Cinderfellas: Sacramento Republic’s golden run through U.S. Open Cup hits a challenge
There were 103 professional soccer teams alive in the U.S. Open Cup when it held its first draw in early February.
Only four remain. Somehow, Sacramento Republic is still standing among three MLS teams with a chance to reach the championship game. Sacramento needs to beat Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday night at Heart Health Park to keep its Cinderella run alive.
The U.S. Open Cup is the oldest tournament for professional soccer teams in the country — it was founded in 1914 — and is one of the country’s most unique sporting events. It’s the only tournament format that allows pro teams from multiple leagues and levels of competition to compete for the same trophy.
Imagine if the River Cats, the San Francisco Giants Triple-A baseball affiliate, somehow advanced to the National League Championship Series with a chance to play in the World Series. That’s the apples-to-oranges equivalent of what Republic faces. They play in the USL, considered a second-tier league behind the MLS, the top dog in the American soccer scene (though the gap may be shrinking).
Soccer’s the rare sport where something like that can happen in a country where megastars dominate the NBA and an NFL team might send a college counterpart home in a parade of ambulances.
But Sacramento had to beat a pair of MLS teams, the San Jose Earthquakes and Los Angeles Galaxy, to get to this point. And it was said leading into those games that they were among the biggest in Republic FC’s brief history spanning back to 2012.
“When you play MLS teams, you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” Republic FC manager Mark Briggs said. “That’s just the reality of the test you’re up against.”
The challenge ahead
What Sacramento is up against is a Sporting KC club that’s won the U.S. Open Cup four times, led by coach Peter Vermes, the longest-tenured coach in MLS, a former member of the U.S. National Team and 2013 inductee into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He’s coached SKC to three U.S. Open Cup titles and an MLS championship in 2013.
Vermes won’t take Sacramento lightly and shouldn’t, based on how the team has played at home this season. Republic FC this season is 5-3-1 at Heart Health Park, where they plan to have a lively crowd Wednesday night with the California State Fair serving as the backdrop. The team announced weeks ago the game is sold out. The colorful scene in combination with the stakes should make for a lively atmosphere.
“I think we have the best fans in the USL,” said midfielder Rodrigo Lopez. “The boys are excited to play in front of an excited Heart Health Park and we’re going to see what Sacramento fans are all about.”
After winning against the Galaxy on the road June 22, Republic received a splash of luck by getting the semifinal round at home. Briggs watched the draw with his family and was outwardly emotional when he saw it would be a match at home.
“There was a big, ‘Yes!’” Briggs told the Bee. “My 2-year-old daughter looks at me like, ‘Dad, what’s the matter?’
“... But it means everything to get the opportunity to play in a semifinal in a competition that’s so prestigious that so many teams have entered, but to do it on our home field in front of our fans, in front of our city, and have the opportunity to progress to a national final, is something that doesn’t happen every other week. It’s a special occasion, there’s no getting away from that. We just got to make sure we can handle that occasion.”
An underdog again
Winning against San Jose in the round of 16 and the Galaxy in the quarterfinals was an impressive feat, but neither MLS team is having a stellar season. The Galaxy currently holds the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference while the Earthquakes are 13th out of 14 teams. Both MLS teams sat their best players for the majority of their games against Sacramento.
The last-place team? It’s Sporting Kansas City, whose pedigree doesn’t align with the type of season the club is having.
“Yes, they’re not having a season you would expect a Peter Vermes team to have currently, but that’s irrelevant,” Briggs said. “We’re going to face one of the best teams in the MLS in a semifinal of a competition.”
Republic FC enters the game with confidence, despite being the underdog for the third straight game in cup play against an MLS team.
“I feel like we still don’t have any pressure on us,” defender Connor Donovan said. “Obviously it’s a home game, which we’re excited about, but I think that gives us the confidence to have no pressure, that underdog mentality.”
A win would mean advancing to the championship round against the winner of the New York Red Bulls versus Orlando City, two teams currently in the mix for playoff spots in the MLS Eastern Conference. That game will kick off at 4:30 Pacific Time ahead of Sacramento’s 7:30 p.m. start against Kansas City.
Winning the tournament clinches a spot in the Champions League, the annual competition among the top 16 club teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. No non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup since the Rochester Rhinos in 1999.
“As a team, it’s just so much fun,” Donovan said. “It’s a goal that we set out to have, and obviously we’re not satisfied with just making it to the semi finals, but it’s fun to achieve goals as a team and really as a team, all the games have been team efforts, people have stepped up in so many different ways and made big plays. So as a team, it’s incredible to do it as a group.”
