Republic FC are in the USL playoffs. They closed the regular season with a statement
A key issue for Republic FC since the United Soccer League rebooted July 13 was allowing early goals.
It’s been a problem most of the season and Sacramento had a stretch of four matches in September where it allowed a goal within the first five minutes.
On Saturday night against Portland Timbers 2, in the USL regular-season finale, the tables turned. Republic FC scored three goals in the first nine minutes to head into the postseason with a 4-0 victory at Papa Murphy’s Park.
Dariusz Formella scored in the second and fourth minutes, then assisted on a goal scored by Jaime Villarreal in the ninth minute. It marked Formella’s third brace and team-leading eighth goal of the season.
“The last few games we haven’t conceded early goals,” Republic FC coach Mark Briggs said. “We changed a few things up. We spoke as a group and we decided to do things slightly different in those first few minutes and I think it’s paying dividends. We just have to keep doing what we have been doing over the past few games, but to score in the first few minutes was nice. It was refreshing.
“It’s what this group is capable of. I’m thankful that it came now. It’s a good moment to hopefully give us good momentum and a good frame of mind going into Phoenix next week.”
The first-half scoring didn’t stop after that outburst. Villyan Bijev scored in the 25th minute with a rocket off his left foot. Sacramento (8-2-6) didn’t allow Portland to score despite being out-shot 10-5 in the second half and 12-10 for the match.
It was the fourth clean sheet this season for goalkeeper Rafael Díaz, who had eight saves. Since taking over as the starting goalkeeper for Adam Grinwis in July, Republic FC haven’t lost a match Díaz has started.
“I think he’s been one of our most consistent performers, which is a credit to him,” Briggs said. “He’s made big saves in big moments. So for us going into a playoff game, knowing that we have a keeper of Rafa’s caliber behind us, who’s going to turn up and make big saves when we need him to make big saves he can only gives everyone confidence as we move forward.”
After winning six consecutive matches, Sacramento had three draws coming against Reno 1868 FC, Tacoma Defiance and Reno again. Following a 1-0 loss this week at Tacoma, finishing with a season high in goals is sure to boost team morale entering the playoffs.
“This is definitely something we wanted,” Republic FC midfielder Rodrigo Lopez said.”We spoke about, before the game, that we need to make a statement — not just for the league, but for ourselves. People need to understand that ... Sacramento should be in the playoffs every year, Sacramento should be contending for the championship every single season.
“Teams come to play us like it’s a final,” he added. “It’s the truth. Sometimes we do have to be a little bit more focused. At the end of the day, we have to do our jobs and try and win games. Today, I think the boys showed a statement and proved to everyone and ourselves that we could do it.”
Republic FC will open the postseason at Phoenix Rising FC next Saturday. If Sacramento wins, next will be the winner of Reno 1868 FC and LA Galaxy ll.
This story was originally published October 4, 2020 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Republic FC are in the USL playoffs. They closed the regular season with a statement."