Sacramento Republic prepares for historic double clash with LA Galaxy teams
You could hear it coming from a mile away: “We’re taking it one game at a time.”
Sure, Sacramento Republic FC’s players and coaches came into Saturday’s home game with USL rival L.A. Galaxy II completely focused. Nobody was thinking ahead to Tuesday, when Sacramento faces the MLS parent club in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup.
A win against the USL squad Saturday night would boost Sacramento’s playoff chances. Should David beat Goliath on Tuesday night, Sacramento would be in the final four of the U.S. Open Cup for the first time in team history. All that stands in their way is an MLS team whose combined salary costs nearly 20 times more than that of an average USL team.
The scheduling pileup of games against Galaxy teams leaves coach Mark Briggs in an odd situation. He wants to win both games, really.
“It’s a little strange going against the same organization with two different teams, but that’s the cards we’ve been dealt and we have to deal with it,” head coach Mark Briggs told The Bee.
“We don’t want to give (all of our strategy) away for Tuesday, but we prepare for every game exactly the same. We’re focused on Saturday night … but we have to make sure we’re fresh. The players understand that we’ll have to manage the game in different periods and that we can’t go all out and press for 90 minutes. We’ve got to be smart.”
Going for the Republic is their best run of form in recent memory. Since the start of May, the team has only lost one time and conceded just two goals across eight games.
Midfielder Nick Ross, a Scotland native signed from El Paso Locomotive last offseason, said Sacramento’s defensive record is impressive for any league.
“I think the change in formation helped a lot,” Ross said. “We’ve gone to a back three, which has made us a lot more solid defensively and we’re also starting to put away our chances. We’re grinding out results, and once you win one game, you can kind of keep rolling on and ride that wave.”
When asked about what a deep U.S. Cup run might mean for him and the team, Ross lit up and acknowledged that there was a boring answer to give. He couldn’t do that.
“Look, of course it’s in our mind. But we don’t want to go into that game after a defeat or a draw,” he said.
If the Quails need any inspiration for Tuesday’s clash, then they won’t have to look back too far. In the previous round of the cup against another MLS side, San Jose, they proved they can punch above their weight, beating the Earthquakes 2-0 on May 25.
But true to form, defender Lee Desmond insisted that all he cares about is the game on Saturday.
“I think getting that win against San Jose gave us confidence, but they are a completely different team,” Desmond said. “You know we’ve dropped some silly points at home, so this next game is a potential banana skin. We want to make sure we win on Saturday.”
Whenever there is a short turnaround between games, as there was with Galaxy clashes, there will inevitably be concern about fitness and recovery. Briggs is counting on the team’s newfound depth to carry the Quails through a wild few days of club history.
“The beauty of this squad is that we’ve got 20 field players available where I can play any one of them and feel comfortable that we can take care of business,” he said. “That’s very fortunate for me as a coach. I think this group is hungry. They always want more and are never satisfied. So we’ve got to continue to push them.”
This story was originally published June 18, 2022 at 4:14 AM.