s new system.
Saturday, the Quails put it together. Sacramento Republic snapped a nearly two-month scoreless streak at home Saturday night, pounding in three first-half goals en route to a 3-1 win over New York Red Bulls II.
It was the first home win since May 12. It came on the heels of a road win and a tie as Sacramento seems to have shaken off a poor start to the season.
“Gaining points, especially on the road in two difficult places breeds confidence,” Briggs said. “But then you come back home and you’re still got that little of, like you just said, get that monkey off your back. …
“The fans have seen glimpses of what this group’s capable of. It’s great, and I thought the fans were exceptional as always. They were loud, they were behind us. We have to make this place a fortress and we all have to do that — players, staff, fans, everybody.”
For the first time in a long time, a Republic game felt like a party. Republic hadn’t scored at home since June 5 and they were 24th in scoring in the USL entering the game..
The rain of goals started in the 17th minute, when Darek Formella sailed a beautiful low corner kick in to Luis Felipe Rodrigues, who tucked it into the right side of the goal. Fans celebrated by popping off smoke; “Chelsea Dagger” by the Frotelli’s blasted over the sound system and Briggs clapped on the sideline.
The celebration repeated in the 22nd minute, when Rodrigues knocked a pass to Formella inside the New York penalty box. Formella bounced it right back to Rodrigues, who tucked in his second goal of the night.
And Formella knocked in his own rebound off a blocked penalty kick in the 41st minute.
When the dust settled, Republic could finally exhale, with a 3-0 halftime lead that was never seriously threatened.
There’s important context to mention: The Red Bulls are pretty bad, with three wins, nine losses and four ties.
But they are very dangerous. New York plays the MLS parent club’s brand of soccer, throwing men forward to apply maximum offensive pressure. The Red Bulls outshot the Quails 22-7.
In the first half, Republic was content to counter the Red Bulls attack by pressuring the ball to create turnovers and essentially run a fast-break offense. Sacramento repeatedly chipped the ball deep toward the Red Bulls goal as Republic looked golden in the first half.
“What they do is totally different,” Sacramento defender Duke Lacroix said. “The Red Bulls are known for high pressure and they get a lot of numbers around the ball. So, that was a part of our game plan was to try to use that to create our own chances.”
Lacroix is quick to say Republic hasn’t discovered any secret sauce. There are no newfound wrinkles in the offense. The Quails have simply ironed out some of the little things.
“We’re a third, almost halfway through the season andthe guys are just getting more comfortable with each other,” Lacroix said. “We know where each other are gonna be sometimes without saying it. We’re more comfortable communicating exactly what we want, and we’re checking to see exactly what our teammates need to play to their strengths and that’s just starting to show itself on the field.”
The win was a welcome relief for Briggs, who spent much of the past two months issuing coded criticism about his team’s offensive play. The forwards needed to be more dangerous. The entire team needed to simply put shots on net. There was none of that talk Saturday. Finally, there’s something positive to talk about.
“We’ve started to grind out a few results and I think that’s what it takes,” Briggs said. “When you get into runs of form that are not great, you have to stick together, first and foremost .And you have to grind out results and you have to show a mentality and a desire to come out of that phase.That’s the most pleasing thing for me.The boys haven’t quit, the boys have stuck together. And the boys are beginning to show, a little bit about what we can do and who they are.”
Sacramento now hits the road for a pair of games, starting with Tacoma on Thursday, before returning home Aug. 14.
This story was originally published August 1, 2021 at 6:33 AM.