Sacramento Republic’s seven-game unbeaten streak ends on Colorado road trip

For six weeks when they were succeeding on two fronts, Sacramento Republic forgot what it was like to lose.

But all that talk about sending a message to MLS fell on deaf ears Friday night, when the team’s first visit to Colorado Springs since 2019 ended in a 3-0 drubbing.

The Switchbacks’ front line, which propelled them to second place in the Western Conference standings, three spots ahead of Sacramento, looked dangerous all night.

First, a missed tackle in the 13th minute opened up an opportunity for Colorado forward Elvis Amoh to lift a shot over goalkeeper Danny Vitiello. Then, Hadji Barry, who won the golden boot in USL last season, scored two goals from outside the box in a span of 15 minutes.

“I don’t want to make any excuses, but the altitude was probably a factor,” defender Lee Desmond said after the game. “Either way, we need to look at ourselves first.”

Friday’s loss was Republic FC’s first defeat since losing to El Paso on May 18. After that game, the Quails went on a seven-game unbeaten streak, which included two upset wins over MLS clubs in the U.S. Open Cup, where they are now the last USL team remaining in the competition.

“The boys have given a lot over the last few weeks and maybe that’s caught up with us,” head coach Mark Briggs said. “We’re happy with what we’ve achieved so far, but we haven’t done anything.”

Sacramento created a fair share of chances as the game wore on. In the 33rd minute, Rodrigo “RoRo” Lopez served a dangerous free kick from the left side of the field that landed just out of the reach of midfielder Matt LaGrassa, who would have had an empty net.

In the second half, Briggs made a trio of offensive substitutions, including bringing on last week’s USL player of the week Maalique Foster, who scored a pair of goals against Monterey. The Jamaican international made an instant impact again, firing a few shots on goal and connecting well with fellow substitute Luther Archimede.

“It’s just one of those days,” Briggs said. “We could have played the game until next week and we still wouldn’t have scored.”

After three straight games on the road, Sacramento will return home to take on the Oakland Roots on July 9.

“We’re still in an excellent position,” Desmond said. “If we bounce back next week, then everything is good again. That’s the way football is.”

Game notes

▪ Starting defender Conor Donovan (late scratch) and squad midfielder Nick Ross (health and safety protocols) joined midfielder Keko (hamstring) on the injury list. They will be reevaluated ahead of next week’s match.

▪ Republic FC and Switchbacks FC went nearly three years before facing each other. That is because from 2019 to 2021, the USL drastically altered its regular season format to enclosed groups in response to the pandemic.

▪ Through 16 games, Sacramento Republic has scored the least amount of goals (19) in the Western Conference. How are they succeeding? They’ve conceded even less (15).

This story was originally published July 2, 2022 at 12:00 AM.