Sacramento Republic FC v. Oakland Roots SC Preview: Will There Be A Third Tie?
Aug 26, 2022, 4:00 PM
Las Vegas Lights FC
Following a disappointing 2-1 loss to the Las Vegas Lights last Saturday, the Sacramento Republic FC now heads home to take on NorCal rival, the Oakland Roots SC.
This is the third and final meeting between the two sides this season, having drawn the previous two fixtures, 3-3 and 1-1.
Sacramento is coming off three matches in eight days. Despite not getting the result they wanted against Las Vegas, the Republic is brushing it off, focused on what’s ahead.
“You try not to dwell on doing things too well and doing things badly. So we want to make it right because we actually didn’t play too badly against Vegas,” Ross said following training Thursday. “Another day maybe we score two or three goals but it’s just, it is what it is. We get on with it and we have a chance to turn it right on Saturday so we’ll do that.”
Cashed in 💰
Christian Torres and Daron Iskanderian led @lvlightsfc back to a 2-1 victory after @SacRepublicFC had opened the scoring at Cashman Field.#LVvSAC | https://t.co/BowDe4AE5a pic.twitter.com/WJNau90Hlw
— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) August 21, 2022
On the flip side, Oakland is coming off a 3-1 victory over playoff contender San Diego Loyal SC earlier this week. Conceding first in the opening 25 minutes, Oakland mounted a three-goal comeback, netting the goals to secure three vital points on the road. The win pushes them up to ninth in the Western Conference standings, on the cusp of a playoff berth entering the final stretch of the regular season.
Head coach Mark Briggs and his team know far too well that “The Town” can cause problems for their opponents, hoping this time to come away with all three points.
“The games are always very intense, very feisty and they usually have a lot of goals and they’re exciting,” Briggs said Thursday. “They obviously played a game in San Diego last night and got great results and I thought their performance was very, very good. So the new coach has galvanized the group and they’ve got something to fight for by the looks of it.”
Busy stretch ahead.
Up first: #SACvOAK 👊🔗 https://t.co/wUSOYwOU2P pic.twitter.com/XAOjn3ascP
— Republic FC (@SacRepublicFC) August 25, 2022
The Republic also has something to fight for, currently fifth in the standings with a game behind the fourth-place New Mexico United. Despite the inconsistent play over the last month, the Republic feel their performances have been generally good, looking to fine-tune the details as the playoffs draw nearer.
“It’s correcting the little things that are hurting us at the moment [because] the actual performances haven’t necessarily been poor. But it’s the little details within those performances that have had a big impact. So there’s been a lot of focus on the little details within each training session, in preparation for Saturday and beyond,” Briggs said.
Of course, any regional contest adds a bit more spice to the mix, with Sacramento looking to bring their A-game Saturday to come away with the victory.
“Yeah, so it’s always a good rivalry with Oakland. They bring the energy, it’s a relatively new rivalry but there’s already some history in there,” Lacroix said. “They got the better of us the last time we played…and we haven’t beaten them yet. So we definitely have a chip on our shoulders going into this match to come with extra energy, I know the fans are going to be there in full volume. And you know, especially coming from a close derby match, it’s going to be a lot of energy. So you can expect us to come out, eager, hungry, ready to perform.”
Kickoff from Heart Health Pack is at 8 p.m. Fans can watch the game live on FOX40 or streaming on ESPN+. Tickets are still available at SacRepublicFC.com/tickets.
