Sacramento Republic to host San Jose Earthquakes in historic US Open Cup matchup
Sacramento Republic FC is two weeks away from one of the biggest draws in the club’s eight-year history.
Sacramento will host the San Jose Earthquakes of the MLS in the round of 16 in the U.S. Open Cup. The game is at 7:30 p.m. on May 25.
Republic has an opportunity to advance further in the tournament than ever against a northern California rival and a league that spurned Sacramento when the team’s initial stadium deal fell through in 2021. The team’s crest was removed from the league website and the Republic players and staff would like to make a statement to the league.
“Let’s make it a fortress, let’s fill that stadium and let’s show not only San Jose, let’s show everybody, what Sacramento’s all about,” Republic FC manager Mark Briggs said in a Zoom interview Thursday night. “We need the fans, the team needs the city. And when that stadium’s full and that stadium’s bouncing, there’s no place like it, and that’s what we need to show the rest of the country.”
The match against the Earthquakes marks the third time Sacramento has hosted an MLS team in the U.S. Open Cup, an annual event open to any professional or semi-pro team in the country. Those games, in 2017 and 2018, resulted in wins that moved Sacramento to the round of 16.
It’s also the third time Sacramento has advanced this deep in the tournament. Thirteen teams alive in the tournament are from the MLS, currently the top professional league in the United States.
Players from Republic FC were together Thursday when the draw was announced following Wednesday night’s victory. Given the bracket layout, which focuses on regional games, it was clear playing an MLS team was likely, but drawing one at home was by chance. Sacramento is 14-1 at Heart Health Park all-time in U.S. Open Cup play and 6-0-2 this season, including USL play.
“I think it was a great draw for us. I’m over the moon with the draw, to be honest,” Briggs said. “To be at home, and be able to play in front of our fans, and against an MLS team, and even that, another team in Northern California, just over the moon to get a home tied up, and it’s that extra little bit of spice the fact that it’s San Jose.”
The Earthquakes this season are 11th in the standings among the 14-team Western Conference. They fired their coach, Matias Almeyda, last month amid his 31-42-25 regular season record and one playoff berth in five seasons.
Republic FC, which plays in the USL’s top division, considered a notch below the MLS in quality, is fifth in the Western Conference standings, but hasn’t allowed a goal in its last three games at home. Briggs believes the team is in good enough form to shock San Jose and advance to quarterfinals for the first time since the club’s inception in 2012.
“I’m extremely confident,” he said. “I have so much belief and so much faith in the players on this football club, and I think to play at home and to able to rise to the occasion … to be able to play against an MLS team, it’s essentially like a playoff game, a knock-off game, and we need everybody in this city to get behind us. We need to fill that stadium. We need to make it a hostile place for San Jose. And we need to give ourselves the best opportunity to progress to a round that the club’s never been at before.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 7:59 AM.
