How has Sacramento Republic made its historic US Open Cup run? Here’s a lucky answer

Sports people don’t like when you use the word luck.

When you’re talking about winning a game or a championship, something about “luck” insinuates they didn’t work hard and earn a win.

But there’s no denying Sacramento Republic has enjoyed quite a bit of … good fortune in its historic run to the U.S. Open Cup championship game.

Yes, there has been quite a bit of actual blood, sweat and tears involved. Sacramento Republic has showed up motivated and prepared for every game of the tournament.

But the U.S. Open Cup is set up in a unique way that has benefited Sacramento:

▪ Games in the round of 32 were decided by a random draw run by organizers of the tournament. Out of 16 games, only three games did not involve a team from Major League Soccer, the top division in the U.S. And wouldn’t you know it? Sacramento was in one of those games, beating Phoenix (which plays with Sacramento in the USL) 2-0 to advance to the next round.

▪ In the round of 16, Sacramento drew the San Jose Earthquakes, who currently sit in second-to-last place in the Western Conference. The Earthquakes’ top five goal-scorers were either unavailable or only appeared as substitutes late in the game. San Jose had to play three games in seven days, and the U.S. Open Cup is often considered something of a nuisance to MLS teams until the late rounds. It made sense to San Jose leadership to bench many of the top players to keep legs fresh. The Earthquakes fielded a starting lineup in which no player had scored more than a goal in the MLS season. Sacramento won 2-0.

▪ In the quarterfinals, Sacramento faced an LA Galaxy team that could have presented more of a challenge. While Sacramento Republic fielded their best players, the Galaxy sat their biggest stars until the second half. Not that it would have mattered. Sacramento’s Luis Felipe said after the game, “I honestly don’t think (the Galaxy) took the game seriously and we took advantage,” Felipe said. Sacramento won 2-1.

Then came Sporting Kansas City in the semifinals, the last-place team in the MLS Western Conference. There’s no question Sacramento had to work extremely hard for everything against the three MLS teams they’ve beaten, and Kansas City was no exception.

On the stat sheet, Kansas City dominated. In 120 minutes of regulation and overtime play, Kansas City had eight shots on goal to Sacramento’s two. Overall, Kansas City took 31 shots while Sacramento mustered just 13.

The barrage of shots is why goalkeeper Danny Vitiello received chants of “MVP, MVP” late in the game against Kansas City. But the defensive back line of Conor Donovan, Lee Desmond and Dan Casey put on a show Wednesday night, deflecting balls and blocking shots to fluster the Kansas City attack. While Sporting KC held shots advantages, there were only a handful of very dangerous situations – including a shot that clanged off the crossbar in overtime.

That carom prevented a Kansas City win and gave Sacramento yet another chance to flash its … good fortune. After 120 minutes of regulation and overtime, the game went to penalty kicks to decide which team would face Orlando in the U.S. Open Cup championship game Sept. 7.

In goal, Sacramento trotted out Vitiello, a cagey veteran who won USL’s Golden Glove award in 2020 for having the best goals-against average in the league. Kansas City was without goalkeeper Tim Melia, who scratched just before the game started. That left 21-year-old keeper John Pulskamp in net to face what were debatably the most important shots Kansas City would face all season. Pulskamp has given up five goals in two MLS starts this year. Sacramento went 5-for-5 on its attempts while Pulskamp was nowhere close to stopping their attempts.

After the crowd exploded in celebration and the team spent half an hour on the field exulting, exuberant Sacramento coach Mark Briggs did something rare: He acknowledged the obvious. Yes, the Quails were a bit lucky to beat Kansas City. As is their way, apparently.

“You know, I thought the boys gave everything the boys played their hearts out. And ultimately, we rode our luck at times, which you’re going to when you’re facing a MLS team, you have to ride your luck,” Briggs said. “But I thought the boys hung in there, created our own opportunities at times. And we ended up – all that matters is we’re in the final. Everything else is a little bit blurry at this moment to be honest.”