Sacramento Republic signs four players to add offensive punch and depth to defense
Sacramento Republic announced Thursday it has signed Irish defender Lee Desmond to complete a spate of four signings just before the Christmas holiday.
Desmond played seven seasons for St. Patrick’s Athletic, a Dublin team in the top Irish soccer division. He has the fifth-most appearances in team history with 214.
“Lee is an important addition for the club and will bring leadership, mentality, and a winning pedigree,” said Republic FC President Todd Dunivant said in a news release. “He wins his duels and is comfortable on the ball, which will translate well to our athletic league.”
Desmond’s signing completes a busy week for the Quails.
Wednesday, the team announced it signed forward Zeiko Lewis to provide much-needed punch to the offense. Lewis was a proven, consistent scorer with Charleston for three seasons, netting 19 goals and 18 assists in 73 appearances. He was named the team MVP after a 2021 season in which he scored five goals and had 10 assists.
On Tuesday, the team signed veteran USL goalkeeper Danny Vitiello away from Pittsburgh, where he played for two seasons. In 2020, Vitiello earned the Golden Glove honor for posting the league’s lowest goals against average, 0.5 a game. In 2021, he gave up 26 goals in 27 games and finished fourth in the USL with nine shutouts.
On Monday, the team announced the signing of midfielder Giovanni Aguilar. Aguilar played for Republic’s youth academy in 2015 before going to college at CSU Northridge.
The theme is much more than adding warm bodies, though Sacramento offloaded a significant number of players after a disappointing 2021 campaign and there are a lot of holes to fill. Republic FC missed the playoffs for the first time since the team’s 2014 inception. The Quails scored just 36 goals in 34 games, the lowest total in the eight-team Pacific Division and third-lowest total in the 15-team Western Conference.
The only accolade the Quails won was a shot at winning the USL’s fan vote for goal of the year. Luis Felipe had a left-footed banger against Tacoma that is up for the award. Fans can vote at https://www.uslchampionship.com/goal-of-the-year.