As the saying goes: I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed.

Once again, Sacramento Republic FC failed to get all three points from Real Monarchs. Once again, the Republic walked away disappointed from a game that should have been a win when looking at the strength and position of the teams. With Saturday’s draw against the Monarchs, Sacramento Republic FC have gone winless against the worst team in USL this year, a team that every other Western Conference team has defeated at least once.

So without further ado, let’s dive into the most recent installment of Sacramento Republic dropping points at home.

The Match

The first half went by with neither team threatening too much in front of the goal. Tommy Stewart had the best chance of the opening 45 when his header off a deflected cross forced the Monarch’s goalkeeper to make a save.

Another chance for the Republic came in the 59th minute when Danny Barrera hit a lovely ball over the top to Rodrigo Lopez. Both the run and the pass were timed well, but Lopez’s first touch was not quite soft enough and the Monarch’s goalkeeper came off his line to smother the ball and stop the dangerous opportunity before a shot was taken.

Eventually an opportunity was put away, as Justin Braun put the Republic on the scoresheet in the 67th minute with a headed finish from a Rodrigo Lopez cross.

While the finish was a good one and the cross was a quality ball in, one of the most notable aspects of the goal was how wide open Braun was in such a dangerous area. Granted, it is not exactly the same as what Colorado Springs Switchbacks did with Tommy Stewart last week, but it is still quite a substantial amount of space.

Although Braun is not necessarily the most prolific scorer on the Republic, it is still surprising how wide open he was in the Monarch’s six yard box. It was Braun’s fourth league goal of the season for the Republic and it seemed at the time to be the game winner.

The lead held up until the 86th minute, when Lucas Baldin finished a through ball by Emory Welshman to equalize. As is generally the story when Sacramento Republic get scored on at home, the goal came from a counter attack.

The play began, strangely enough, with a poor Republic throw-in deep in their attacking third that went right to a Monarch’s player. Just 1 clearance, 1 pass, and 15 seconds later, Sacramento was picking the ball out of their own net. Although there were calls for offside, the fact of the matter is that the opportunity itself would not have happened if that throw-in had turned out differently.

Although goals coming from poor throw-ins are not exactly common occurrences at Bonney Field, the Republic conceding a goal on the counter unfortunately is. It seems as though the scouting report has not yet changed significantly after the team’s coaching change. It still reads Susceptible to Counter Attack in big, bold print. And although he has said previously that he is not a fan of absorbing pressure and counter-attacking, Real Monarchs coach Freddy Juarez took definite advantage of the Republic’s vulnerability.

During their push to get a game winner, the Republic had 2 fairly good opportunities. The first fell for Gabe Gissie, who’s shot went high and wide of the net. The second was off of a nice ball over the top by Justin Braun that was inches too far from the foot of Tommy Stewart.

However, try as they might, the Republic could not find another goal and ended the match sharing points once again with the Real Monarchs.

The Lineup

The starting XI for Sacramento against Real Monarchs was: Patrick McLain, Emrah Klimenta, Mickey Daly, Nemanja Vuković, James Kiffe; Ivan Mirković, Rodrigo Lopez, Danny Barrera; Gabe Gissie, Thomas Stewart, and Justin Braun.

The substitutes for Sacramento were: Dominik Jakubek, Derek Foran, Agustin Cazarez, Kaleemullah, Max Alvarez, Cameron Iwasa, and Joaquin Rivas.

The only change in the Republic’s entire matchday 18 was swapping Gabe Gissie for Kaleemullah on the right wing. Everything else from the starting XI to the substitute’s bench was the same.

What’s Next

Sacramento Republic FC’s next match will be against Tulsa Roughnecks at Bonney Field on Saturday, August 29th.

Next week’s match will be of extreme importance, as kicking the Roughnecks down below the playoff line is the Republic’s best hope of making it to the postseason. Tulsa currently sit just 1 point ahead of Sacramento, but the Republic have 3 games in hand over the Roughnecks, which gives them an advantage. Next week’s game against the Roughnecks is a chance to gain some serious ground in the USL Western Conference playoff race.

Kickoff will be at 8pm PDT and will be available to watch live on YouTube.