Republic FC hopes to extend scoreless run against Sol

Republic FC will look for its third consecutive shutout Wednesday night when it plays the Sonoma County Sol in the U.S. Open Cup at Bonney Field.

Sacramento beat the Seattle Sounders FC 2 3-0 on May 9 at Bonney Field, then topped the LA Galaxy II 1-0 on Sunday in Carson.

Republic FC (6-4-0) has a 202-minute scoreless streak as it holds the top spot in the USL’s highly competitive Western Conference.

Midfielder Rodrigo Lopez leads the USL in goals (seven) and points (17) and was named to this week’s USL Team of the Week for his brilliant 65th minute goal against the Galaxy II. It came from an assist on a pinpoint cross from Gilberto.

The win was the third of the season over the Galaxy II and fourth consecutive dating back to the Republic’s 3-2 “Miracle at Bonney” playoff victory. Republic FC is 6-1-1 all-time against Los Angeles.

Although Lopez’s seventh goal over two seasons against the Galaxy II was the game winner, he credited the team’s tenacious play, especially from defenders Mickey Daly, Nemanja Vukovic, Ivan Mirkovic, Emrah Klimenta and James Kiffe, for setting the tone.

“Our work rate was really good,” Lopez said. “I told some of the guys after the game that while we weren’t always the best with the ball, our mentality showed how good we are. We’d make a hard tackle, and it was contagious. It got guys going.”

Goalkeeper Patrick McLain also continued to excel. He came up with a huge save in the 90th minute to deny Jack McBean a header goal to preserve the win and earn his USL-leading fourth shutout.

Winning on the road has been tough for Republic FC, 2-3-0 away from Bonney Field. So Preki was satisfied with Sunday’s result.

“I wouldn’t say it was our best performance, but it was a decent performance and an important three points,” Preki said. “I felt we were in total control of the game. There were a couple of moments where we didn’t deal with things so well. But overall it was a good step for us.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2015 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Republic FC hopes to extend scoreless run against Sol."