Sacramento Republic takes a draw as fans quietly protest team’s abortion silence
It was fitting that in the final moments of Saturday’s thrilling 3-3 draw against Oakland Roots, the ball found its way to Sacramento Republic legend Rodrigo Lopez deep in the right corner.
Lopez knew his defender was desperate to make a tackle. Had he made just one, the game would have ended in an Oakland win.
He didn’t. Lopez cut the ball to his right, opening up a potential cross. His defender saw the pass developing and dove forward to stop it. That’s when Lopez cut again in the opposite direction, leaving him in the dust.
With room, Lopez gathered the ball one more time on his right foot and delivered the kind of ball he’s been delivering in his entire career in Sacramento: a perfectly weighted cross that found the head of Luis Felipe, whose game-tying goal added to an impressive list of signature goals this season.
“I’m the type of player that when I get the ball, I try to be positive and create chances,” Lopez said after the game. “Luckily, I was able to. I don’t know how I still had the legs to cut (the defender) three times like that.”
“To still fight for the game in the 96th minute, just speaks to our unbelievable mentality.”
In eight league games at Heart Health Park this season, Sacramento has won five and now drawn three. That sort of home-field advantage will prove vital when the team hosts MLS side Sporting Kansas City in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal on July 27.
Republic FC is the last remaining USL team in the competition and is seeking to be the first to make the final since 2008. Head coach Mark Briggs said that he’d like for his team to rediscover its good form going into that match.
“We were a little bit off tonight,” Briggs said. “We have to be more clinical. … It was an end-to-end game tonight, which is exciting for the fans to watch, but a heart attack waiting to happen for me.”
In a game that had it all, Sacramento and Oakland combined to take 35 shots and the lead changed hands three times before Felipe tied it in the dying moments.
Goalkeeper Danny Vitiello was forced to make seven saves including a key stop in the 87th minute from an Oakland counterattack which would have put the game out of reach.
“Our keeper was phenomenal,” Lopez said. “He kept us in the game.”
Supporters group says “We can be silent too”
The Tower Bridge Battalion is an independent fan group for Republic. At home games, they create much of the atmosphere that helps the team fend off opposing teams.
Their members are the ones leading cheers and singing songs in the stands behind the home goal, and on the road, they tend to be the ones that make the effort to travel.
But in the two weeks since the Supreme Court essentially overturned Roe vs. Wade, the Battalion’s leadership couldn’t help but notice their club’s lack of statement on the issue.
“(The club) supported Pride, Juneteenth, Welcoming Refugees and Black Lives Matter,” said Battalion board member Matteo Cascio. “To then not support reproductive rights is just totally out of character.”
“We’ve had conversations with (the front office) behind the scenes and they said they’re not going to touch it because it’s too political. So we said ‘If you guys want to be silent, we can be silent too.’ (Their silence) killed us.”
The Battalion stood silent in the first half of Saturday’s game and unfurled a banner that read “We can be silent too.” During that time, the noise emanating from the rowdy visiting section made it sound more like a home game for Oakland.
Meghan Dendorfer, who serves on the board alongside Cascio, said Republic’s silence on the abortion issue has her reconsidering things that used to be second nature to her.
“It might be as simple as me not buying any more merchandise or renewing my season tickets,” Dendorfer said. “The timing of this just sucks because the play on the field has been amazing, but this is something bigger.”
Briggs said the Battalion reached out to him ahead of the game to explain the protest wasn’t about the players on the field.
“It obviously created a strange environment,” Briggs said. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion and should voice it wherever they think it’s appropriate.”
“I said to our supporters, ‘We love you, we need you, you guys do what you have to do.’”
Team captain Lopez struck a different tone.
“I’m not a politician, I think those are the people that have to speak out (on this issue),” Lopez said. “(The Battalion) has their beliefs and I respect it. But at the same time, I feel like that’s only hurting the team and the players that have nothing to do with the club (front office) that is choosing to remain silent.”
“It is what it is. If they want to do that, that’s okay. We still had a great crowd of over 10,000 people and we really appreciate them.”
Game Notes
▪ Defensive starter Conor Donovan missed his second straight game with a groin injury while midfielder Keko returned to the field for the first time since exiting last month’s cup quarterfinal against L.A. Galaxy.
▪ Four of Sacramento’s previous five games against the Roots also ended in a draw. Briggs was complimentary of Oakland’s roster, which features current USL goalscoring leader Óttar Magnús Karlsson, on loan from Italian club Venezia.
▪ In searching for the right mix of players up top, Briggs opted to start Maalique Foster, who has been a spark off the bench. The Jamaican international rewarded him by scoring a goal in the 43rd minute where his pace single-highhandedly created a counterattack.
This story was originally published July 10, 2022 at 12:00 AM.